The technical interview process in the software industry is broken. As someone who has been on both sides of the interview table, I’ve noticed a concerning trend: companies are testing candidates on complex algorithmic problems that rarely appear in day-to-day work.
The Current State
Picture this: You’re a seasoned developer with years of experience building scalable applications, writing clean code, and solving real business problems. You apply for a position, and what do you face in the coding challenge? Questions about implementing a Red-Black tree, solving complex dynamic programming problems, or optimizing an algorithm to find the nth Fibonacci number.
These questions might be intellectually stimulating, but they’re far removed from what most developers do in their daily work. When was the last time you had to implement a balanced binary search tree from scratch? Or write code to solve the traveling salesman problem?
The Disconnect
The problem with this approach is multi-faceted:
Irrelevant Skills Testing: Most developers spend their time working with existing frameworks, debugging production issues, or implementing business logic. They rarely need to implement complex data structures from scratch.
False Negatives: Excellent developers who excel at building real-world applications might struggle with these theoretical problems, especially under time pressure. Companies risk rejecting strong candidates who could be valuable team members.
Preparation Burden: Candidates now need to spend weeks or months practicing algorithmic problems on platforms like LeetCode, instead of focusing on skills that would actually make them better at their job.
Real-World Development vs. Interview Questions
Let’s look at what developers actually do most days:
- Write maintainable code that other developers can understand
- Debug issues in existing systems
- Integrate with third-party APIs
- Optimize database queries
- Write automated tests
- Collaborate with team members
- Understand and implement business requirements
Now compare this with typical interview questions:
- Implement a min-heap from scratch
- Find the longest palindromic substring
- Solve complex recursion problems
- Balance a binary search tree
See the disconnect?
A Better Approach
Companies should align their interview process with the actual job requirements. Here’s what they could focus on instead:
Code Review Exercises: Have candidates review actual code (with sensitive information removed) and discuss potential improvements.
System Design Discussions: Talk about real architectural decisions and tradeoffs, focusing on practical scenarios the team has faced.
Take-Home Projects: Give candidates a small, realistic project that reflects the actual work they’ll be doing.
Pair Programming: Work together on a real-world problem, observing how candidates think and collaborate.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
The current interview process isn’t just frustrating for candidates - it’s costly for companies too. They:
- Miss out on experienced developers who would excel at the actual job
- Waste time testing skills that won’t be used
- Create a false sense of candidate quality
- Contribute to industry-wide interview anxiety
Moving Forward
It’s time for the industry to rethink its approach to technical interviews. While algorithmic problem-solving skills have their place, they shouldn’t be the primary factor in hiring decisions. Companies need to create interview processes that:
- Focus on practical, job-relevant skills
- Allow candidates to demonstrate their real-world problem-solving abilities
- Consider the candidate’s past experience and contributions
- Create a more realistic assessment environment
The best developers aren’t necessarily those who can solve complex algorithmic puzzles under pressure - they’re the ones who can write maintainable code, collaborate effectively, and solve real business problems. Let’s start interviewing for those skills instead.