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by hcho
1903 days ago
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That would still tell me something about the candidate. That they don't double check their assumptions is not a great sign. For the record I always encourage candidates to start with the simplest solution and tell them we can then chat about improvements after we get the basics right. |
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Sounds like you're a good interviewer, and what you describe is how it should be. Even recruiting literature says that the purpose of the interview is for the interviewer and interviewee to "pair" or "partner" to solve the problem.
What usually happens more often than not though, is the interviewer is not very cooperative, and sometimes even hostile. S/he is not partner, but judge jury and executioner. So the interviewee, especially if they are new at this whole leetcode interview game, feels pressured to find the optimal solution ASAP otherwise face rejection.
And even if you tell them what you say above, they'll still feel pressured because if they "waste time" coming up with a simple, obvious, but seemingly suboptimal solution, then they feel that's less time they'll have to spend coming up with and coding the optimal solution.