Ask HN: I always beat the technical interview but never get the job. Why?
Is it because I'm in my mid 30s and have a spotty resume and a degree in Economics but none in CS? Are technical interviews only a way to weed out people?
33 comments
When we interview, we only look for two things: technical chops, and personality. If you're sure you're acing the technical parts, I'm assuming they do not like your personality.
Resumes only matter for getting an interview in the first place.
Resumes only matter for getting an interview in the first place.
I have made inquiries and after the weekend if I get any responses I'll post them here.
How have you made the inquiries?
HN might be able to provide useful feedback based on that information.
HN might be able to provide useful feedback based on that information.
I emailed the recruiter at the last place using a lot of the language recommended in the threads here.
They might respond next week during a weekday and if they do I'll share their feedback here
They might respond next week during a weekday and if they do I'll share their feedback here
Many companies are reluctant to say why you’ve been declined for fear of a discrimination lawsuit. Most simply ghost. It’s a terrible practice, but unfortunately common.
There's a duplicate and longer submission with more details here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115206
The submission I'm replying to seems to be the one that's picked up traction.
@nblasted: please don't make dupliate submissions. You have about 2 hours to make edits, that window seems to have passed.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115206
The submission I'm replying to seems to be the one that's picked up traction.
@nblasted: please don't make dupliate submissions. You have about 2 hours to make edits, that window seems to have passed.
Oops sorry guys I was sleeping. I'll review the dupe and edit or delete. My apologies
Alas there appears to be no way to delete. I will be more careful in the future
Generally you've got 2 hours to make edits or delete.
Once a post (or comment) has replies, it cannot be deleted, though it can still be edited.
It's generally frowned on to edit in such a way that original meaning is changed, or responders are made to look bad.
Once a post (or comment) has replies, it cannot be deleted, though it can still be edited.
It's generally frowned on to edit in such a way that original meaning is changed, or responders are made to look bad.
Are you sure you beat the interview?
You may have got the reasons correct. Why not ask them, it won't hurt and they may not tell the whole truth if they even respond to you.
They may just be crappy companies you're happier off without too.
You may have got the reasons correct. Why not ask them, it won't hurt and they may not tell the whole truth if they even respond to you.
They may just be crappy companies you're happier off without too.
I hate to break it to you, but you didn't beat the tech interviews. If you had you would have gotten an offer.
this is the most interesting possibility but the recruiter said it was the video interview I fell down in.
Hard to say from the outside.
None of what you said is a dealbreaker for me. (But a lot of people raise an eyebrow at gaps in the résumé). What are your languages by the way? A lot of us are hiring ;-)
I interviewed a guy once who was technically amazing. Successfully answered all technical questions, had certs, great resume. Within 15 minutes I knew I didn’t want to work with him. He was abrasive, demeaning (to his ex colleagues), blamey, short tempered. The interview panel was unanimous. Great technical chops, impossible personality. I think someone actually brought up the no asshole rule.
I know nothing of your personality so I’m certainly NOT calling you an asshome, but a large part of the interview is not the technical questions.
On the flip side, I’ve got a friend who successfully interviewed for a job he was under qualified for (at a FAANG company). I knew before he interviewed that he’d get the job because he’s the sort of guy I’d trust with a million dollar budget a new technology and an untrained team. You can just tell he’ll figure it out and come out on top. He told me his job in the interview was to make the interviewer like him within 5 min. Pretty solid advice.
Focus a bit on first impressions, the people part and make deliberate efforts to present as the kind of person they want to work with.
I interviewed a guy once who was technically amazing. Successfully answered all technical questions, had certs, great resume. Within 15 minutes I knew I didn’t want to work with him. He was abrasive, demeaning (to his ex colleagues), blamey, short tempered. The interview panel was unanimous. Great technical chops, impossible personality. I think someone actually brought up the no asshole rule.
I know nothing of your personality so I’m certainly NOT calling you an asshome, but a large part of the interview is not the technical questions.
On the flip side, I’ve got a friend who successfully interviewed for a job he was under qualified for (at a FAANG company). I knew before he interviewed that he’d get the job because he’s the sort of guy I’d trust with a million dollar budget a new technology and an untrained team. You can just tell he’ll figure it out and come out on top. He told me his job in the interview was to make the interviewer like him within 5 min. Pretty solid advice.
Focus a bit on first impressions, the people part and make deliberate efforts to present as the kind of person they want to work with.
It is hard to have a valuable answer for you without knowing more information like:
What do you mean when you say “beat the tech interview”?
to what jobs did you applied? What were they asking specifically?
What kind of questions were you asked and how did you replied to them?
What do you mean when you say “beat the tech interview”?
to what jobs did you applied? What were they asking specifically?
What kind of questions were you asked and how did you replied to them?
The tech interviews I've had so far have consisted of some kind of leetcode or hackerrank or codility test and then basically the same thing but supervised.
On one of the older ones I stalled out on references. It was a fed gig and they wouldn't take freelance clients for references so I had to use managers from like a year or more ago and one of them just wouldn't respond to recruiter emails. They made me do a lot of tests though and they kept saying I was advancing because I beat the tests and got all the corner cases. I dropped some pastries at the old office (as much for my old colleagues as for my old manager) and emailed my old manager about the reference but she seems evasive about it. She's also extraordinarily busy and I don't really want to pressure her into giving a reference if she feels I was a bad employee (although she could say as much in the reference). She could come through in the end. I guess we'll see.
I'm in a few interviews right now. In the one I recently got spat out of, I had some leetcode problems which I think I got correct (I don't know if I got all the corner cases but I sure tested for everything I could think of). One of the recruiters said I fell down on the video interview. I'm sure their feedback will clear it up and I'll post it here to close the issue.
I don't think I'm that good at data structures and algorithms. I've definitely hit the limit of my natural talent. I'm bad at recursion (I almost always prefer while loops). I haven't been getting a lot of questions about binary trees and I think that's why I've been doing relatively well. Binary trees are okay too but I never see them in the wild and I can get confused about them. I need to grind a lot more leetcode but if I do that what I will have attained is not really a native excellence or deeper insight into the nature of data structures and algorithms but rather a kind of mental hashmap or muscle memory of approaches to mimic that I've seen in leetcode problems in the past (which is not unhelpful in and of itself).
Anyway the other day I did some landscaping around a transmission line tower for the power authority and wrote a little webscraper for an upwork client. The former paid me $2100 and the latter paid me $320 and the latter was a lot more work. Seems like there's easier ways to make a living than programming.
On one of the older ones I stalled out on references. It was a fed gig and they wouldn't take freelance clients for references so I had to use managers from like a year or more ago and one of them just wouldn't respond to recruiter emails. They made me do a lot of tests though and they kept saying I was advancing because I beat the tests and got all the corner cases. I dropped some pastries at the old office (as much for my old colleagues as for my old manager) and emailed my old manager about the reference but she seems evasive about it. She's also extraordinarily busy and I don't really want to pressure her into giving a reference if she feels I was a bad employee (although she could say as much in the reference). She could come through in the end. I guess we'll see.
I'm in a few interviews right now. In the one I recently got spat out of, I had some leetcode problems which I think I got correct (I don't know if I got all the corner cases but I sure tested for everything I could think of). One of the recruiters said I fell down on the video interview. I'm sure their feedback will clear it up and I'll post it here to close the issue.
I don't think I'm that good at data structures and algorithms. I've definitely hit the limit of my natural talent. I'm bad at recursion (I almost always prefer while loops). I haven't been getting a lot of questions about binary trees and I think that's why I've been doing relatively well. Binary trees are okay too but I never see them in the wild and I can get confused about them. I need to grind a lot more leetcode but if I do that what I will have attained is not really a native excellence or deeper insight into the nature of data structures and algorithms but rather a kind of mental hashmap or muscle memory of approaches to mimic that I've seen in leetcode problems in the past (which is not unhelpful in and of itself).
Anyway the other day I did some landscaping around a transmission line tower for the power authority and wrote a little webscraper for an upwork client. The former paid me $2100 and the latter paid me $320 and the latter was a lot more work. Seems like there's easier ways to make a living than programming.
Ask for their feedback. In the meantime, treat the variables for your rejection as "Unknown unknowns". You don't even know what you don't know.
To find out, work on an interesting project. Build something that involves the whole tech stack you are targeting. You will actually find a lot of gaps in your knowledge. The idea should be something that you care about... that will keep you interested in seeing the final outcome if it is a large project.
You have to showcase your ability to work on large sophisticated projects and the confidence that you can get them done.
"Be So Good They Can't Ignore You".
To find out, work on an interesting project. Build something that involves the whole tech stack you are targeting. You will actually find a lot of gaps in your knowledge. The idea should be something that you care about... that will keep you interested in seeing the final outcome if it is a large project.
You have to showcase your ability to work on large sophisticated projects and the confidence that you can get them done.
"Be So Good They Can't Ignore You".
May I please know what kind of technical interviews you've had? Have you tried sending a friendly email and asking the interviewers for reasons? Do they have issues with your style of solving the problems? Like, do you hole up and do it all by yourself or do you walk them through and ask clarifying questions along the way?
Even if the manager likes you, HR might gatekeep due to employment not being a perfect track record. Maybe sending HR an email thanking them for their help along your journey so far and asking why you didn't make the final cut may also give you some insight.
Even if the manager likes you, HR might gatekeep due to employment not being a perfect track record. Maybe sending HR an email thanking them for their help along your journey so far and asking why you didn't make the final cut may also give you some insight.
The key is called Emotional Intelligence. That book is one of the best about that topic: https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Th...
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why not ask the folks when they pass on you? completing the technical portion doesn’t mean you should expect an offer.
if simply asking them wasn’t obvious or seems too difficult or awkward, then that may be indicative of the problem.
if simply asking them wasn’t obvious or seems too difficult or awkward, then that may be indicative of the problem.
Most probably they didn't like you dude.
asking for more $ than their budget probably... they will never admit it though.
maybe you have asked some questions twice?
I understand that reference.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115206
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115206
Is it because I have a silly moustache?
I'm Muslim with a goatee and an interviewer actually told me that "Would you mind shaving? Korean companies prefer clean shaven." One Dutch company also gave me a rant on how they were more progressive and tolerant in the Netherlands.
I don't know if it's related, but at least they brought it up. I suspect most don't and only realize it after the technical interview. It's also why I appreciate the pointless "culture screen" that happens before the 1 hour codility/leetcode, which happens before the actual technical interview. Let them have these multiple layers so at least I get feedback on what layer I'm stumbling on.
I don't know if it's related, but at least they brought it up. I suspect most don't and only realize it after the technical interview. It's also why I appreciate the pointless "culture screen" that happens before the 1 hour codility/leetcode, which happens before the actual technical interview. Let them have these multiple layers so at least I get feedback on what layer I'm stumbling on.
no…
Maybe you're weeded out by weed
background check? :)