Technical interview performance is kind of arbitrary
Take home tests FTW. The thinking goes as follows:<p>1. If the candidate can&#x27;t be bothered to complete a 2-4 hour (depending on claimed seniority) code test in the language of their choice, we can&#x27;t be bothered to talk to them.<p>2. If the candidate does reasonably well by completing the code test somewhat on time (with a fat margin allowed for them, well, having a life) and within parameters of the task, they&#x27;re invited for a mostly non-technical onsite meet-and-greet.<p>3. During the meet-and-greet we make sure that the candidate isn&#x27;t an axe murderer, is able to hold a quasi-technical conversation, and that both sides aren&#x27;t immediately scared of each other.<p>4. The meet-and-greet can also include some low-key architecture discussion. Any nerds worth their salt will be able to conduct this line of questioning without making it obvious that an interview is taking place. Hopefully this isn&#x27;t a critical step, as a good take-home code test will require the candidate to spend a little time designing or architecting their solution.<p>After the above has taken place, it should be pretty clear whether the candidate in question is a fit or not. Note that this process is by design missing the useless traditional CS questioning component, contrived problem solving exercises, or a whiteboard code beatdown.