[nathan_long]

> Because unless you are some sort of celebrity engineer, "interview is a conversation between both parties" is nonsense.

I disagree. Unless the candidate desperately needs this job, he/she can walk away. The candidate is free to consider "company won't bother to answer my questions at the point when they have most reason to be nice to me" as a bad signal.

> I am specially referring to companies that don't really have to care about your feelings towards their interviews

"This company doesn't have to care about my feelings because they are huge and have lots of applicants and a giant incessant interview machine chugging through them efficiently" is certainly something I'd consider in whether I want to work for them, because it tells me I'd be a cog in a machine. (And if enough people consider that, perhaps they will have to care.)

To the parent question: I wouldn't ask a whiteboard question exactly, but I would certainly ask some questions about existing architecture and rationale so I have an idea what I may be working on.

[dominotw]

> it tells me I'd be a cog in a machine.

Aren't you a cog regardless though. Why would one work for half the salary just because of an interview. If one can get over the interview part, he/she can retire 10 yrs sooner.

[jerf]

Well, to take the metaphor too far, there's cogs that are greased and used only within spec, then there's cogs that are never greased and deliberately run beyond spec, rust ignored, etc., and in the worst cases, cogs that are used as, err, bulletproofing or something. Metaphors. Never trust 'em, they always turn on you.

For what I'm paid, I don't mind being a bit of a cog. Work is a means to an end for me, not my identity. But I would like to be kept greased and worked within spec, not constantly in crunch time. And while I am fundamentally disposable, I prefer to work in a place that sees I'm lot more valuable not being disposed of. (Again, metaphor breaks down here; planning on your personnel being routinely disposed means you are planning on nobody ever actually developing any skill in your systems.) It's not all the same thing.