HRT Algo Dev phone screen, Rejected
Had my HRT algo dev phone screen last week. No warning at all, the interviewer just verbally read me the problem. No shared doc, nothing. I scrambled to take notes while also trying to think through the approach at the same time.
The problem was a 1D simulation where players move right and a watcher blocks their path, reversing direction at certain timestamps. Got a brute-force working but couldn't finish the continuous-time followup before time ran out.
Rejection email came the next morning. Not shocked honestly, but it still stings. Back to grinding I guess.
Replies (5)
How long between applying and getting the phone screen scheduled?
HRT is brutal. Their problems are nothing like LC, more like custom simulation stuff. Hard to prep for tbh.
I had the same problem in my phone screen a few months ago. The verbal delivery thing caught me off guard too. Spent the first 5 minutes just re-reading my notes to make sure I had the problem right.
Exactly, felt like I wasted a good chunk of time just getting the problem down correctly. Lesson learned ngl.
Was this a Zoom call or phone only? Did you get any hints when you ran out of time?
Zoom with video. Interviewer was polite but didn't really offer hints, just watched me work. When time ran out they said thanks and that was it.
The watcher problem shows up a lot from what I've heard. The brute-force part isn't too bad but the continuous-time extension is a whole different beast under time pressure.