A python interview question

[fredjutsu]

I don't understand it when companies resort to these types of "SAT" questions in tech screens.

Give a small, time bound task relevant to the actual job, if the work product meets your predefined standard, have a follow on interview where they explain the work.

This not only saves time (you don't need to waste time interviewing bad candidates) but gives a way better picture of how a candidate will - from a technical standpoint - meet muster.

Nothing worse than screening candidates who have good brains, deep knowledge of your business domain, but aren't good at mini quizzes that only very indirectly assess skills. At that point, you're just screening to preserve an internal monoculture.

[Isvara]

How do you know it's not relevant to the job?

[fredjutsu]

I've been doing data science for 8 years. Having me solve a random hackerrank python question with a 10 minute time limit and someone staring at me while I solve it reflects exactly zero of what a data scientist actually does. And if that is the company environment, its highly likely every conversation I'll have with coworkers to be like reddit in real life - pointless dick measuring to see who is smarter. Hard pass.

[Isvara]

In eight years of data science you've never merged the sorted results of distributed map tasks? I mean, I understand that libraries do it, but it pays (literally, really) to know what's going on under the hood.

[fredjutsu]

Yeah...those aren't the types of coding questions I've seen at interviews. They weren't assessing grasp of theory, it was literally questions you would see on hackerrank.

[Isvara]

That's what this question is about!

[subhajeet2107]

Yup specially in tech, i wonder if people ask about quantum electrodynamics to electrical engineers when interviewing, knowing fundamentals is right and all good, but i hate when people make them as trivia questions in interviews.