Like you, I can only speak from my own experience regarding the interviews there since I don't think any of my friends have interviewed at Amazon.
In my case, it was all phone interview, so there was no board per se. However, as an example, one of the questions that came up in at least 2 of the phone interviews was roughly "given a number of files, how would you find the phone numbers in them". Granted, I know that not everyone who codes knows regex or is familiar with grep, but there were a lot of questions like that and a number of things like "how would you reverse an array" or "how would you program a multiplication table".
It was, for the most part, simple stuff and trivia (as I was asked CS trivia questions as well). Granted, there were some discussion portions, but most of it read like they were pulling it out of a random college textbook.
None of it really merited much in the way of "talk your way through figuring this out". In the end, I got tired of the hoops. At that point, it had eaten up 8+ hours of my time and really wasn't worth it.
Indeed. While I think the "everything is instant" comment was sarcasm, this can roughly be compared to moving a company into a new building or a takeover (which would be even more apt) and that sort of thing can take months to get everything working smoothly.
There will be a lot of bugs to work out in the next several months at least - some of them policy related, some equipment related, etc. A 6 hour turn around time is fantastic for that sort of announcement under normal circumstances (the changes have to be approved, folks. The web people don't just have free reign to do as they please.) let alone while dealing with changes in leadership and operating procedures/staff.
Then again, I've heard people complaining that Obama hadn't changed anything since he was elected despite the fact that he wasn't even in office yet at the time.
After experiencing it myself, I'd be inclined to agree. Other than being able to say that Amazon contacted me (instead of me chasing them) and getting more practice at interviewing, it was largely a waste of 8+ hours of my life.
What amazed me was how so many of the questions were basically out of a textbook. It was pointless and ridiculous. They were testing on trivia for the most part instead of ability.
Agreed. I went through a *series* of phone interviews with Amazon over the course of a couple of weeks (complete with "take home" portions if you'd believe it).
The time I spent dealing with them before I got tired of the BS was probably well over 8 hours including setting up times for the next interview, etc. It was ridiculous.
My answer to that question would be no. Companies who do that sort of thing are usually just trying to jerk you around in order to see how far you'll go because they want to gauge how desperate you are.
Most of the ones who do that have no real intention of hiring you anyway.
It took about 6 hours before it showed up on the site.
Hate to break it to you, but that's damn quick *especially* when you consider that it was the first day and they were still having issues with some of the staffers even being able to access the White House.
Grow up and use some common sense. Reporting takes a little bit of time. It doesn't just happen the moment the event occurs.
As far as I have seen, the days of going to Radioshack for circuit boards and resistors for home hobby projects are long gone.
I was amazed to find that the local one here actually carries that sort of thing. I'd spent the better part of a day wandering around random shops and wandered into the local radio shack basically just for the sake of nostalgia since the one near where I grew up rocked.
Much to my amazement, unlike every other radio shack I had seen in almost a decade, this one had probably a wall and a half of shelving full of resistors, bread board, etc. I was shocked and have been back a few times when I needed something in a pinch.
Granted, the people there didn't know what the heck any of it was for, but at least they *had* it.
This is in the senate of the state of South Carolina. It is not being brought to the US Senate *by* the US Senators *from* South Carolina. There's a big difference.
Taoists, for example, don't seem to have any problem with their primary text being somewhat contradictory.
Of course not. Then again, for the most part Taoism basically boils down to "live in harmony with the things around you. Be true to your own inner nature. Affect change when you must, but realize that you're only a part of what is going on, so try to be flexible."
No, but I am frequently hurt *by* a small animal. It's one of the interesting facts of life when living with a cat who's part bobcat. He likes to play hunt but sometimes gets a little carried away lol
No offense, but a lot of that post reads like "everyone hates me because I'm smart, but that's okay because they're all stupid." It comes off like you're trying to make excuses for why people don't like you.
While I've seen both extremes of the spectrum in college, they're just that - extremes.
In truth, you should go to such parties at least on occasion while you're in college. They're a great way to learn and refine social skills and deal with people different than you are. That's really important after you get out into the world.
As for problems with jocks and the like, I never had an issue with them in college (or in high school for that matter). Neither did most of my friends. Granted, I'm not your stereotypical 98lb geek, but I don't live and breathe sports.
Oh, and on the "women only go for jocks" issue, I have to disagree with that as well. A lot of my friends are women, several of which have been models, and most of them are dating or married to geeks.
Stay away from the women's studies gatherings though... They're on the whole an angry lot who will just pick their teeth with you however nice you are.
That reminds me of hanging out with a friend of mine one day. He and I were wandering around, shopping, etc and ran across one of the stereotypical angry lesbians (who, fortunately, in my experience seem to be fairly rare).
He says hello to her as we walk past and she starts getting in his face and saying things like "your penis is the oppressor" (I wish I was making that part up. It's just far too bizarre). All the while, I just try to keep a straight face since I know where this is going.
The HR policies you refer to seem to be the results of politically-correct fear mongering in your HR department(s).
I have to agree with that. I've seen more than a couple of companies where it was made clear that basically any relationship with a co-worker was frowned upon.
The surreal one, however, was on the other end of the spectrum.
I was interviewing at a place where one of the HR people was from my alma mater. At the end of the day-long series of interviews, we were talking as things were being wrapped up and she grinned at me while she told me one of the girls I'd met there was interested in me.
I never thought I'd see the day when HR was trying to facilitate my getting together with someone lol
1 - dressed like a wierdo. Sorry Emo/Goth is not cool.. It's as bad as dressing in a star trek shirt.
I disagree. Part of the problem with this one, however, is that you're probably thinking of the stereotype of goth - big chains, etc. That's just one part of that particular sub-culture (and usually just the kids and posers dress like that).
I'm an old school goth and, even dressed business casual or formal, I can be picked out in a crowd by other goths while still getting respect from "normal" people for the way I look and act. In fact, I tend to dress better than most people around me.
2 - Social tact, you have to actually have some.
I can agree with this. However, I also want to add that there are times when it is advantageous to be a bit uncaring. Generally when dealing with excessively difficult people, because some of them take an excess of tact to be a sign of weakness and will attempt to walk all over you.
The trick is knowing when you need tact and when you need to be a bit more aggressive.
4 - There are no good pick up lines.
I have always found "Hi" to work pretty well. Then again, I am tall and fairly muscular though I do need to work on losing the tummy.
Are there really places where the majority of CS undergrads need this?
I don't know about *majority*, but where I went to school, a lot of the CS people could have used something like this. A lot of them were rather withdrawn. Granted, there were a number of us who were outgoing and popular as well, but a not insignificant number of the people in my classes never seemed to associate with anyone who wasn't in the engineering building.
I seem to be finding more and more companies that are Jan-Dec. My theory is that it makes tax issues easier (since income taxes are by calendar year and they can just do the whole mess at one time, especially smaller businesses).
About the only places I've dealt with that are on a different fiscal year are educational institutions.
i can count on one hand the number of times my references have been called.
Seconded.
I was actually amazed a few months ago when someone called me asking for a reference regarding a colleague. It was the only time I've ever gotten a call for one, and I'm a reference for a number of people...
Major IT companies ask for your GPA on your resume and will Filter using that. Heck Google won't hire without it listed.
Weirdly, I was contacted by both Google and Amazon (twice in the case of Google) to interview with them and my GPA isn't listed anywhere on my resume. I have, however, had a lot of smaller places ask me what my GPA was.
I can believe it. I'm in Ohio and I've seen a lot of people being laid off lately. Primarily in what's left of the industrial and manufacturing sectors, at least in the immediate vicinity.
I see a great many uses for rocks every day. They are used to build buildings, create artwork, etc etc etc.
I'm sorry you seem to be hell bent on bashing Microsoft, but for it's time, DOS was incredibly useful. A lot of people got a great deal of work done on them and they ran well.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm glad to hear that, because there were some real issues at the time. It's a shame that it wasn't different when I interviewed with them.
This was a couple of years ago. I got tired of dealing with it after interview #3.
Like you, I can only speak from my own experience regarding the interviews there since I don't think any of my friends have interviewed at Amazon.
In my case, it was all phone interview, so there was no board per se. However, as an example, one of the questions that came up in at least 2 of the phone interviews was roughly "given a number of files, how would you find the phone numbers in them". Granted, I know that not everyone who codes knows regex or is familiar with grep, but there were a lot of questions like that and a number of things like "how would you reverse an array" or "how would you program a multiplication table".
It was, for the most part, simple stuff and trivia (as I was asked CS trivia questions as well). Granted, there were some discussion portions, but most of it read like they were pulling it out of a random college textbook.
None of it really merited much in the way of "talk your way through figuring this out". In the end, I got tired of the hoops. At that point, it had eaten up 8+ hours of my time and really wasn't worth it.
Indeed. While I think the "everything is instant" comment was sarcasm, this can roughly be compared to moving a company into a new building or a takeover (which would be even more apt) and that sort of thing can take months to get everything working smoothly.
There will be a lot of bugs to work out in the next several months at least - some of them policy related, some equipment related, etc. A 6 hour turn around time is fantastic for that sort of announcement under normal circumstances (the changes have to be approved, folks. The web people don't just have free reign to do as they please.) let alone while dealing with changes in leadership and operating procedures/staff.
Then again, I've heard people complaining that Obama hadn't changed anything since he was elected despite the fact that he wasn't even in office yet at the time.
After experiencing it myself, I'd be inclined to agree. Other than being able to say that Amazon contacted me (instead of me chasing them) and getting more practice at interviewing, it was largely a waste of 8+ hours of my life.
What amazed me was how so many of the questions were basically out of a textbook. It was pointless and ridiculous. They were testing on trivia for the most part instead of ability.
Agreed. I went through a *series* of phone interviews with Amazon over the course of a couple of weeks (complete with "take home" portions if you'd believe it).
The time I spent dealing with them before I got tired of the BS was probably well over 8 hours including setting up times for the next interview, etc. It was ridiculous.
I fail to see why this was modded funny since the parent is right.
(And this is where I withhold disparaging remarks about Jack Welch and his followers)
My answer to that question would be no. Companies who do that sort of thing are usually just trying to jerk you around in order to see how far you'll go because they want to gauge how desperate you are.
Most of the ones who do that have no real intention of hiring you anyway.
It took about 6 hours before it showed up on the site.
Hate to break it to you, but that's damn quick *especially* when you consider that it was the first day and they were still having issues with some of the staffers even being able to access the White House.
Grow up and use some common sense. Reporting takes a little bit of time. It doesn't just happen the moment the event occurs.
As far as I have seen, the days of going to Radioshack for circuit boards and resistors for home hobby projects are long gone.
I was amazed to find that the local one here actually carries that sort of thing. I'd spent the better part of a day wandering around random shops and wandered into the local radio shack basically just for the sake of nostalgia since the one near where I grew up rocked.
Much to my amazement, unlike every other radio shack I had seen in almost a decade, this one had probably a wall and a half of shelving full of resistors, bread board, etc. I was shocked and have been back a few times when I needed something in a pinch.
Granted, the people there didn't know what the heck any of it was for, but at least they *had* it.
This is in the senate of the state of South Carolina. It is not being brought to the US Senate *by* the US Senators *from* South Carolina. There's a big difference.
Taoists, for example, don't seem to have any problem with their primary text being somewhat contradictory.
Of course not. Then again, for the most part Taoism basically boils down to "live in harmony with the things around you. Be true to your own inner nature. Affect change when you must, but realize that you're only a part of what is going on, so try to be flexible."
"I frequently hurt small animals."
No, but I am frequently hurt *by* a small animal. It's one of the interesting facts of life when living with a cat who's part bobcat. He likes to play hunt but sometimes gets a little carried away lol
At least it keeps me on my toes =]
I didn't realize there were any witnesses. Oh well...
*sighs and reaches for the nearest sword* =]
No offense, but a lot of that post reads like "everyone hates me because I'm smart, but that's okay because they're all stupid." It comes off like you're trying to make excuses for why people don't like you.
While I've seen both extremes of the spectrum in college, they're just that - extremes.
In truth, you should go to such parties at least on occasion while you're in college. They're a great way to learn and refine social skills and deal with people different than you are. That's really important after you get out into the world.
As for problems with jocks and the like, I never had an issue with them in college (or in high school for that matter). Neither did most of my friends. Granted, I'm not your stereotypical 98lb geek, but I don't live and breathe sports.
Oh, and on the "women only go for jocks" issue, I have to disagree with that as well. A lot of my friends are women, several of which have been models, and most of them are dating or married to geeks.
Stay away from the women's studies gatherings though... They're on the whole an angry lot who will just pick their teeth with you however nice you are.
That reminds me of hanging out with a friend of mine one day. He and I were wandering around, shopping, etc and ran across one of the stereotypical angry lesbians (who, fortunately, in my experience seem to be fairly rare).
He says hello to her as we walk past and she starts getting in his face and saying things like "your penis is the oppressor" (I wish I was making that part up. It's just far too bizarre). All the while, I just try to keep a straight face since I know where this is going.
He looks at her and says "Honey, I'm gay."
The look on her face was priceless lol
The HR policies you refer to seem to be the results of politically-correct fear mongering in your HR department(s).
I have to agree with that. I've seen more than a couple of companies where it was made clear that basically any relationship with a co-worker was frowned upon.
The surreal one, however, was on the other end of the spectrum.
I was interviewing at a place where one of the HR people was from my alma mater. At the end of the day-long series of interviews, we were talking as things were being wrapped up and she grinned at me while she told me one of the girls I'd met there was interested in me.
I never thought I'd see the day when HR was trying to facilitate my getting together with someone lol
1 - dressed like a wierdo. Sorry Emo/Goth is not cool.. It's as bad as dressing in a star trek shirt.
I disagree. Part of the problem with this one, however, is that you're probably thinking of the stereotype of goth - big chains, etc. That's just one part of that particular sub-culture (and usually just the kids and posers dress like that).
I'm an old school goth and, even dressed business casual or formal, I can be picked out in a crowd by other goths while still getting respect from "normal" people for the way I look and act. In fact, I tend to dress better than most people around me.
2 - Social tact, you have to actually have some.
I can agree with this. However, I also want to add that there are times when it is advantageous to be a bit uncaring. Generally when dealing with excessively difficult people, because some of them take an excess of tact to be a sign of weakness and will attempt to walk all over you.
The trick is knowing when you need tact and when you need to be a bit more aggressive.
4 - There are no good pick up lines.
I have always found "Hi" to work pretty well. Then again, I am tall and fairly muscular though I do need to work on losing the tummy.
Are there really places where the majority of CS undergrads need this?
I don't know about *majority*, but where I went to school, a lot of the CS people could have used something like this. A lot of them were rather withdrawn. Granted, there were a number of us who were outgoing and popular as well, but a not insignificant number of the people in my classes never seemed to associate with anyone who wasn't in the engineering building.
I seem to be finding more and more companies that are Jan-Dec. My theory is that it makes tax issues easier (since income taxes are by calendar year and they can just do the whole mess at one time, especially smaller businesses).
About the only places I've dealt with that are on a different fiscal year are educational institutions.
i can count on one hand the number of times my references have been called.
Seconded.
I was actually amazed a few months ago when someone called me asking for a reference regarding a colleague. It was the only time I've ever gotten a call for one, and I'm a reference for a number of people...
Major IT companies ask for your GPA on your resume and will Filter using that. Heck Google won't hire without it listed.
Weirdly, I was contacted by both Google and Amazon (twice in the case of Google) to interview with them and my GPA isn't listed anywhere on my resume. I have, however, had a lot of smaller places ask me what my GPA was.
Go figure...
I can believe it. I'm in Ohio and I've seen a lot of people being laid off lately. Primarily in what's left of the industrial and manufacturing sectors, at least in the immediate vicinity.
So is a rock. And equally useful.
I see a great many uses for rocks every day. They are used to build buildings, create artwork, etc etc etc.
I'm sorry you seem to be hell bent on bashing Microsoft, but for it's time, DOS was incredibly useful. A lot of people got a great deal of work done on them and they ran well.
I don't remember DOS days but I'll agree with Win9x versions were crap.
I remember the DOS days. DOS was, by and large, pretty solid.