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by JoshTriplett 394 days ago
> The important parts of life (like interviews)

Interviews shouldn't be "exam conditions" either. See the ten thousand different articles that regularly show up here about why not to do the "invert a binary tree on a whiteboard" style of interview.

There are much better ways to figure out people's skills. And much better things to be using in-person interview time on.
1 comments
ecb_penguin 393 days ago
You're confusing the way things are with the way things ought to be.

The reality is life is full of time boxed challenges.

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JoshTriplett 393 days ago
Other than a subset of interviews, what do you have in mind that has a structure similar to an exam? Because I'd agree with the comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44106325 .
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ecb_penguin 393 days ago
> what do you have in mind that has a structure similar to an exam?

All of life! An exam is a time boxed challenge. Sometimes it's open notes, sometimes it's not. I've had exams where I have to write an essay, and I've had exams where I've had to solve math problems. All things I've had to do in high pressure situations in my job.

Solving problems with no help and a clock ticking happens a million times per day.

We even assign grades in life, like "meets expectations" and "does not meet expectations".

Even still, you missed the point of my comment. You keep focusing on how interviews should be done, not how they're conducted in reality.

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JoshTriplett 393 days ago
I understood the point of your comment; I disagreed with it. I think there's a meaningful distinction between high-pressure situations at work and exams in school, sufficiently so that the latter is poor preparation for the former. More to the point, everyone is subjected to the latter, while "thrives under pressure" is not a universal quality everyone is expected to have or use. It's a useful skill, and it's more useful to have than to not have, but the same can be said of a thousand skills, and many of them are things I'd prioritize higher in a colleague or employee, given the choice.
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ecb_penguin 393 days ago
> I think there's a meaningful distinction between high-pressure situations at work and exams in school

Sure, in school there is no real consequence. That's why it's important. School exams are orders of magnitude easier than the real world.

> "thrives under pressure" is not a universal quality everyone is expected to have or use

School isn't intended to imbue everyone with universal qualities. Some people will excel and some wont. The ones that excel will go on to work in situations where you must thrive under pressure.

> It's a useful skill, and it's more useful to have than to not have, but the same can be said of a thousand skills

This is a different discussions then.

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JoshTriplett 393 days ago
It seems like you have equated "excel" with "must thrive under pressure". That is precisely the point I am disputing. It's a skill, like any other. It is not the single most important skill everyone must have and everyone must be filtered on.
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