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Discussion on: [Question] Have you had an interview where you just talked about previous work, no assignments? Please share your experience!

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Zack Z.

I've sort of had this happen.

A friend of mine referred me for a QA position at his employer. While there was a coding assignment prior to heading to the interview, the interviews themselves dealt more with, "How would you approach testing ____?" The only whiteboarding I encountered involved drawing some diagrams.

I ended up not getting the job. A few months later, a friend who referred me told me about a Devops opening they had. I spoke with the hiring manager and tech lead about generic tech topics, past experience, etc. I had an offer in hand later that day. After I started, I ran into the QA folks and all of them said, "We really wanted to work with you, but we thought Devops might be better for you."

These days, I won't do coding challenges (automated or take-home) without first talking with a hiring manager, and I actively screen out companies who do them by looking them up on They Whiteboarded Me (they.whiteboarded.me) or Hiring Without Whiteboards (github.com/poteto/hiring-without-w...).

(Full Disclosure: I run they.whiteboarded.me)