Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

Re:Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software s... by bradlys on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:03PM (#23849108)

Luck is likely not far off from preparation in terms of effect though. Luck could be divided up into separate parts like: chance you get an interviewer who asks easy problems, chance you get a hostile interviewer, chance your interviewer is racist/sexist/tabs-ist/hates-your-face, chance your interviewer loves you for no apparent reason, chance your interview is going through a divorce, etc..

I've seen some of the best interviewers I know still fail at various companies. Including ones they were given offers to before. Luck might not be the #1 component but it sure feels like it's not a distant second.

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Re:Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software s... by decafninja on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:08PM (#23849188)

There are some components to the interview you can directly affect, and some you can't.

By grinding leetcode, you raise the odds that you'll get a problem you've seen before, or at least similar enough that you recognize the way to solve it without having to waste time by starting from absolute scratch. I guess that's still luck, but this is one area you can increase the odds in your favor.

You can't change whether you get a hostile interviewer, etc. of course.

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Re:Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software s... by alkibiades on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:09PM (#23849208)

i agree but regarding your example about failing companies that you’ve previously had offers from: ive seen this as well. but it was a case of hubris where the person didn’t put in the work to prepare as hard the second time because of their previous results.

the shitty thing about interviewing is you have to prepare hard every time you approach it

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Re:Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software s... by bradlys on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:29PM (#23849527)

While that might be the case for people you've known - I've seen it with people who prepared even more than the last time.

I've also seen the opposite - right? People don't prepare anywhere near as much as the last time and still get offers. I've seen folks get offers at Google and spent maybe a few hours preparing. Luck is just a very wild component.

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