The Gatehouse Doesn’t Resemble the Clubhouse

Issue #1

Welcome to the first issue of my email newsletter! I’m excited to regularly share my thoughts and ideas with you.

In this issue, I will discuss the importance of understanding the phases of your career and why tech interviews are structured the way they are.

There is a lot of frustration expressed online about how the tech interview process does not mirror people's actual day-to-day work. After all, how often does one need to invert a binary tree in production? Why can’t interviews be more representative of actual job responsibilities?

I have come up with a concise phrase that captures this idea: “The gatehouse doesn’t resemble the clubhouse.” That is, the skills that land you the job aren’t necessarily the skills that lead to success in the workplace. The gatehouse ensures that only the right people get in, while the clubhouse is where the real work happens.

Interviews are structured to minimize false positives, reducing the number of people who cannot meet performance expectations for a…