It’s true, but that is still a significant investment of time, both on our parts and the applicants’. Most companies implement a two-stage filter: the phone screen, where they weed out a large portion (if not the majority) of the applicants, and the in-person interview, where the applicant might be asked to solve a programming problem like the one you mention. The “what is binary search and how does it work” type of questions are designed for the phone screen phase. IMO that is entirely appropriate, for the reasons I stated above.
The use of in-person whiteboard type questions is not what I mean at all—I mean a small but realistic project for the person to solve at home on their own time with their own tools. Maybe there is a necessity for a faster screen but I’m not convinced that that particular question is close to optimal for most hiring unless programming those kind of algorithms is something you actually do on a regular basis.
It’s true, but that is still a significant investment of time, both on our parts and the applicants’. Most companies implement a two-stage filter: the phone screen, where they weed out a large portion (if not the majority) of the applicants, and the in-person interview, where the applicant might be asked to solve a programming problem like the one you mention. The “what is binary search and how does it work” type of questions are designed for the phone screen phase. IMO that is entirely appropriate, for the reasons I stated above.
The use of in-person whiteboard type questions is not what I mean at all—I mean a small but realistic project for the person to solve at home on their own time with their own tools. Maybe there is a necessity for a faster screen but I’m not convinced that that particular question is close to optimal for most hiring unless programming those kind of algorithms is something you actually do on a regular basis.