> I think that most people here are mistaking the finger for the moon. If discrimination is really the reason why we have this kind of interviews, the problem to solve is discrimination and not the hiring process that is attempting to fix it or to hide it.
Agree in that if discrimination is the problem, then thats the problem that needs fixed. But, if these companies really wanted to solve the problem of discrimination then they would be making efforts to do so besides leetcode.
I saw it mentioned earlier in this thread, people can subconsciously discriminate without necessarily realizing it from something as simple as seeing someone's name, their voice, appearance, etc. It's not that the hiring manager is consciously racist but they may have a picture in their head of what a "software engineer" looks or acts like, and if the candidate doesn't fit that mental model they are dismissed regardless of their skill.
In that case, why not anonymize the candidates as much as possible? Don't let the interviewee and interviewer see each other during the technical interview, don't even let those making hiring decisions see their name, distort the voice, etc. Make it as close as possible to "anonymous person A being asked technical questions from anonymous person B." Make the hiring decision and only then de-anonymize the candidate.
I recently had an interview for an ops role (sysadmin type) and was asked a series of PowerShell questions, normally no problem - but the interviewer wouldn't accept "I don't remember the exact cmdlet, but I could do Get-Command Get-xyz* to find it" as if they expected an encyclopedic knowledge of every powershell cmdlet ever made. On the actual job built-in help exists, google exists, KBs exist, etc. Why would I ever be expected to have all this information in memory when the resources to find the information I need is a keystroke away. Test for understanding theory and methodology, not specific commands/language function.
Agree in that if discrimination is the problem, then thats the problem that needs fixed. But, if these companies really wanted to solve the problem of discrimination then they would be making efforts to do so besides leetcode.
I saw it mentioned earlier in this thread, people can subconsciously discriminate without necessarily realizing it from something as simple as seeing someone's name, their voice, appearance, etc. It's not that the hiring manager is consciously racist but they may have a picture in their head of what a "software engineer" looks or acts like, and if the candidate doesn't fit that mental model they are dismissed regardless of their skill.
In that case, why not anonymize the candidates as much as possible? Don't let the interviewee and interviewer see each other during the technical interview, don't even let those making hiring decisions see their name, distort the voice, etc. Make it as close as possible to "anonymous person A being asked technical questions from anonymous person B." Make the hiring decision and only then de-anonymize the candidate.
I recently had an interview for an ops role (sysadmin type) and was asked a series of PowerShell questions, normally no problem - but the interviewer wouldn't accept "I don't remember the exact cmdlet, but I could do Get-Command Get-xyz* to find it" as if they expected an encyclopedic knowledge of every powershell cmdlet ever made. On the actual job built-in help exists, google exists, KBs exist, etc. Why would I ever be expected to have all this information in memory when the resources to find the information I need is a keystroke away. Test for understanding theory and methodology, not specific commands/language function.