What do they ask at an interview at Yandex?

Question

Yandex

Is there anyone who tried to interview for programming jobs in Yandex?
Maybe there is someone who works there? :)
I received a letter from some Yandex employee unknown to me with a proposal to answer questions on the site (I really don’t quite understand where he got my mail from). The questions themselves are not difficult, but something tells me that in a personal interview they will ask things much more difficult. Maybe there is someone kind, who will tell you the knowledge in what areas you need to own in order not to look like a complete fool?
So just asking, how does it all go?

PS Vacancy for a C++ programmer.

Answer 1

I don't know about c++, I learned python ist today.
As I understand it, the main thing is a thorough knowledge of the language, up to the specifics of low-level work with memory, etc. (most interviews consist of questions like this). They are a little interested in the general idea of ​​\u200b\u200bbuilding algorithms. You are only interested in a deep acquaintance with the subject area of ​​the vacancy (a broad profile and experience in related fields will not save you).
There was a classic, for Yandex, task, repeatedly mentioned in Radio-T, about a banner roll. The task is elementary and not worth a damn. However, only one specific, only correct answer is needed, which, to my shame, I personally did not think of. I remembered puzzles for intelligence (about coins, backpacks and glasses) that can only be answered by knowing the answer in advance.
They suggest writing a piece of code to evaluate the coding style. So it's better to spend more time and write short, elegant, Jedi. At this step, my interview for me personally ended with twisted faces and the words “in python everything is usually more compact” (I think this was far from the only remark).
I agree with the majority, everything is reminiscent of an exam (not really the toughest of those that I had to pass and, by the way, take) as if you know the subject, but for some reason, you fool, I didn’t prepare (read, I didn’t work in Yandex).
In general, they need specialists with a narrow profile who worked in Yandex or similar structures. These guys know everything and have seen everything, you won't surprise them. If there are white spots, it is better not to meddle - they immediately pop up. If you are an adequate person (I want to think so about myself), but suffer from memory lapses, you will most likely be offered an internship.
Separately, it is worth mentioning that, having given the task, the interviewers are taken for an idle conversation, which specifically interferes when you need to thoroughly creak your brains.
Sometimes they themselves are confused in the testimony, in particular, a question arose on the topic of the limit on the number of files in one ext3 directory, which, as it turned out, is not in sight.
And yes, leaving the building, you feel a non-sour butherd.

Answer 2

A user without an account asked me to post his answer:
“I was at an interview at Yandex not so long ago, so if you see fit to put it in a comment, here are some points of the interview:
first, just general questions to find out how the person found out about the vacancy. Faces are very twisted if you say that at that time you simply sent out a resume en masse and you were answered from several offices, including Yandex. Apparently, you need to make it clear that you immediately went to them. Otherwise immediately -5 to success.
Ask about previous jobs. If you have a different specialty (I am a lawyer by diploma, I have been doing website development for the past few years, and they invited me to be a Yandex.Mail manager after passing a test task), then they will ask why they suddenly decided to change their specialization and work for them.
they will ask you if you know about the existence of task managers and if you know how to use them;
if you are invited to the vacancy of a manager of any service (Post-Maps, etc.), they will ask you in detail and for a long time, what would you change in this service (if you are invited to a general programmer, they will set specific test tasks with reference to to your service). Here it would be a mistake to actively praise competitors (I hoped for objectivity and when asked “What kind of mail do you use? And why?” I honestly said “Google”. And why). They listened to the proposed changes to the service, argued in some places, and then they corrected something, apparently.
If you offer your idea for a service, you will need to describe specifically from scratch how you will implement it. As a correct answer, I will quote the manager (I can’t vouch for accuracy) “You should have answered this way: firstly, I will draw a rough layout of this new button for the interface, then I will go to the designer and talk to him to decide which part of the page is better insert this button and what kind of button it will be (checkbox, dropdown, just a button), after that go to the programmers and, as a project manager, explain your ideas to them, taking into account the designer’s answer.“
very much attention is paid to a) how personally the interviewer will like you (Marina is a person from the HR department, she just organizes the interview and attends it, but your future colleague will directly conduct the interview), b) how well you feel in a team."

Answer 3

I don’t know about Yandex, but there were articles about Google: one , two , three , four , five

Answer 4

There are many different commands in Yandex. The interview is very different depending on which team you were called to.

Answer 5

They asked a lot about previous experience, high loads, tricky details of databases, there were no puzzles, they don’t ask for something that is not at all trivial, in general, people who adequately know their field are looking for technical specialties.

Answer 6

Apparently, everyone who tried it passed, signed nda and is silent :)

Answer 7

I was interviewing in March 2011 for a Windows Application Programmer position.
At that moment I was not in Moscow, the interview took place by phone.
At first there were general questions: how many years have I been programming, what areas are interesting in programming, and so on. Further, closer to the body: what containers from the STL I know, what is the complexity of the work when inserting elements into a list, set, ... and so on. Well, there are a lot of general (tricky) questions about exceptions from constructors / destructors and so on. Questions about smart pointers, boost, unit tests. Plus, they gave me a simple task on deep-copy. As a result, they didn’t take me, weak points are knowledge of STL