# 51: There Is No Crying in Strcpy

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2014-05-14
- Length: 1h 21m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/embedded-51mp3

## Summary

Jen Costillo, a firmware engineer, joins hosts Elecia White and Christopher to discuss the realities of technical interviewing from both the candidate and hiring manager perspectives. They critique ineffective personality assessments, share anecdotes about candidates crying during interviews, and debate the value of Google's finding that brainteasers are poor predictors of performance. The conversation emphasizes the importance of practical, job-relevant technical questions and the need for diversity of thought in engineering teams.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=6) Introduction and Interviewing Basics
- [1:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=115) Creative QA Questions: Fridges and Shakers
- [4:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=267) Take-Home Tests and Coding Challenges
- [10:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=615) Bad Personality Assessments and Legal Risks
- [20:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=1231) Diversity of Thought vs. Monoculture
- [22:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=1330) Dream Interviews and Practical Technical Questions
- [39:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=2383) Portfolio, Documentation, and Open Source
- [50:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=3000) Anecdotes: Crying Candidates and Bad Hires
- [1:00:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=3648) Interviewing Process, Ratings, and Google Study
- [1:11:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy#t=4312) Team Dynamics, Ethics, and Closing Thoughts

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Elecia White (other)
- Christopher White (other)
- Jen Costillo (other)
- Google (company)
- Hackaday Prize (other)
- LeapFrog (company)
- Visual Studio 2013 (tool)
- FreeRTOS (tool)
- Android (product)
- Linux (product)
- Xmodem (other)
- Emacs (tool)
- Shotspotter (company)
- Cisco (company)
- Apple (company)
- Facebook (company)
- Zuckerberg (other)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (other)
- Embedded.fm (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Hiring Processes with Gergely Orosz](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-11-07-hiring-processes-with-gergely-orosz) (Oxide and Friends)
- [S6E34 John Lembke | Best Practices for Hiring Engineers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-08-22-s6e34-john-lembke-best-practices-for-hiring-engineers) (Being an Engineer)
- [Mr. Leventhal, Come here I want to see you](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-05-04-mr-leventhal-come-here-i-want-to-see-you) (Oxide and Friends)
- [4 Parts to Interviewing Candidates for Medical Device Roles](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2020-02-13-4-parts-to-interviewing-candidates-for-medical-device-roles) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [S4E41 Neil Thompson | Technical Pitches: Revealing Flaws, Using Stories, & Wiggling Toes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-10-27-s4e41-neil-thompson-technical-pitches-revealing-flaws-using-stories-wiggling-toe) (Being an Engineer)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-14-51-there-is-no-crying-in-strcpy. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.