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Comment by collyw | Hacker News Reader

Actually having done various coding tests recently, I decided that whiteboard in front of people is probably my favored method.

At least that way I can explain my thought process. Far better than "You have two hours to design, implement and test this". Sure, if the domain a clone of your everyday work its quite feasible, but any other problem, I prefer to think through properly rather than rush it. I personally see that as a sign of my maturity as a developer.

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Besides the specific stressful situation (which one will never experience on the job, doing day-to-day duties), one thing that is really flawed in those kind of interviews - it is assumed that you spent several months preparing for coding interviews. Many don't have a time for this, and many don't even enjoy these kind of puzzles, competitive programming. There is nothing wrong with that.

> it is assumed that you spent several months preparing for coding interviews.

Not all companies are like that.

The point for prepping is that you're likely going to go through several coding interviews at a variety of companies, and the upfront prep time is to kick the tires on those skills.

Whiteboard coding is a skill, and like any skill can be mastered with practice.

I like the fact that you can explain the way you are thinking. You might not get things right, but people can see where you are heading. As opposed to google's test where a brilliant solution popped randomly into my head. Half an hour after the phone interview.

I see it differently. I personally don't do well when somebody told me to solve a problem (regardless of the difficulty) in an hour or so while that person is around. I want to think quietly in my head or write down stuff where I need to (on a notebook or even type up quickly in the IDE/notepad app). I also want to look up the existing tools and stuff that I could use so that I can build something the right way. Even for a small coding problem like sorting, I want to run it in my head or write it down on paper lone to test it. That's why the current way of interviewing is so much trouble for me. I could solve most of the problems that are given in the modern day tech interviews IF I am alone given an hour without having to speak it out loud.

Better option would be that they give me a small, independent project to work on for a few days and once I finish it, I talk about how I approach and solve the problem with the interviewer via phone/skype/gchat. That would have actually been the best way to test a candidate's ability.

Try 3 or 4 of those independent projects in a row, and you will soon get pissed off.

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