[world32]

Algorithm challenges / whiteboard coding is a whole debate in itself. In fairness there are arguments on both sides I think.

As for likeability or having friends at university - I really don't think that is a fair thing to judge somebody on at all when interviewing for a programming position. I agree absolutely that personal skills and emotional intelligence are necessary for the job but being likeable? In a professional environment that should not matter one bit. Its also completely subjective.

And yes, the whole mansplaining thing is really quite obnoxious.

[why_only_15]

I think the argument for looking for likeability is that if everyone on the team likes one another then they probably work better together professionally. In my understanding the primary pitfall of this is that it can exclude perfectly competent developers. Not everyone needs to be friends.