What is a Whiteboard Coding Interview?
Recruiters commonly use whiteboard coding interviews to assess candidates’ technical skills and problem-solving abilities. During the interview, candidates must solve a coding problem on a whiteboard or similar surface. This is observed by a hiring manager.
This type of interview is conducted remotely, where the applicant is given a coding challenge and needs to write code to solve it. Hiring managers can also ask candidates to explain their thought processes during the interview.
Recruiters prefer whiteboard coding interviews because they reveal a candidate’s problem-solving approach, understanding of programming concepts and language syntax, and ability to communicate ideas. It also allows hiring managers to assess candidates’ ability to write efficient and effective code under time constraints.
How does a Whiteboard Coding Interview help hire?
Here are some examples of how whiteboard coding interviews can help hire tech candidates:
- Evaluate problem-solving abilities: Whiteboard coding interviews enable you to evaluate a candidate’s ability to solve complex technical problems. Recruiters can assess the candidate’s ability to understand the issue, develop solutions, and write clean, efficient code.
- Assess coding skills: Whiteboard coding interviews are an excellent way to evaluate coding abilities. This includes a candidate’s familiarity with programming languages and code writing ability. This can help determine if the candidate has the skills needed to succeed.
- Communication skills: It also helps assess communication skills. The candidate will explain their thought process, present their ideas, and ask questions during the interview. This is essential for roles that require collaboration and teamwork.
- Reduces bias: As the type of interview is a standardized method of evaluating candidates’ skills, it eliminates bias in the hiring process. Hiring managers can assess each candidate using the same criteria, reducing personal preferences.
- Identify potential: It identifies candidates who can learn and grow in the role. Recruiters can assess the candidate’s problem-solving approach and determine whether they have the potential to learn various skills and take on multiple challenges.
How is a whiteboard interview different from other interviews?
Unlike other technical interviews, such as phone screenings or interviews, whiteboard interviews focus on coding and problem-solving abilities. These interviews take place remotely with a video conferencing tool. Here’s how whiteboard interviews differ from other types of interviews:
- Problem-solving skills: Whiteboard interviews focus on candidates' problem-solving ability and thinking critically. In contrast, other types of interviews may be more concerned with the candidate’s personality, experience, or fit with the company’s culture.
- Technical expertise: Whiteboard interviews are used for technical roles such as software engineering or front-end developer, where candidates must have a strong understanding of programming languages, algorithms, and data structures.
- Interactive: Whiteboard interviews are interactive, with the hiring manager asking follow-up questions and questioning the candidate’s assumptions or solutions. This differs from other interviews, which may be more one-sided, with the hiring manager asking questions and the candidate responding.
Here are the best coding interview tools to find the best coders for your organization.
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Terms Related to Whiteboard Coding Interview
- Algorithm
- Data structure
- Test cases
- Whiteboarding
- Pseudocode
- Debugging
- Optimization
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