Ask HN: What company or person came up with whiteboard interviews?

[whitneyricketts]

Researching the history of technical interviews (in all forms), and I haven't yet tracked down the origins of the whiteboard interview. Whose idea was it that writing code on a whiteboard should be part of the interview process? Also interested in any anecdotes re: managers who adopted the practice, more context re: how it spread, etc.

[shermanyo]

My guess is the "whiteboard interview" morphed over time and lost track of the initial intent and value.

I bet initially, code wasn't a focal point. Hiring for a position that _requires_ an understanding of certain algorithms and/or data structures, it can be a quick and simple way to outline or walk through examples at an abstract level. (both to test knowledge of existing examples, or development of a solution to a new problem)

This actually _removes_ many of the overheads associated with code: syntax, scope, state, context.