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Live coding interviews measure stress, not coding skils (hadid.dev)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/programming@programming.dev
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[–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think there is a difference in setting. Pair coding is a useful exercise but demands a degree of trust that the two of you are working together on a solution rather than one of the pair judging the other.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I don't agree at all. I've definitely been in lair sessions where the other person has been assigned to babysit me to the correct answer. It's just an experience that mostly happens with juniors. I've babysat juniors to the solution myself.

    There can also be zero trust between colleagues forced to pair, especially in debug sessions. I have worked a lot of jobs, so maybe it's just my experience, but I would not say that if categorized every single pair session I've had in my entire career anywhere near half involved two colleagues who trusted each other and didn't judge.

    I've definitely been judged as a senior for dumb dumb moments and that's okay. If you care about people's opinions too personally as a software engineer, I'm not sure this is the career for you. It's a career that involves a lot of negative feedback even as an experienced professional.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    There is a difference between reviewing code and the feedback when you have the job and during an interview when trying to get a job. I'm not saying you should never expect to be pulled up on mistakes just that an interview experience is very different to the work experience.

    Maybe there are ways to ameliorate the stress during the interview to get a better view of how a candidate will perform once hired but I think it's a tricky balance to strike.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    That is a difference people make in their mind. I don't see a difference. The criticism is the critism. If you receive enough negative feedback on PRs after being hired, you will be fired for not be good enough.

    The only way to take away the stress of an interview is to not care about the outcome. I don't and interviews are stressful for me. I present myself as I am and if they don't like it oh well, but that is a confidence I think most people don't have. I have been like this since I was junior so it's not the arrogance of experience. It's not even the confidence of easily being able to get jobs because in my early career it would sometimes take months to get a new job. I'd ask for feedback if I could get it and accept or disregard it. Some feedback amounted to, "this wasn't the job for you" and that's okay.

    I just don't think it's worth worrying about any particular job when hiring is like dating. You can be perfect for one job and an obvious no for another, so it's not worth worrying about the outcome. They like you or they don't.

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