How can you tell if you did well in a coding interview?
November 1, 2013 12:32 PM Subscribe
(Aside from the recruiter calling you back, that is.) Thought I did well, but no reply so far, and I'm trying to process what's going on and calibrate my expectations in the future.
Last Friday, I just went through the first round of onsite interviews for a software engineering-related role at Big Silicon Valley Company Whose Product Everyone Uses (no, not Google). After talking to the recruiter, if you're local, their MO is to do two on-site interview rounds, the first of which replaces the usual phone screening.
Overall, I felt like my interview went really well, and that I made a good impression, plus I came out feeling like it'd be a great place and team to work for. But now, partly because of the silence, I can't shake the feeling that I didn't do *well* enough to make it to the next round. That wouldn't really be a big deal in the long run, to be rejected, but it sure would be nice to have some closure either way.
Here are some deliberately vague particulars:
- in 45 minutes, I was asked (and solved) 5 coding questions which progressively increased in difficulty. The first four questions built and iterated on the the first, and I had to write more code on each iteration. The 5th question was similar, but required a completely different approach (and more code)
- my interviewer kept giving me positive feedback throughout, "good", "yeah, that looks good". When we wrapped up the last Q, I remember him saying, "great. Great job. Those were all the questions I had for you."
- the interview was slated to run for 45 minutes, but we went over our allotted time by about 20 minutes, as we did a general company- and position-related Q&A at the end.
- I thought it was interesting that I was asked a new question when we were almost over time, but unless I'm wrong this probably doesn't mean that much in itself.
- finally, FWIW, we had a really good rapport and both sides were cracking jokes.
The only negative that I can really think of is that I stumbled a bit as the difficulty ramped up in the first set of questions, but I picked up on my bug and rewrote my code. That, and I was a bit nervous, of course!
So it's been almost a week and I haven't heard anything back. I guess I can't say that I'm that surprised, as this company's HR people haven't seemed to be on the ball. After discussing the position with the recruiter, it took them nearly a week to schedule my interview. Anyway, I'm going to follow up on Monday, which'll give them 5 full business days. Even though I didn't get a timeline for followup, I'm hoping that'll be reasonable.
Anyway, looping back to the original intent of my question, I guess I'm just wondering how atypical all this is, especially in the tech industry. I don't have a whole lot of experience interviewing in the industry, and so I'm kind of trying to calibrate my expectations: even though a week might feel like an eternity to me, I'm beginning to find out that it's actually a relatively short amount of time in the business world -- that sort of thing.
Last Friday, I just went through the first round of onsite interviews for a software engineering-related role at Big Silicon Valley Company Whose Product Everyone Uses (no, not Google). After talking to the recruiter, if you're local, their MO is to do two on-site interview rounds, the first of which replaces the usual phone screening.
Overall, I felt like my interview went really well, and that I made a good impression, plus I came out feeling like it'd be a great place and team to work for. But now, partly because of the silence, I can't shake the feeling that I didn't do *well* enough to make it to the next round. That wouldn't really be a big deal in the long run, to be rejected, but it sure would be nice to have some closure either way.
Here are some deliberately vague particulars:
- in 45 minutes, I was asked (and solved) 5 coding questions which progressively increased in difficulty. The first four questions built and iterated on the the first, and I had to write more code on each iteration. The 5th question was similar, but required a completely different approach (and more code)
- my interviewer kept giving me positive feedback throughout, "good", "yeah, that looks good". When we wrapped up the last Q, I remember him saying, "great. Great job. Those were all the questions I had for you."
- the interview was slated to run for 45 minutes, but we went over our allotted time by about 20 minutes, as we did a general company- and position-related Q&A at the end.
- I thought it was interesting that I was asked a new question when we were almost over time, but unless I'm wrong this probably doesn't mean that much in itself.
- finally, FWIW, we had a really good rapport and both sides were cracking jokes.
The only negative that I can really think of is that I stumbled a bit as the difficulty ramped up in the first set of questions, but I picked up on my bug and rewrote my code. That, and I was a bit nervous, of course!
So it's been almost a week and I haven't heard anything back. I guess I can't say that I'm that surprised, as this company's HR people haven't seemed to be on the ball. After discussing the position with the recruiter, it took them nearly a week to schedule my interview. Anyway, I'm going to follow up on Monday, which'll give them 5 full business days. Even though I didn't get a timeline for followup, I'm hoping that'll be reasonable.
Anyway, looping back to the original intent of my question, I guess I'm just wondering how atypical all this is, especially in the tech industry. I don't have a whole lot of experience interviewing in the industry, and so I'm kind of trying to calibrate my expectations: even though a week might feel like an eternity to me, I'm beginning to find out that it's actually a relatively short amount of time in the business world -- that sort of thing.
A week is nothing, especially at Big Companies. Wait until... I'd say Wednesday, and ask for a timeline, just so you know what to expect. If he says, "Well, I don't know..." then keep looking for a job somewhere else. If he says, "Oh, it'll be X more days before it clears HR, then Y days after that to clear management..." then keep looking for a job somewhere else anyway.
posted by Etrigan at 12:44 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 12:44 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've "done great" in an interview/show your work thing for two different companies. Got the job at one.
Both times they didn't call me back for over a month after the first step of the process... And it was for another interview.
One of them was Big Well Known Dev Shop, and one was Tiny Local Business. So I think this is pretty unilaterally normal. I've heard similar stories from friends as well.
posted by emptythought at 12:51 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Both times they didn't call me back for over a month after the first step of the process... And it was for another interview.
One of them was Big Well Known Dev Shop, and one was Tiny Local Business. So I think this is pretty unilaterally normal. I've heard similar stories from friends as well.
posted by emptythought at 12:51 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Everything you wrote makes me think it went well particularly going over time and the fact you spotted and fixed a bug in your code. Can't comment on timescales.
posted by crocomancer at 12:52 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by crocomancer at 12:52 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I regularly interview people for similar positions, and have been interviewed for similar positions a variety of times, and if you think you did a great job, you probably did.
Here are things that might happen:
1) The company has one slot open and has two promising candidates, they may need to choose between them.
2) They really want your second interview to be with your potential manager but his schedule is full for the next week and they're trying to make time.
3) HR is slow.
4) etc.
"HR is slow" is really common at a lot of places.
There was one time when I thought i did well in an interview, but HR told me that I "generally did well, but they didn't want to proceed at this time" which I found confusing. Every other time I've interviewed anywhere, I've come away from the interview with a generally correct view on how I've done, positive or negative.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 12:54 PM on November 1, 2013
Here are things that might happen:
1) The company has one slot open and has two promising candidates, they may need to choose between them.
2) They really want your second interview to be with your potential manager but his schedule is full for the next week and they're trying to make time.
3) HR is slow.
4) etc.
"HR is slow" is really common at a lot of places.
There was one time when I thought i did well in an interview, but HR told me that I "generally did well, but they didn't want to proceed at this time" which I found confusing. Every other time I've interviewed anywhere, I've come away from the interview with a generally correct view on how I've done, positive or negative.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 12:54 PM on November 1, 2013
Plan no plans at this point, but I think you would be within your rights to drop HR or the interviewer a note by email saying something to the effect of: "Thanks for the chance to interview. Enjoyed meeting you and discussing the opportunity. Have you made any decisions on the position yet?". Keeping it informal, short and polite.
I'm on the other end of this and get these kinds of emails all the time. I usually try to respond as best I can, but I don't always know the answer either. Sometimes the interview process is still going on, sometimes HR can be very unpredicatable. Sometimes I simply can't say as we're not ready to announce yet.
Even with the best of intentions, a week is often too soon for an employer to be able to say yes or no. However, I don't think it's wrong to ask. Indeed, I think it's a net positive. Asking signals that you're engaged and still interested.
posted by bonehead at 12:58 PM on November 1, 2013
I'm on the other end of this and get these kinds of emails all the time. I usually try to respond as best I can, but I don't always know the answer either. Sometimes the interview process is still going on, sometimes HR can be very unpredicatable. Sometimes I simply can't say as we're not ready to announce yet.
Even with the best of intentions, a week is often too soon for an employer to be able to say yes or no. However, I don't think it's wrong to ask. Indeed, I think it's a net positive. Asking signals that you're engaged and still interested.
posted by bonehead at 12:58 PM on November 1, 2013
The big desirable companies have overworked recruiting systems and can be slow. Interviewers for tech jobs tend to give honest feedback at the time, so if you think you did well then you probably did. Just be patient.
posted by w0mbat at 1:00 PM on November 1, 2013
posted by w0mbat at 1:00 PM on November 1, 2013
Big companies are often interviewing literally hundreds of people at a time, so I don't think you should be too concerned about the machinations of the HR department. Sometimes the recruiter is out of town or they're just busy for whatever reason and haven't compiled all the interview feedback to decide whether or not to make an offer. This is business as usual. Wait a week or two and then reach out to the recruiter just to check you didn't get lost in the shuffle.
As far as whether you did well in the interview, well, it depends on the company and the position. Sometimes similar companies do several successive technical questions to try to "break" the candidate and see where their limitations lie, but to be encouraging and kind during the process so they know the candidate didn't just freeze up with fear. Keep in mind that interviews go both ways. As the person being interviewed, you are concerned with making a good impression and coming across as smart, especially if you are new to your career path, but remember that the people interviewing you want to make a good impression, too. Part of that is that if the interviewer realizes the candidate is struggling and won't possibly make the cut, they give them some softball questions or focus on soft skills and company culture. Even if they don't hire you, they want you to come away feeling like this would be a great place to work so you will tell your friends how you interviewed at X and it was challenging but you had a good experience.
But even if you make the cut technically, it's still possible the company will not give you an offer if you obviously don't fit the company culture. "Company culture" is kind of a BS term but roughly it means "will this person be happy working here based on how they like to work and their personal demeanor"? Yes, it *does* happen that smart and qualified people get turned down for a job because they're not a good match personality-wise.
So in sum, I don't think you can say whether or not you got the job until someone gets back to you, but you may console your anxiety in the interim by remembering that job interviews are a two-way process. Now that you've had this interview, you might know a little more about yourself and what you want in a job. Even if you don't get it, you met some people in your industry, you solved some problems, and you presented yourself at the top of your abilities in a professional capacity. Whether or not you get the job has to do with a lot more than how quickly you solved some coding problem on a whiteboard.
posted by deathpanels at 1:06 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
As far as whether you did well in the interview, well, it depends on the company and the position. Sometimes similar companies do several successive technical questions to try to "break" the candidate and see where their limitations lie, but to be encouraging and kind during the process so they know the candidate didn't just freeze up with fear. Keep in mind that interviews go both ways. As the person being interviewed, you are concerned with making a good impression and coming across as smart, especially if you are new to your career path, but remember that the people interviewing you want to make a good impression, too. Part of that is that if the interviewer realizes the candidate is struggling and won't possibly make the cut, they give them some softball questions or focus on soft skills and company culture. Even if they don't hire you, they want you to come away feeling like this would be a great place to work so you will tell your friends how you interviewed at X and it was challenging but you had a good experience.
But even if you make the cut technically, it's still possible the company will not give you an offer if you obviously don't fit the company culture. "Company culture" is kind of a BS term but roughly it means "will this person be happy working here based on how they like to work and their personal demeanor"? Yes, it *does* happen that smart and qualified people get turned down for a job because they're not a good match personality-wise.
So in sum, I don't think you can say whether or not you got the job until someone gets back to you, but you may console your anxiety in the interim by remembering that job interviews are a two-way process. Now that you've had this interview, you might know a little more about yourself and what you want in a job. Even if you don't get it, you met some people in your industry, you solved some problems, and you presented yourself at the top of your abilities in a professional capacity. Whether or not you get the job has to do with a lot more than how quickly you solved some coding problem on a whiteboard.
posted by deathpanels at 1:06 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Everything you described seems positive but a week is a long time to hear nothing.
One thing you could do is follow up with the people who interviewed you, they are the ones wanting extra hands on deck now. Did you get any business cards? If not, you could contact HR to ask for your interviewer's email, ostensibly to thank them for their time.
(Once, we almost lost a really good guy because our recruiter - unbeknownst to us - moved to a different company and didn't bother to pass his info on to the next person. In this case, the candidate followed up with me directly, and things got back on track.)
posted by rada at 1:15 PM on November 1, 2013
One thing you could do is follow up with the people who interviewed you, they are the ones wanting extra hands on deck now. Did you get any business cards? If not, you could contact HR to ask for your interviewer's email, ostensibly to thank them for their time.
(Once, we almost lost a really good guy because our recruiter - unbeknownst to us - moved to a different company and didn't bother to pass his info on to the next person. In this case, the candidate followed up with me directly, and things got back on track.)
posted by rada at 1:15 PM on November 1, 2013
At The Big Company That Everyone Uses (not Google), 5 questions is the normal max and most people get thru 2. If you got thru all 5, you did good. Just wait.
posted by bensherman at 1:18 PM on November 1, 2013
posted by bensherman at 1:18 PM on November 1, 2013
Response by poster: Not to threadsit, but I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the answers so far. Thanks, guys! One thing I'd like to clarify is that I wouldn't be getting an offer even if I passed this round; I'd have to do another round of interviews. If anyone wants/needs more details, or wants to talk about it further, just shoot me a MeMail. That's it for now.
posted by un petit cadeau at 2:21 PM on November 1, 2013
posted by un petit cadeau at 2:21 PM on November 1, 2013
Nthing following up, thanking and not to worry. Big companies are big and things are chaotic. I respectfully disagree with rada that a week is a long time to hear nothing- it seems absolutely par for the course on anything that isn't 'can you start tonight? tomorrow?' level of ASAP :) These companies think in months and years and decades. Do follow up, but a week or two seems perfectly normal, and I'm leaning towards the interview went really really well. Like other people upthread said, all this stuff can take way more time than we usually imagine.
posted by Jacen at 5:18 PM on November 1, 2013
posted by Jacen at 5:18 PM on November 1, 2013
A week is nothing to wait for a response during a recruitment process. Seriously. Follow up if you want but if they select you they will select you. You have no idea how many other people are also going through this same process. Maybe it's 20?
Is this your first job out of college? When looking for a job, don't focus too much on any particular opportunity. Just keep talking to as many companies as you can. The worst thing that can happen is that you get an offer and turn it down. It is really interesting to see what everyone is doing and get a (admittedly superficial) idea of the different environments.
Have fun! And good luck for this particular opportunity.
posted by aychedee at 7:03 AM on November 2, 2013
Is this your first job out of college? When looking for a job, don't focus too much on any particular opportunity. Just keep talking to as many companies as you can. The worst thing that can happen is that you get an offer and turn it down. It is really interesting to see what everyone is doing and get a (admittedly superficial) idea of the different environments.
Have fun! And good luck for this particular opportunity.
posted by aychedee at 7:03 AM on November 2, 2013
I consider myself to have failed at my job if a candidate leaves a coding interview thinking it went anything other than pretty well. I dial back the difficulty of questions so that the last one is a softball no matter how green the poor sap turns out to be. And if he asks "How'd I do?" and I think he did terribly, I do not tell the truth.
As an aside: please don't ask how you did! It is such an awkward question. Even if you did great I don't want to tell you because I work at a big company and there are plenty of parts of the hiring process over which I have no control. I don't want to give you the impression that the job is in the bag, and I don't want to deliver bad news. That's not what your technical interviewer is for.
posted by town of cats at 8:16 PM on November 2, 2013
As an aside: please don't ask how you did! It is such an awkward question. Even if you did great I don't want to tell you because I work at a big company and there are plenty of parts of the hiring process over which I have no control. I don't want to give you the impression that the job is in the bag, and I don't want to deliver bad news. That's not what your technical interviewer is for.
posted by town of cats at 8:16 PM on November 2, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by oceanjesse at 12:43 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]