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Discussion on: Do whiteboard interviews still exist? 🤔

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teresaholfeld profile image
Teresa Holfeld

I've been interviewed that way at Google with 5 interviews in a row, and I'm pretty sure they are still doing this. So if you want to get a job at Google, better get a copy of "Cracking the Coding Interview" and train yourself at being able to solve optimization problems on a whiteboard.
(I used my window for that - perfect solution if you don't want to buy a whiteboard.)

In other companies I've been asked single questions where we used the whiteboard. But most interviews actually had practical coding questions, where I had to sit down and develop a piece of code. For example, I was asked to develop an app as homework and deliver it after a week, or had a couple of hours to submit code to a coding question. I even had whole probation days where I was asked to do pair programming with the interviewer.

From my personal experience as a team lead who interviews people for Android positions, I'd say that practical coding, especially pair programming, is the best way to assess the abilities of a candidate. Not only the technical ones, but also the soft skills that you need if you work in a team, like communicating strategies or discussing alternative solutions.

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chrisvasqm profile image
Christian Vasquez

Can I <3 this reply twice? Pls?

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kristof0425 profile image
Kristóf Dombi

Thanks for sharing your experience with me, Teresa! 🙏 As I see you are quite experienced on this topic.

I can definitely see the connection between your response and Christian's, that pair programming is the best way to get to know your candidate. TBH my newest colleague has just got his job at us this way.
On his first day, he mentioned us that the best interview experience was at our company because we didn't make him do technical questions, rather assignments, and on-site coding.