Physical whiteboard for interview?

Amazon
flunked

Go to company page Amazon

flunked
Dec 3, 2021 10 Comments

PSA: invest in a whiteboard before your sys design interviews.

Gave a few interviews with virtual drawing boards and they were really bad. It took a long time to draw and write stuff.

For my last one, i invested in a whiteboard and was much more comfortable in explaining my thoughts. Better flow and ability to update my design on the fly.

What is your preference?

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#engineering #software #swe #interview

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TOP 10 Comments
  • I gave my interviews using a Surface and used the stylus, shared the screen. Easy peasy..
    Dec 3, 2021 0
  • VMware
    WpOw66

    Go to company page VMware

    WpOw66
    Second camera pointed at a piece of paper, and then join video chat twice
    Dec 3, 2021 0
  • Amazon / Mgmt
    SumPerson

    Go to company page Amazon Mgmt

    SumPerson
    Meh, I just interview people using draw.io and have them share their screen. It's essentially the same as a whiteboard IMO
    Dec 3, 2021 2
    • Amazon
      nsbhskbs

      Go to company page Amazon

      nsbhskbs
      Because the interview process isn’t stressful enough without having to fight with crappy tools? :-). I guess it is giving them a good sense of what working for Amazon will be like… stress and crappy tooling!
      Dec 4, 2021
    • Amazon / Mgmt
      SumPerson

      Go to company page Amazon Mgmt

      SumPerson
      I usually don't even have them draw much TBH. Most the interview is just diving into technologies, problems they'll run into, and gauging if they're familiar with that tech and how it solves their problem. Feel free to DM me and you can shadow if you'd like
      Dec 4, 2021
  • New
    blah blahb

    New

    blah blahb
    All interviewS should be on a keyboard just like the way you type in code. Some dude we hired did not know how to use any text editors. He was great on a whiteboard.
    Dec 3, 2021 1
  • I passed my IC5 system design interview without drawing a single item on a board, virtual or real. If you have good communication skills and your interviewer is good at what they do you don’t need to draw anything.
    Dec 5, 2021 0