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by sonnyblarney
2918 days ago
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"We, as professionals, should consider whiteboarding as an insult. Just walk away." Absolutely disagree. There are tons of developers who have many years under their belt and have glaring holes in their skillsets, or have a complete skillset mismatch, or who are simply not very bright. Conversely, there are some people who are absolutely brilliant, or deeply knowledgable in some areas, and this is one way to possibly determine this. Though a whiteboard discussion is not always going to be entirely efficient, and can be used to test all the wrong things - it is an opportunity to talk with someone directly about the kinds of problems they will solve. Any developer that won't do whiteboard work is displaying 'negative signals' and you should not hire them. Of course, asking potential hires ridiculously difficult or specific questions which essentially tests their ability to memorize CS algorithms is futile as well ... but whiteboard chats are generally positive and it's why all the best companies use them. |
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It is a sign of "an attitude and discipline problem", what IBM Research used to call "wild ducks". They placed great value on finding and hiring "wild ducks" (well, they used to, until they decided to "manage" IBM Research). A wild duck doesn't look for the most efficient algorithm, they look for the most efficient solution. They are rarely the same thing.
Most companies decide to hire someone when they have a problem that needs a solution, when they plan to expand in a new direction, to enhance the skillset of a team, or to cover work based on a new or expanded contract. It is very odd to hire because, hey, we want "the best and the brightest".
So the most efficient method of hiring for a solution, direction, skillset, or contract work is DISCUSSION between the person who has the problem and the person who might be the right fit for the problem. If you're looking to move your bank into digital currency it is a pointless waste of everyone's time to schedule interviews with four bank tellers.
Also, in my experience, whiteboarding is usually conducted by new hires (maybe it's just me?) who recently graduated. So their questions involve either an algorithm they know well or a discussion of the order complexity of the algorithm. Odds are good the questions were on their data structures final exam last semester. Perhaps I never get past this level because I don't know how to program.
Whiteboarding is the same level of nonsense as the old Microsoft "How many gas stations are there in NYC?" interviews. It is supposed to show that you can "reason" and give you an idea of how intelligent someone is. In my experience interacting with intelligent people, their "intelligence" shines through in conversation.