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Comment by spacetraveler11 | Hacker News Reader

Is there a difference in the interview process between the US and the EU? Wherever I applied to in the EU I was almost always given a small, practical programming exercise relevant to the field I was applying for and for which I had a few days to hand in my solution (usually they were quick to solve, depending on the level of polish you would put in). In the interview itself we would then discuss the implementation and that way I got to know the team I'd be working with and they could see if we were able to discuss and explain code.

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For my first programming job interview when I was just out of college I was asked to do a simple CRUD application with some sample database the team had. They gave me the general specs (do it in VB.net or C#) and left me alone for 3 hours. After that, I just talked a bit about my code .

This was back in 2003, way before the Leetcode crap had taken on small companies.

Very much so. The leetcode charade was invented in the US (and even ten years ago it wasn't common). Nowadays it's the only way they do it here even in regular companies with unremarkable tech and benefits.

The FAANGs brought this style to the EU but it's not as [dynamic programming-level] crazy yet. Interviewing in Europe feels more humane while here in the States it's gives you a distinct mechanical taste. And Europeans are more likely to discuss relevant tech and previous experience with it.

From what I have seen take home tasks had been popular in the EU before they became more common here.

It's not more humane, the entire process in europe is extremely "credential" based. Good luck getting any type of SWE interview in france without at least a good degree. And if you aren't from a "grande école" you will never get above team lead no matter how competent you are.

It's not even a glass ceiling, it's a full on concrete slab over your head. Management is completely sealed off depending on your Alma mater.

So yeah sure, the interview process is relaxed and gentle because you basically wouldn't even be given a chance if your education/credentials weren't enough for a given position/salary .

At least the American way gives you a chance to get your feet through the door at almost any level. That's why the interviews are harder, you get a chance to get a really high paying job without having to go to say, Polytechnique Paris. Obviously graduating from Stanford will probably help you a looot still, and your Alma Mater... matters. But you can get by just fine with a diploma from a state university, it doesn't completely shut you off from those very high end jobs. And if you don't want those SV-tier jobs and aim for something less competitive, the interview process is usually just as "humane" and laid back as in europe.

I don't know about the rest of europe but I don't think americans realize how "hierarchically stiff" France is. Like sure you won't get to leetcode for a 300k job, but that's because you won't even make it past the CV screening.

I'm in the EU as well and while I'm quite junior, I felt like I had lots of options during my recent job search. One company gave me a practical exercise (using Spring Boot) and since I'm not familiar with that framework there was simply no way for me to complete it in a reasonable amount of time (we didn't use Spring in the CS program at uni). I had to withdraw my application.

I can't preemptively learn every framework that someone might ask you to use in these practical assignments, but I still think that I'm a fairly strong candidate (let's say top 10% of my graduating class).

I ended up at a company that asked more generic (but harder) questions that I could actually answer.

The company probably was using Spring Boot in their production and wanted to find someone already familiar with the frameworks they use to ensure themselves with an easier onboarding. Of course you can’t preemptively learn every framework out there but chances are that you’d find a place to use the ones you already know, especially if said framework is popular. The alternative you ended up with was a company willing to test your general reasoning and train you on their SW stack. It’s great to have variety and the problem with leetcode is that standardized testing that doesn’t really test for anything practical but for which you have to put in months of preparation.

Putting Polish in your code would indeed considerably complicate the solution.

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