How (badly) did my technical interview go? (Facebook)


Forum Post 6 Answers How (badly) did my technical interview go? (Facebook)

I've had a screening interview and a technical interview at Facebook. The screening interview went great, the technical interview not as well. I've yet to hear back from Facebook and probably won't for another week, but in the meantime I'm trying to figure out how badly I did.

I was asked one question, not a simple "reverse a linked list" question, but not "implement this esoteric algorithm." It was my first technical interview. The short story: I spent the whole time on one problem, which isn't terrible in and of itself, and missed a much easier solution. I think I showed solid thought process and understanding in other ways though.

Long story: In normal interviews, you don't want to leave any silence. For some reason, this being my first technical interview, I had the same instinct. I kept talking so much about my thought process that instead of thinking critically about it, my brain just went into auto-pilot. I think I was pretty clearly nervous.

I'm a college Freshmen, but I have a pretty impressive resume. I've been programming all sorts of projects since middle school. I genuinely believe that I am qualified for the internship program. I've done an enormousness amount of program (much more than some college comp. sci seniors). The Facebook recruiter was really enthusiastic about my resume.

So, be honest, how screwed am I? What are my chances of getting a second technical interview? (I think I'd do much better)

- Daniel Smith January 24, 2015 | Flag |


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1
of 1 vote

It's impossible for anyone to determine how well or badly you did without knowing exactly what questions were asked and what you answered to them and in what timeframe. If you want to reply with that information here, I can try to give an assessment.

- Anonymous January 27, 2015 | Flag Reply
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0
of 0 votes

ttt

- ttt February 14, 2015 | Flag
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of 0 vote

The quality of your resume doesn't matter much once you're in the interview...the resume is what gets you the interview. You're being evaluated on your performance in the interview.

- Anonymous January 27, 2015 | Flag Reply
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of 0 vote

I think it depends if you came up with valid solution without a bug. My friend who is a recruiter in Google says that what matters most is (i) how you approach the problem (chos or systematic thinking) (ii) if your code is valid solution to the problem (iii) are you able to debug on the paper and finally (iv) how elegant is your code. No one care about your CV. It is just a ticket to get into the metro :)

So as long as your solution is valid, you have a nice code without bugs and you approached the problem systematically it should be ok. Good luck!

- autoboli January 29, 2015 | Flag Reply
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0
of 0 vote

As other people have said, it's impossible to judge how you do on the interview yourself. Spending all your time on one question isn't necessarily a bad sign. When I interview people, I virtually never get to more than one problem. That one problem can go into a lot of depth.

- Gayle February 11, 2015 | Flag Reply
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0
of 0 vote

As other people have said, it's impossible to judge how you do on the interview yourself. Spending all your time on one question isn't necessarily a bad sign. When I interview people, I virtually never get to more than one problem. That one problem can go into a lot of depth.

- Gayle February 11, 2015 | Flag Reply




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