DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks

Programmers and Puzzles [Comic]

Are puzzles in interviews a good idea or a waste of time? Let's take a look at what the folks from Typemock think in this comic.

Leah Grantz user avatar by
Leah Grantz
·
Jul. 25, 18 · Opinion
Like (5)
Save
Tweet
Share
6.17K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

Puzzling Interviews

After the first interview round with Sophia, Roland moved on to the next level. His meeting with Mel seems promising. Usually at this stage, some puzzles are presented to the interviewee. Let's see, if he gets hired...

Programmers and Interviews

Many programmers feel that puzzles don't reveal their real capabilities. As a matter of fact, in this Reddit thread programmers discuss how some interviews are becoming more and more "ridiculous," and only serve other interests. Here's what one respondent said:

"I find there are a few different things that can be happening here:

  1. Interviewers are trying to show you how smart they are (yep, it happens)
  2. They are looking for someone that fails more questions so they can lowball the salary.
  3. Someone is threatened by you and thinks you could take their job.

Also, companies are looking for more of a culture fit these days. The era of the stinky programmer that doesn't get along with anybody is over. I worked at a company that wouldn't hire people that show up in suits because 'We want people to be individuals' (which is bulkshit [sic], what if that individual wanted to wear a damn suit??)"

According to David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails, he doesn't hire programmers based on puzzles, API quizzes, match riddles, or other parlor tricks. His experience has taught him that the only reliable gauge for the future programmer is looking at real code they've written.

What were your most memorable interview puzzles and riddles? Share them in a comment!

Programmer (hardware)

Published at DZone with permission of Leah Grantz, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Mr. Over, the Engineer [Comic]
  • Express Hibernate Queries as Type-Safe Java Streams
  • AWS Cloud Migration: Best Practices and Pitfalls to Avoid
  • Real-Time Stream Processing With Hazelcast and StreamNative

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: