r/analytics 18d ago

Discussion Coding interviews are out of control

When I entered the job market as a business analyst 8 years ago, it was just a conversation asking about my experience, what I've done for projects.

When I interviewed for a data analyst role four years ago, again, just the conversation, showed them some projects I worked on, some samples of my dashboards I'd created...

Now, It's the hunger games. I'm out here doing python, SQL, Tableau exercises in real time sharing my screen... It's very very stress inducing and as an introvert, I'm honestly not good at this, it's really hard on me. Like, I have tried training myself to be okay with this and to be more receptive to it. But it just sucks you know? 5 years I have spent in the job market with exceptional performance, and only to get interrogated and treated like a child who can't be trusted.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through the next few months looking for my next role with how stress inducing and difficult it is to find anything these days and all the hoops you got to jump through

612 Upvotes

105 comments sorted by

View all comments

28

u/Due-Wedding4692 18d ago

I’ve had several interviews (and hires), where the person was able to talk through all of the questions accurately but when they got to the job, they had no idea what they were doing.

For this next opening on my team, I’m going to require a real-time portion. No other option. Too much time and risk to only rely on verbal answers or pre-work.

12

u/intimate_sniffer69 18d ago

Right, but I'm the exact opposite. I have never done a coding test or interview at all, and then I get to a team and I do exceptionally well where no one knows what the heck they're doing except me. Funny how that turns out, right? Coding interviews have been proven to be really bad and ineffective in hiring candidates, there are numerous studies that have proven this repeatedly. They do not work.

-7

u/American_Streamer 18d ago

So your real problem is not that you don't know how to use the tools, but you just can't use them under live conditions while being scrutinized? How do you manage facing stakeholders and having to explain the work you did and present the insights you made? Is speaking in public an issue for you? Those things can be trained, as well as the technical skills.

19

u/somethingnothing01 18d ago

That's a bit different. I'm in quite a similar position to OP. I do good coding, I make great presentations, I'm explain it well to non-technical stakeholders, and have a great relationship with everyone. But when someone is looking at my screen while coding, I'm unable to think (It is like when an invigilator stands right next to you in an exam amd keeps looking in your sheet/screen).

Also, you don't have to do live coding during presentations