My worst tech interview experience
Nowadays, with 20+ years of experience as a software developer behind me, having worked for Apple, First American, Bloomberg, AT&T, Booking, Amazon, many startups, etc. my job interviews have never been easier.Before I am presented with a dumbass interviewer who throws a ridiculous question my way about algorithmic stuff, I prepare them: "Since we are both seeing if the other party is competent, I want you to know that I want you to also solve my questions. They will be slightly more difficult than the questions you pose to me."When I applied for a job at Toptal this made the algorithm-test disappear like snow before an up-close nuclear blast.I've interviewed hundreds of candidates over the years and I would never ask a question I can't also answer from the top of my head, in detail, and then some. Turns out, most technical interviewers who ask you "write a bubble sort" couldn't do it themselves.And if they could, it'd be full of bugs. I mean, I'd rather have developers on my team who Google "bubble sort python" and go for a tried and tested open-source solution. I don't need developers who can reinvent complicated wheels from scratch; I want developers who are efficient.Likewise, I don't want to work for a company where developers pride themselves on over-engineering their things.Having worked at Apple, it doesn't surprise me one bit how slow they are developing simple features and fixing simple bugs. It's a red-tape hell full of not-very pragmatic engineers that are way too smart for the good of the company.