The only way I can put the experience into words is that the moment screen share starts, it feels as if half of my brain shuts off. Instead of just doing its job, it decides that half of it needs to be dedicated to navigating the contrived nature of the situation. (View Highlight)
In the context of scientific experiments, this would be called “the observer effect” which can be described as “the disturbance of an observed system by the act of observation.” While not precisely the same as a physics experiment, it has the same implications. The very nature of the observer creates a context that changes the experiment. (View Highlight)
The discomfort and distraction stem entirely from having a stranger judgmentally looking over my shoulder, and I’m not using “judgmentally” in a derogatory sense here. In the context of a live coding interview, it’s literally their job to judge. I can pair program with colleagues all day long, and I deeply enjoy it, but there’s trust involved in that scenario. It’s truly collaborative rather than partially adversarial. (View Highlight)
We’re all wired a little differently, and someone who might under perform in the contrived context of a live coding interview could be under-performing in that context precisely because of their strengths in other areas. Humans tend to gravitate towards others with shared behaviors and similarities. So without an awareness of these problems, teams end up hiring more people who think and behave precisely the same ways. (View Highlight)
The end result is homogeneity. And if a company desires innovation and fresh perspectives, unknowingly selecting for and steering towards more of the same won’t get there. (View Highlight)
Finally, an inherent problem of any interview process is that the people performing the interview have previously gone through that same process and thus believe that since the process selected them, it must be inherently accurate. (View Highlight)
It’s human nature. We all fall into this trap of believing that the way we’ve traditionally done things is the way to do things until it leads to observable bad results that we can clearly connect back to the faulty assumption. (View Highlight)
“I participated in this process. I made it through this process. I believe that I’m good at what I do. Therefore this process is good.” (View Highlight)
