Such a humbling experience with Apple

Yahoo
ForHighTC

Go to company page Yahoo

ForHighTC
Jan 10, 2020 64 Comments

So I failed an interview with Apple at the non-coding first round.

Interviewer asked me what are the methods that every Object overrides, and turns out it is equal() hashcode() and toString(). And asked me what each of this does.

I program in Java with the current company for about a year, but rely mindlessly on frameworks to do the job that I dont even know the most basic things and what it does..

The inteviewer gave me a link to a Java textbook that I can study with, saying they need people more knowledgable in Java. I feel reallly ashamed that I am even hoping to do well in interviews when I don’t even know the basics of what I do everyday..

I did about 200 medium LC and feel okay with algorithms but I just feel so embarassed about this.. I feel so bad that the interviewer had to give me a link to buy a Java book..

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TOP 64 Comments
  • Google / R&D
    Dr. Seuss

    Go to company page Google R&D

    Dr. Seuss
    Op let me say a thing : mastery of a language is often desired but not required. Unless you are applying for Java code compiler work i don't see how this can be a bar for you to cross. They probably don't have headcount..... What if your team matches you to C++ based team?

    That said, paste the link out?
    Jan 10, 2020 11
  • Apple
    CGEX77

    Go to company page Apple

    CGEX77
    To be honest, I only give book recommendations to people whom I would like to work with, they just didn’t meet the tech bar yet.

    For consolation my team’s resume screen to hire rate is 0.6%.
    Jan 10, 2020 7
  • New
    cooper_stn

    Go to company page New

    cooper_stn
    IMHO, this is very much important and this is what separates the cream from the crowd. Crowd knows how to get the problem solved and they can write code. Cream knows why exactly the code was written that way and why not.

    I am not a programmer but, in my world of data, every one uses Amazon S3 left and right but only 1% can answer its behavior because it’s an object store and not a file system.

    The curiosity to get to the bottom of things separates you from the rest.

    It’s like teaching a kid that 5x5 is 25. You can either let the kid memorize it or teach them that multiplication is a repetitive addition.

    Both can answer the problem but one can answer any multiplication problem while the other can only spit out memorized answers.
    Jan 10, 2020 0
  • First I want to applaud you for your honesty and growth mindset. You have the right attitude. You are bound to succeed. Good Luck.
    Jan 10, 2020 0
  • Hey don’t take that as an L! The recruiter cares about you enough to be candid and then gave you some knowledge on why learning Java is so important to Apple. Once you get those skills up you can come back to this person and network again.
    Jan 10, 2020 0