if properly trained, interviewers ask questions that build without throwing the kitchen sink at you.
whiteboard interviews (when done holistically) assess for signal, not binary correctness
- do you have a solid framework to build a solution?
- are you considering multiple approaches / data structures / complexities
- referencing similar problems, vocabulary, situations to illustrate breadth of knowledge
sure, the stress component isn't ideal, but there are multiple relevant capabilities being assessed in a very short amount of time...
in other words it's a much better test of tacit knowledge than alternatives
if done right, whiteboarding should be almost the same as pair programming -- an iterative dialogue
if properly trained, interviewers ask questions that build without throwing the kitchen sink at you.
whiteboard interviews (when done holistically) assess for signal, not binary correctness
- do you have a solid framework to build a solution?
- are you considering multiple approaches / data structures / complexities
- referencing similar problems, vocabulary, situations to illustrate breadth of knowledge
sure, the stress component isn't ideal, but there are multiple relevant capabilities being assessed in a very short amount of time...
in other words it's a much better test of tacit knowledge than alternatives