How do
Have you ever sourced the perfect software developer, only to have him or her bomb the interview? What should programmers expect when asked to go to the whiteboard? How “buttoned up” should their code be? How do your hiring managers assess problem solving capabilities? What key behaviors are highly valued at your company? You will learn how to coach your tech candidates effectively, helping more of them survive the interview process, and increase your recruiting ROI.
5. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 5gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
Here’s the Problem
Process is biased towards falsenegatives
“Better to reject a good candidate than hire a bad one”
Lots of myths about interviews
Good candidates often fail
Your recruiting costs go up
6. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 6gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
Prep to Reduce FalseNegatives
Even playing field
Reduces anxiety
Removes randomness
More consistentprocess
Higherquality answers
7. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 7
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
How
to
Solve
DesignYour
Process
TrainYour
Interviewers
PrepYour
Candidates
Hire More.Spend Less.
8. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 8
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Need
to
Prep
Structure
Style of Questions
WhatYou’re Looking For
How to Prepare
Wearenotteaching
tothetest!
14. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 14gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
What To Tell Candidates
Examples of question
How much focus
How to prepare
How to do well
What you do/don’t expect
Sitdownwithyourengineers&discuss!
17. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 17gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Do It Right
Primarily focus on technicalexperience
Avoid cheesy questions
Probe deeper
Don’tacceptanswersatfacevalue
18. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 18gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
1 Minute Pitch/Walk-Through
Chronological order
Mentionhobbies, especially technical
Mentionthe cool or interestingparts
19. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 19gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
ExperienceQuestions
Prepare 2 – 3 technicalprojects to discuss in detail
Hard/cool
Candidatedidcoreparts
Be comfortable diagraming at the whiteboard
Consider:
Challenges, tradeoffs, technology choices, successes, what you’d do differently,
etc
21. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 21gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Do It Right
Basicknowledge isn’t very useful
If they can learn it quickly, why does it matter?
Knowledge should be:
Hard to acquire
OR
A red flagto lack
22. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 22gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Prepare
What topics you’ll cover
Be open about what you do and don’t know
Derive/guess at answers if you don’t know
But admit that you’re notsure
It’sokaytonot know everything!
24. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 24gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Do It Right
Ask open-ended questions
Don’t expect knowledge of your systems
Look for howthey solve
Encourage questions & discussion
25. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 25gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Prep
Problem-solving evaluation, not knowledge
Read about design of other systems
How would you act at work?
Scopethe problem. Ask questions.
Get a basic design.
Improve from there.
Beopen about issues.
DRIVE& LISTEN
27. Gayle Laakmann McDowell 27gayle in/gaylemcdgayle
How to Do It Right
Medium / hard problems.
Uncommon problems.
Don’t look for just correctness.
Encourage the candidate. Be nice.
28. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 28
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
What
They
Think
Testing obscure knowledge
Need to solve immediately
Must get everything right
Just correct is good enough
Hints = you’re doing badly
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
What
You
Want
Assess problem-solving skills
Evaluate CS fundamentals
Push through hard problems
Communication
30. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle Laakmann McDowell 30
Preparation
Review & implementDS/Algorithms
Be very comfortable with bigO
Practice with interviewquestions
(Givethem examples!)
Code on paper/whiteboard
31. gayle in/gaylemcdgayleGayle Laakmann McDowell 31
How ToDo Well
Keeptrying
Problemsare hard.That’sokay!
Talkout loud
A slow solution is a good start
But keep optimizing fromthere
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
How
To
Tackle
1. Listen carefully.
Ask if you’re confused
2. Examples help a lot.
3. Start with slow solution.
4. Optimize from there.
Your interviewer may help you.
35. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 35
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
What
They
Think
Some: Must be flawless!
Others: Pseudocode is fine.
Designdoesn’t matter.Just correct
is good enough.
37. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 37
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
How
To
Tackle
1. Walkthrough algorithmagain
Don’trushintocoding
2. Take your time
3. Write real code
4. Test it
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Ways
to
Prep
Classes
Ideal,butneedlotsofcandidates
Videos
Books
Handouts
Discussion
Emails
40. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 40
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
How
To
Implement
A “contract” withinterviewers
Decidewhatinterviewslooklike
Yougetthembetterprepared
candidates
Theysticktovision
Interview training
Bonus: more consistency.
41. gayle in/gaylemcdgayle 41
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Gayle Laakmann McDowell
How
to
Solve
DesignYour
Process
TrainYour
Interviewers
PrepYour
Candidates
Hire More.Spend Less.