[Borg3]

If you do NOT know, then answer that you do NOT know, unless you can speculate. Noone is omniscent. I really dont like when people with no knowledge trying guess the answer or speculate without any background. Im sure I would NOT want to work with such person.

[goostavos]

I love these threads. They always show what an absolute dice roll the interview process is. OP rates people taking a best guess at a problem they don't know as a positive character trait, this one rates it as a character flaw.

Google didn't reject the candidate, the interview loop he got rejected him for any of the myriad of knee-jerk split-second decisions made on the candidate's character in an unnatural and stressful environment.

I've been in hundreds of interview loops at $Megacorp. You can stack the deck with preparation, but sometimes you just hit a loop that doesn't click with you.

[bowsamic]

Well the goal is to create companies or teams with a consistent sense of what is positive vs a flaw

[goostavos]

At least in my neck of the woods, the "team" is generally only represented by the hiring manager. The rest of the loop is a mix of people from different teams, orgs, and roles, all pulling in their own direction.

[zzyzxd]

It actually depends on what the interviewer wants to see in the candidate. Memorizing a specific implementation? Test their experience and skill for a new design? Or just some sort of personality test and see if they are honest?

As a candidate, if I do not know, I say I do not know. I can offer my thoughts on "but if I were to design this from scratch" based on my experience, but only if the interviewer is interested in that.

As an interviewer, I hate when candidates pretend (or believe) that they know something when they actually don't, and just confidently make stuff up like ChatGPT.

[arandomusername]

You should always try to arrive at an answer before giving up. You won't get anywhere if you won't even try.

[jonas21]

You're treating this as a binary thing -- either you know something or you don't -- like it's rote memorization of facts.

But that's not how problem solving works. You need work your way from what you do know to get to an answer for what you don't. It's not guessing -- it's taking the background knowledge you do have and applying it to the problem at hand (and every engineer should have some background knowledge, even if it's just basic arithmetic).

That's what these kinds of questions are testing. Someone who immediately gives up is probably not going to be resilient in the face of new challenges.

[notarget137]

Problem solving isn't a binary thing either. You are not just capable of solving problems on the spot or not. Different people have different approaches on the same problem under different conditions. Interview is not one of the things that really shows your problem solving skills rather your skills to solve arbitrary dumb problems right there on the spot.

I've quit several interviews because of these particular questions since they are simply wasting my time and not testing my "skills".

[bowsamic]

> Im sure I would NOT want to work with such person.

Well that's the opposite of what the interviewers are looking for. They DO want to work with such people.