[grecy]

Exactly right. I think a lot of people stress that a whiteboard exercise is not a great way to ascertain coding skill.... and they're right. The part they're missing is the whiteboard exercise isn't intended to only test coding skill.

It's about how well you ask questions, how well you listen to instructions, how well you work with others and interpret the specs and information you're given. Then it's about how well you adapt to changing or incomplete requirements, and how well you can explain yourself and your thought process.

Like so many tests in life it's not about the "answer", it's about the process you used to get there.

[pmiller2]

In practice, facing down some 25 year old who’s been at the company for all of 9 months, it is all about “the answer.” In some cases, it’s about 3 answers. Often, it’s actually about their answer — you must do it their way, otherwise you are wrong.

This is not the case 100% of the time, but it is often enough that if you’re interviewing in SF, particularly at startups, you will see it at least every few interviews. It’s ridiculous.

[grecy]

Doesn't sound like a place anyone would want to work at anyway.

That's the great thing about an on-site interview, the evaluation goes both way.

[Aeolun]

The thing is, I can do all of those things very well when I’m not standing in front of a whiteboard.

When someone asks me to do then on a whiteboard in an interview setting they might as well dismiss me immediately.

[Ididntdothis]

When I interview I usually offer a whiteboard or paper and pen. Or they can talk through the problem. I just want to see that somebody is capable of understanding a problem and has a way to work towards a solution. Maybe I should offer a text editor too in the future.