Comment by alabastervlog

It’s really just interviews, and even those are nothing like any exam I’ve ever taken. They’re closest, in terms of the kind of stress and the skills required to look good, to some kind of solo public speaking performance.

… which most people come out of 17+ years of school having done very little of, with basically a phobia of it, and being awful at it.

They are probably something like oral exams that a few universities use heavily, or the teaching practices of many elite prep schools.

[edit] oh and interviews in most industries aren’t like that. Tech is especially grueling in the interview phase.