"The single biggest difference I have ever seen (over and over again) between a good programmer and a great programmer is how they respond under pressure."
There is a huge difference between being under pressure and the unique pressure of performing in an interview. The former is being able to handle a longer term fear of failure. The latter is dealing with a short-term fear that activates the primitive brain's "fight or flight" instinct.
There is a HUGE difference, and I would never trust anything I got from the latter style interview.
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"The single biggest difference I have ever seen (over and over again) between a good programmer and a great programmer is how they respond under pressure."
There is a huge difference between being under pressure and the unique pressure of performing in an interview. The former is being able to handle a longer term fear of failure. The latter is dealing with a short-term fear that activates the primitive brain's "fight or flight" instinct.
There is a HUGE difference, and I would never trust anything I got from the latter style interview.
I'd also like to add that the interview question type of pressure is of the type "I have to start moving my mouth within 4 seconds or I'll look bad."
All-night overtime or short deadline pressures are completely different beasts.