Pinterest Interviewers - How strict are you?
Recently finished a Pinterest phone screen. I only completed 1 problem. I had a bug that stumped my interviewer and I for 20 minutes I asked for feedback at the end and he said I did good. He said some small things weren’t a problem. Tax: 160k, 3yoe
I would need more details to say for sure, but probably a no hire. If I thought it was a fluke or the question was too hard I might recommend a hire.
More details in terms of the question? It was a DFS question on a matrix. It was a dfs question, checking to see if a path exists, with an extra condition. We both worked on trying to figure out the bug for like 20 minutes. I would say without this bug I would have been done before the 30min mark. The bug was something simple in the end, then code ran as expected The only reason I thought it was a *possible* pass would be because I asked him for for feedback at the end (expecting him not to be able to give me any) and he gave me some. Basically my code was a bit messy, and there was some repeated code. He didn't even mention not getting to the second problem, and he said a few times "no big deal" or referred everything being good, he sounded generally positive. Not sure if this positivity is standard protocol, or if he was actually happy with my result, tbh he sounded like he was working on something else while interviewing me lmao.
Sorry to hear the interviewer seemed distracted. I don’t give feedback to candidates other than “it works”, if it works, since we’re not supposed to give feedback on a candidate’s performance directly to them. Not finding a bug for that long is a concern, I would probably give a 👎. We have to be objective and compare your performance to the norm for a question. Some roles have a dozen+ candidates so if we have to choose between someone who gets it right away and someone who takes 20 mins to find a bug, it’s obvious who is going to be picked. If you make it to onsite you have a chance to redeem yourself, and to demonstrate skills other than coding where you might stand out.
You’re expected to at least attempt the follow up. Barely getting past the first part might be an issue, depending on the level you’re targeting.