LinkedIn interview
An engineer asked me what a compiler is, what a memory map file is, how do exceptions work, exceptions vs status codes. I mean wtf, this is a phone screen. Then he asked a hard question lol
I looked the same engineer up, he worked at msft for 15 years before joining amazon... so... he’s an old schooler
What's your problem? These are valid questions
Lol we don’t want coding monkeys who don’t know a fuck about computers.
LinkedIn interviewer here. These are not standard questions we ask. Phone screen is about coding and analytical thinking
I think they are all valid questions. Questions like these test your knowledge, experience and filter out people to grind on Leetcode without an ounce of computer science fundamentals. Also helps weed out bootcamp coders for high demanding jobs.
But shouldn't we rather focus on analytical skills? I wouldn't be able to answer the questions yet I am meeting expectations without a problem at LinkedIn, actually exceeded few times.
Asking the average write throughput of magnetic disks is extraneous. Asking how exceptions work is absolutely not. You have a point that we should stress on analytical skills. But your argument is akin to saying, "I don't know how the internet works or it's lower level protocols, but I am a web developer".
Asking the average write throughput of magnetic disks is extraneous. Asking how exceptions work is absolutely not. You have a point that we should stress on analytical skills. But your argument is akin to saying, "I don't know how the internet works or it's lower level protocols, but I am a web developer".
I had no issues with any questions about exceptions, compilers, etc. those are all ok, but really, magnetic tape reads? Memory map file? 😑😑 I am pro asking questions about the 7 layers of Ethernet if the position is a network software engineer, ask Memory Map files and virtual memory, cache hit and miss, levels of caching to a SRE. Ask about exceptions, compilers, etc, to a software Engineer, just know what to ask. I’m sure if I asked the recruiter what is the difference between little Endian and Big Endian, he would not know 😑 or difference between RISK and CISK
I agree with you that we should ask questions that pertain to the role. But here's the thing, at LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc , you interview for the company. You interview to show that you're at a certain level of competence. Then do you join a team relevant to your interests and experience. Knowledge of Memory map files is not something EVERY engineer would have to use on the job, but it's taught in every introductory OS course. Just like not every engineer uses red-black trees or need to implement tree balancing on the job, but they are expected to know about it. I understand and can appreciate your frustrations. But unfortunately no one has found a foolproof way of interview, and until we do, there will be these "outlier" questions.
What's the difference between a bit and a byte? How do they relate to apple?
I mean wtf, like seriously. I answered the hard question and coded an optimal solution, still i got rejected at a phone screen 😆
Well, of course you were rejected! The answer is, "when you byte an apple, it's bit".