Whiteboarding on FB Interviews

Safeway
Rbre72

Go to company page Safeway

Rbre72
Aug 16, 2020 6 Comments

Hi, for those of you who interview PM candidates at FB, or who have interviewed there recently, are most people using physical whiteboards now, or are they using the Annotation and Whiteboard tools in BlueJeans? When I last interviewed there, I used a physical board and it was cumbersome to set up so they could see everything. Are candidates using the online tool now, and as an interviewer, which do you prefer?

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 6 Comments
  • Facebook / Product
    D7

    Go to company page Facebook Product

    D7
    If you have a clear framework and good communication skills, you won't necessarily need a whiteboard to get your interviewer to follow along. I've interviewed plenty of candidates without whiteboarding anything and the solutions were elegant and clear enough to follow and also plenty of messy whiteboards that confused them and me in the process.
    Aug 17, 2020 0
  • New / Product
    fork_you

    New Product

    fork_you
    I didn’t use a whiteboard. I used pieces of blank white paper and a good dark sharpie that was easily visible when held up on camera.

    I showed my “whiteboard” sketches sparingly so it wasn’t super distracting to keep holding up paper and when I did I optimized for simplicity since the showcase was fleeting.

    Most important was the paper sketching helped me organize my ideas and served as a reference for earlier points I made during the interviews / continuity.
    Aug 17, 2020 0
  • Safeway
    Rbre72

    Go to company page Safeway

    Rbre72
    OP
    Can't imagine doing a Product Sense or Execution interview w/o a whiteboard to outline your thoughts and structure your answer. They recommend it in their prep materials and their own mock interview videos utilize it.
    Aug 17, 2020 1
    • I didn’t say don’t use a whiteboard. Definitely use one but i don’t see a reason why the interviewer needs to see it. You should communicate clearly so that the interviewer can follow the structure. I had one but it was out frame and the focus of my camera was on me.

      I’d say worrying about the perfect placement of the board should be least of your worries.
      Aug 17, 2020
  • Safeway
    Rbre72

    Go to company page Safeway

    Rbre72
    OP
    Thanks all for the feedback. Got the impression they wanted to see you use one because their prep materials suggest it and mock videos use it. I'll just use a whiteboarding app if needed and share my screen.
    Aug 17, 2020 0
  • Why does an interviewer need to see the board unless you are drawing mocks?
    Aug 17, 2020 0