The Horrifically Dystopian World of Software Engineering Interviews

[Aquarians]

you are not cynical. Before h1b is allowed to proceed, job must be advertised, if anyone applies, they will be interviewed. Essentially “fake” interview so to speak.

"Jewish Problems": This is a special collection of problems that were given to select applicants during oral entrance exams to the math department of Moscow State University. These problems were designed to prevent Jews and other undesirables from getting a passing grade. Among problems that were used by the department to blackball unwanted candidate students, these problems are distinguished by having a simple solution that is difficult to find. Using problems with a simple solution protected the administration from extra complaints and appeals. This collection therefore has mathematical as well as historical value.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556

 

[DiceAreCast]

Lol, how quickly did this thread go downhill, now it's the evil foreigners who either take the job of Americans or foreigners who discriminate against Jewish applicants. Should have anticipated where this story is going with "Jared". Shall we perhaps return to the path of facts and truth or are we already past the chance to return?

"Jewish Problems": This is a special collection of problems that were given to select applicants during oral entrance exams to the math department of Moscow State University. These problems were designed to prevent Jews and other undesirables from getting a passing grade. Among problems that were used by the department to blackball unwanted candidate students, these problems are distinguished by having a simple solution that is difficult to find. Using problems with a simple solution protected the administration from extra complaints and appeals. This collection therefore has mathematical as well as historical value.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556

 

[stochastix]

I hate to be too cynical, and I believe a lot of these hiring managers are actually looking for the best candidates, but I suspect some of this is to help foment the idea that tech companies just "can't find" enough American engineers. They scream that they really need to have the H1-B visa program expanded and are "forced" to out source coding to India, etc. Why pay an American $150k when you can get a "super experienced" Mumbai guy for five bucks an hour...

you are absolutely perfectly correct. when I interviewed at chaseand bofa it was literally south Asians as far as they eye can see.. not even any other type of '
minorities'

 

[stochastix]

you are not cynical. Before h1b is allowed to proceed, job must be advertised, if anyone applies, they will be interviewed. Essentially “fake” interview so to speak.

I've had many such fake interviews and I reported to the department of labor and got no reply

 

[DiceAreCast]

Then you interviewed for a shit job, period.

you are absolutely perfectly correct. when I interviewed at chaseand bofa it was literally south Asians as far as they eye can see.. not even any other type of '
minorities'

 

[Aquarians]

Those are the hoops you have to jump through to get into any of the big tech companies. However, there are plenty of software engineering jobs out there that do not require that.

I agree you don't have to put up with the hoops (and abuse, see below).

You obviously have never undergone any quant trading interview sessions. You get bombarded with puzzles the second you enter. Not by one interviewer but one after another after another, sometimes up to 10-20 interviews PER ROUND. This in comparison is a joke. Getting paid a handsome amount is competitive. What else did you expect?

I did actually, till I realized both what fan27 said about not having to do it, and the darker nature of the whole process, see below.

I hate to be too cynical, and I believe a lot of these hiring managers are actually looking for the best candidates, but I suspect some of this is to help foment the idea that tech companies just "can't find" enough [...] engineers.

This happens in Europe(ean Union) too. Hiring managers sell to upper levels the idea of selecting the "best candidates", which means the process by design is in dire need of cannon fodder. After going through a couple of such "interviews" you come to realize you never even had a chance to begin with. Instead you are cynically lured into a game whose only purpose is to massacre candidates by the drones in order to justify that eventual hire (be it purely by luck or worse, driven by darker considerations).[/QUOTE]

 

[traider]

Their money their rules. No point in complaining if you want to play the game

 

[DiceAreCast]

Imo, this is a poor argument. When things go wrong they should be corrected and pointed out.

And I don't deny that in the lower rungs of the IT company hierarchy salary lowball games are played, it's pretty obvious given the overpopulation of Indians in those companies. But generalizing and suggesting this happens at top firms as well is not just unfounded but plainly incorrect. The vast majority of top notch firms are interested in top notch employees and unfortunately certain people can't accept that others of different nationality are simply better, not on average of course but individually.

Their money their rules. No point in complaining if you want to play the game

 

[traider]

Imo, this is a poor argument. When things go wrong they should be corrected and pointed out.

And I don't deny that in the lower rungs of the IT company hierarchy salary lowball games are played, it's pretty obvious given the overpopulation of Indians in those companies. But generalizing and suggesting this happens at top firms as well is not just unfounded but plainly incorrect. The vast majority of top notch firms are interested in top notch employees and unfortunately certain people can't accept that others of different nationality are simply better, not on average of course but individually.

What I'm saying is instead of spending time complaining about things that are unlikely to change, I could instead be using the time to do Cracking the Coding Interview 10000 questions if I really desired a top coding job. The 2nd is a more productive use of time.

 

[stochastix]

I've had many such fake interviews and I reported to the department of labor and got no reply

When i pointed this out on reddit I was accused of being a racist and a mob of clueless idiots claimed it wasn't happening. I think a lot of americans would be shocked to find out there actually arent many americans working at american banks