My lesson learned was "don't listen to what they say, watch what they do". As in, don't trust them to tell you what they're looking for, understand that figuring out what they're actually testing is also part of the screening process.
I don't see a lot of focus on the hide-the-ball aspect of interviews, but is something I've experienced a few times and bothers me way more than anything else.
The clearest time this happened I was told the company was big on pair programming, so I'd be doing a pair programming session. It turns out they meant I'd be tested on whether I could finish a coding exercise in the allotted time with someone watching. There was zero "pair programming" of any kind involved and time spent on collaboration counted against me.
I don't see a lot of focus on the hide-the-ball aspect of interviews, but is something I've experienced a few times and bothers me way more than anything else.
The clearest time this happened I was told the company was big on pair programming, so I'd be doing a pair programming session. It turns out they meant I'd be tested on whether I could finish a coding exercise in the allotted time with someone watching. There was zero "pair programming" of any kind involved and time spent on collaboration counted against me.