Whiteboarding interview etiquettes

Oath / Eng
Upside

Go to company page Oath Eng

PRE
Yahoo
Upside
Mar 24, 2018 14 Comments

Hi guys,

Do you think any of this makes interviewer feel negative about whiteboard code?
- declaring some variable after writing half code by making an arrow
- using simple variable names i j k
- not clear characters as i write fast, but word is readable
- erasing n writing again same line of code

Any thoughts? The concern is here is all cosmetic as interviewer was happy with approach code n complexity, but still curious if they feel negative abt it.

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 14 Comments
  • Microsoft / Eng
    AmIEwok

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

    AmIEwok
    It’s like you described how my white-boarding goes.

    I think what bothers me more in general is when the interviewer or the candidate doesn’t erase what was on the board before completely and leaves little lines and bits. I do briefly and in the moment judge them for that. Likewise, when I insist on erasing everything cleanly, I wonder if they judge me for that, too.
    Mar 24, 2018 10
  • Google
    jghyrh

    Go to company page Google

    jghyrh
    As long as your thought process itself doesn't seem scatterbrained, imo it's all good. If it's easy to follow as you talk through it, and it's a methodical progression, those updates are perfectly normal things you'd do in a text editor anyway. Save I,j,k for loop indexes though.
    Mar 24, 2018 2