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Comment by tapeloop | Hacker News Reader

go for senior positions - they tend to skip the live tech interview side and focus more on decision making

...depending on the type of "senior" role, absolutely

when I interview for senior positions, I'm instantly turned off when I start getting trivia questions related to things that are clearly documented (like "which config file option does X") whereas situational or scenario-based questions are highly relevant and useful

As I wrote over a decade ago in how I do interviews[0],

>What I try to NEVER ask:

> “trivia” questions – I bet there are C questions even K&R couldn’t answer > - I guarantee I can ask you a question about your area of expertise you cannot answer…just like I guarantee you could do the same to me > - since that is the case, trivia questions are pretty pointless, and more of an ego stroke to the asker than anything else > pointless “MindTrap“, lateral-thinking questions - riddles are fun – but only add to the stress of the interview (like “why are manhole covers round”) > pointless problem-solving and estimation problems > - for example, “how would you move Mt Fuji”, or “how many gallons of water flow into New York Harbor from the Hudson River per hour” > - estimation problems are wonderful tools and games to play, but not in an interview

The best questions are practical application questions based on scenarios (real or plausibly-imagined) that discover what assumptions you make, what help you want/need, etc

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[0] https://antipaucity.com/2011/10/03/doing-technical-phone-scr...

I’ve been finding that the senior tests are typically the hardest technical interviews. While it’s almost always something that I could easily do on the job, I find it hard to perform on the spot and observed because of my ADHD/ASD.

I nail any conversation that is just about approach or decision making. I could talk about software and the theories behind it allll day long. The problems start with the technical test.

I even had a YC “mental health” company refuse to consider and accommodate my request for a different technical interview format because of my ASD/ADHD..

The thing you’re perhaps running into is that plenty of people, supposedly very qualified folks, can talk at a high level but can’t actually do the job — can’t even string a handful of lines of code together.

That’s definitely not me. I can run circles around most in backend, front end and even devops. My issue is with interview formats that are not conducive to my special needs and not representative of my true skills. Most tests are very neurotypically centered. Give me a take home test and I’ll blow your mind.

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