FB onsite Interviewer 100% incorrect
So I recently had my FB onsite, didn't get in. One coding round was a strong hire, the other was a weak no hire. In both rounds I optimally solved two questions. In the round in which I didn't pass, the second question was the issue. I solved that question in O(n) which I know was optimal for that question. It involved a sliding maximum range window, as in the right and left continually go to the right whilst forming the maximum length window given the constraints. The interviewer tried to get me to optimize further, I was confused and rattled. Could not figure out what improvement he wanted. At the end, he reveals that perhaps I could slide the right side to the left at certain times (I had no time to explain why that wouldn't work). I thought about this later, and realized he made a basic logical mistake, the same I did when I first saw these sliding window max problems. That because sliding the right over could fix the constraint faster than sliding the left, that might be a better idea. Nevermind it would take you back to a previous state and completely goes against the spirit of the algorithm which is to make your way across the array by only moving right. I have some more FANG interviews lined up most likely, but this is highly discouraging. How can one expect to succeed when the interviewer wants to improve a completely correct, clever answer in O(n), with what is essentially a rookie level misunderstanding. (he didn't even consider what would happen next after sliding the right over, and I assume didn't bother going over the code he took a picture of later). And that leads to a no hire !? Honestly I am kinda disgusted. And I know some people will mention "who wants to work with a know-it-all" and "culture-fit" but I was completely respectful and didn't argue at all during the interview (probably could have done more of that), I was simply screwed over by incompetence. Unreal.
This sounds similar to what happened to me. I actually told the recruiter before I left my onsite and a employee a level up met with me, got my side and than went and talked with the original interviewer, corrected that employee. In the end I received an offer and declined partially due to that experience.
Smartest thing you can do is forget about it and prepare for the next interviews.
Interviews are 30 percent preparation and 70 percent luck. Luck includes what questions you will be asked and whether your interviewer will be an asshole or not
How do you know that interviewer was the one who gave the "no hire"? I doubt Facebook provides feedback that detailed.
Good point. Based on my experience, they only tell you if they are interested in having a follow up interview with the candidate
I was told specifically by the recruiter. She was particularly open in feedback.
Talk to the recruiter and give them feedback. They can talk to the hiring manager. Mistakes happen. Also, sometimes I suggest offering an incorrect solution to see if they can detect and explain why it could work against being an ideal solution even though somebody "above" them offered it -- to see if they are willing to challenge me and are skeptical. It sounds like you found the correct answer after the interview. I don't insist on going the wrong way, as I ask it as a simple follow up question with a partial explanation for how it could help. Did you get an insisting vibe? Proving me wrong gets extra credit.
Yes, he would not allow the interview to proceed until I understood what he wanted. And at the end, he told me "maybe you don't have to do what you did here, but could instead move the right over", as in - that would be the better algorithm.
They didn’t provide in my case. But I had that feeling that’s what was coming. Which is why I spoke up. In my case it was a good call. I have leveraged that offer for a few negotiating tactics despite it being old and declined already.
For all you know it could have been something else, like your attitude or communication skills, that caused the reject
I was told my communication was good in all the interviews. Again, the recruiter was refreshingly detailed in reporting the feedback. As for attitude...if my attitude was a problem, we might as well start ascribing fails to making too much eye contact, or having pointy elbows. It's pretty clear what the no hire was due to.
I don't believe any recruiter would be as detailed as you are saying. Maybe you read into what they were saying out maybe you're just lying. And if you think your attitude shouldn't matter, then you shouldn't interview places where attitude is explicitly something that they rate in a standard rubric.
You sound like an arrogant asshole. Sounds like Facebook dodged a bullet.
Calling someone an arrogant asshole in a civil conversation says more about you than the person you're insulting.
Why did not you tell him right there that what he was asking for would not lead to an optimal solution?
I could not tell what it was he was trying to get at. He only revealed it at the tail end of the interview. By then I was thoroughly frazzled as I could tell getting stuck on something for 5 minutes was a bad sign, worried that I'd be one of those fluke 2 correct no hire cases. I suppose my inability to infer his incorrect thought process shows some kind of weakness in my comprehension abilities, there have been times at work someone says something somewhat incorrect, and they lose me. But it seems pretty harsh to lose due to this issue. Like not only do you have to be correct and efficient, you have to be able to infer half-verbalized misconceptions of the interviewer.
Correct me if I am wrong, but what I think happened was you already knew that you had come up with an optimal solution, which did not let you focus to what he was trying to ask you to do as an improvement. Even if the suggested improvement was wrong, you could have made a better attempt at understanding him and then explained to him after implementing that part that it is actually incorrect. Would have made you look even better.
Your win their loss. Would you like to work with that interviewer?
I don’t think the chance of working with those algo/coding interviewers is high in FAANG. Quite often they come from just any teams.