Code Screen for Amazon L7 or L8 - Tips for experienced dev new to shared code screens?
Hey! I've got about 15yoe and will be interviewing (remotely) over at Amazon sometime early in the New Year. The last time I interviewed with anyone it was a phone screen followed by a whiteboard interview, so I'm genuinely curious about how the online / livecode thing works. The recruiter I'm speaking with mentioned that I'd get a Livecode link for a coding challenge. 1. Is it fair to google stuff and just give attribution or something? Is this "open book?" For example... can I go google around for the correct syntax, or for whether something exists in some standard package or something along those lines if I want to take advantage of a feature or widget in some common package? 2. Can I write code in -my- editor (eg PyCharm), and just paste it into theirs when I'm ready to submit it? 3-a. It looks like LiveCode's an internal collaboration / screener platform built by Amazon. Is that correct? Surely it's not livecode.com, right? 3-b. Does it share the whole screen with the interviewer, or is it just a shared text editor? 4. I've been playing with HackerRank. A lot of the comments I see there (for the things that I've looked at) devolve into threads of "here let me give you a one-liner" that uses pretty dense syntax to do something that's not necessarily more computationally-efficient. I can write code that solves the problem using basic syntax and (imho) is readable. If I write code that's correct, handles error cases, and doesn't have terrible time or space complexity, will I get penalized for not using the latest/greatest features in PEP33443 that make it possible to write the answer in 2 lines? 5. Will there be another party 'live' on a phone or video conference during the screen, or is it asynchronous where I submit it in a time window of my choosing and then they'll get back to me? #amazon #amzn #interview #livecode
Online Assessment for L7/L8? Have some dignity and tell them to schedule a phone interview.
Yeah it’s interesting that they’re doing that. I’m actually looking forward to it / anxious to take it because it’s been long enough since I last interviewed for a job that I want to see if I still have my mojo, if you know what I mean.
what’s your title at ibm op?
Amazon’s livecode platform is just a web text editor with syntax highlighting. The interviewer will be on the phone with you and able to see what you are typing. You won’t have time to google or cut and paste things. Anyway that is not likely to help you. There are no points for clever one liners and you choose the language you code in. But your code should be syntactically correct, functionally correct and optimal.
If you are really concerned about the online assessment.. you can ask the recruiter if they are willing to convert it to a phone interview ..
I'm actually not concerned, so much as I want to put my best foot forward. I'm curious to know how these things work (if that makes sense), but that's good to know. I intend to do it their way and see what happens. I like my current gig, but want to know if I can walk if I want to go find greener pastures.