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Comment by madamelic | Hacker News Reader

There is statistical data saying the opposite: http://chrisparnin.me/pdf/stress_FSE_20.pdf

That whiteboard interviews are actually testing how you perform under stress rather than how good you are at your job.

Additionally, in my opinion, it measures how good the interviewer is. If you get a bad interviewer or even just one in a bad mood, just pack your bags because you aren't getting it.

Whiteboards are incredibly arbitrary in my opinion, if taken alone. If it is part of a complete assessment, ehhhh.

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>There is statistical data saying the opposite

Interesting study and really good discussion on HN at the time, but the opposite of "[Whiteboard interviews] often give a very good and reasonable signal that often has a high corollary to work performance" would be something like "People who do well at whiteboard interviews tend to be worse performers at work." I don't think that's what the study said at all; rather that people do worse at whiteboard problems when they're being watched vs. not being watched.

Also people act as though software is a job without anxiety. There is plenty of anxiety in this job. Sometimes under pressure you really do have to perform or push back and its good to know if people can do it.

It doesn't have to be stressful. Whether or not you have a gun to your head is due to management. Deadlines are an abstract concept created by humans and can always be moved. The best companies keep them very elastic.

> Also people act as though software is a job without anxiety.

Not. All. Anxiety. Is. The. Same.

Ask a firefighter to give a speech in front of 1000 people. This is an entirely different kind of anxiety than running into a burning building. Ironically, it may be the former rather than the latter that makes the firefighter sweat.

Writing code is generally not a performance art. We're not stage performers. Interviews are an unusual situation that aren't anything like our daily jobs. Stress on the job is not the same as interview stress. Work emergencies are not the same as interviews.

We need to take into account human psychology. These factors are all well known, but the tech industry seems to act in deliberate ignorance of humanity.

Also stress on the job isn't the same as stress getting a job.

One you are getting paid no matter what, the other you aren't and are 'performing' in the hopes of getting paid.

The interview anxiety is a very specific type of anxiety - if it occurs during the day job - stay away from such company.

Most noteworthy for me: All of the women failed the whiteboard tests, however they passed tests conducted in a private setting.

Assuming the study’s results are valid, that’s really all the justification we need to get rid of these tests.

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