Like lots of people at the moment I found myself back on the job market. Things have been going well, but an interview yesterday included a (virtual equivalent) whiteboard coding exercise.<p>Now, I’m not a huge fan of these and don’t use them in my own hiring. But as a dev of ~15y experience, still very much hands on, I should be able to handle it.<p>I found myself drawing an absolute blank. The exercise was nothing too complicated really, but the brain would simply not engage. <i>Nothing</i> was working.<p>As interviews go it was the worst experience I’ve ever had - I spent maybe twenty minutes in this blocked state but it felt like forever.<p>So I’m now feeling pretty depressed about job prospects, coding ability, my capability as a human being etc. Sharing or talking about a problem always helps to process it, so I thought 1. Why not do that with anonymous internet strangers, and 2. Why not provide a place for people to do the same. So it would be great if people felt able to share their stories too.<p>And for those of you also unexpectedly back in the job market: best of luck, you <i>will</i> get there.
Hi. I went through the same problem. After passing a hard online test on Codility I had a live coding interview with a much simpler problem I just froze and could not solve on time.
I found this article here on HN and it helped me understand what happened.
<a href="https://news.ncsu.edu/2020/07/tech-job-interviews-anxiety/" rel="nofollow">https://news.ncsu.edu/2020/07/tech-job-interviews-anxiety/</a>
I am fairly competent, am CTO of my nth start-up, have had fairly well paid finance IT work in finance in London with multinational banks, etc, etc, and I have still drawn a complete blank sometimes, and other times have bowled the interviewers (and myself) over!<p>It happens. It's the equivalent of writer's block and the fear of the blank page. Please just don't read too much into individual events.
Don't worry. Even if you're a shitty developer (which I doubt), I'll always be shittier.<p>I once had an interview that was so bad that I asked the manager at the end why he even gave me an interview. He wanted a UI expert. His posting didn't mention that requirement and my resume didn't list that type of experience. It was a huge waste of our time.
I suffered a brain freeze at an interview once. My brain freeze was not caused by anxiety, but rather the Office Dog wandering into the interview room, sitting down on my feet and shoving its snout firmly between my legs.
I once forgot how to write a simple join in SQL during an interview. Full blank. It is like forgetting how to tie your shoes. The second I walked out of the building, I instantly recalled the insanely simple task.
I recently had an interview where I was supposed to record the screen while I am solving the problem and share it with the interviewer. I couldn't do it. I am one of those people who's mind goes blank when someone is standing behind me and watching over the shoulders. The thought of recording my screen induced the same feelings.
Thanks for posting. We've all been there.<p>This is something I'm working on solving:<p><a href="https://www.srchparty.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.srchparty.com/</a>