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Comment by mgberlin | Hacker News Reader

Chemistry has whiteboarding, but instead of writing algorithms or code, you're expected to be able to draw structures, reactions, and synthesis. It's also similar in that this is not necessarily a core part of most chemists everyday job, but something you study for to be able to interview or give presentations regarding your research.

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It's been almost a decade since I worked in an organic synthesis lab, but when I did we stuck with chalk, instead of the more "modern" whiteboards. There's not much an accidental organic solvent spill will do to slate and sticks of calcium carbonate. Acrylic paint and dry erase markers, on the other hand...

I've never heard of whiteboarding a chemical reaction mechanism. Usually since most chemists at a comparable 'engineering level' to programmers are phds, a seminar is expected, and the candidate has something ready to go. It's an opportunity for the team to learn something new while assessing the critical thinking skills of the candidate during the q&a

I've witnessed it in the post-seminar lab visits. It bears little resemblance to the "whiteboard interview" from the developer world, but if you're visiting with a faculty member after you present your work, they may ask you to help them understand some piece of your work by drawing out the mechanism.

I'll disagree with the GP, though, on its applicability to "real-world" work. When I did chemistry, diagraming out a reaction mechanism and pondering it over with colleagues gathered in front of the chalkboard was a daily activity.

sure, but it's not like the employer tells the prospective employee to figure out a mechanism that is not related to the employee's former work (for example, a reaction recently discovered in the employer's lab, or a general reaction that "all good organic chemists should know" - like "show me how dansihevsky's diene works, and apply it to the synthesis of this molecule that you've never seen before") Hah damn. I don't want to give the chemists ideas.

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