When we think about preparing for interviews, we often think from the perspective of interviewees. But it is equally important for interviewers to be well-prepared. As an interviewer, you have very limited time gather enough data to make a hire/no-hire decision.
What do you do with a new grad candidate who has great projects on paper, could answer questions about the projects but couldn’t solve an easy coding challenge? I often find it hard to reject such candidates but even if I pass them, the next round of interviewers might not pass them. I feel this is a difficult call for interviews
As an interviewer, you can only make a decision on the data you have. Projects on paper are a great data point for resume shortlisting, but aren’t enough for making a “hire” decision. Sure, the candidate couldn’t solve the coding challenge, but - what was their approach? Were they able to describe the right algorithm? Were they able to communicate where they were getting stuck? Were they able to take hints and get unstuck? These are good additional data points to capture. Ultimately, if in doubt, I would lean towards no-hire rather than hire. Hiring the wrong candidate hurts the candidate as much as it hurts the company. (It would be much harder if they were to be let go after they had moved locations, possibly with their family etc)
What do you do with a new grad candidate who has great projects on paper, could answer questions about the projects but couldn’t solve an easy coding challenge? I often find it hard to reject such candidates but even if I pass them, the next round of interviewers might not pass them. I feel this is a difficult call for interviews
As an interviewer, you can only make a decision on the data you have. Projects on paper are a great data point for resume shortlisting, but aren’t enough for making a “hire” decision. Sure, the candidate couldn’t solve the coding challenge, but - what was their approach? Were they able to describe the right algorithm? Were they able to communicate where they were getting stuck? Were they able to take hints and get unstuck? These are good additional data points to capture. Ultimately, if in doubt, I would lean towards no-hire rather than hire. Hiring the wrong candidate hurts the candidate as much as it hurts the company. (It would be much harder if they were to be let go after they had moved locations, possibly with their family etc)