Job interview questions
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Would working from home if home is in Atlanta, USA be considered "within reason"? :) Tim Smith I know what you're thinking punk, you're thinking did he spell check this document? Well, to tell you the truth I kinda forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this here's CodeProject, the most powerful forums in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk?
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Reasonable command of English in writing and speach. You may want to fix this.... And yes, what IS 'within reason' as far as working from home is concerned ? Anyhow, I'd tend to ask questions related to C++ broadly ( why use a class, what do public/private/protected do ? What's a iterator ? etc. ) and then ask questions designed to establish if the person is keen to learn. If someone has the essential skills and is dedicated and able to learn, that is more important than if they know technology x IMO. Christian The tragedy of cyberspace - that so much can travel so far, and yet mean so little. And you don't spend much time with the opposite sex working day and night, unless the pizza delivery person happens to be young, cute, single and female. I can assure you, I've consumed more than a programmer's allotment of pizza, and these conditions have never aligned. - Christopher Duncan - 18/04/2002
-
Would working from home if home is in Atlanta, USA be considered "within reason"? :) Tim Smith I know what you're thinking punk, you're thinking did he spell check this document? Well, to tell you the truth I kinda forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this here's CodeProject, the most powerful forums in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk?
Tim Smith wrote: Would working from home if home is in Atlanta, USA be considered "within reason"? That depends... If you come in, let's say, 3-4 days a week that would be OK. However, since a normal workday is about 8 hours, and a trip from USA->Denmark (and Denmark->USA) takes about 11 hours, you would need about 30 hours a day. Maybe the timedifference would do something to help - or maybe not ;-) Tim Smith wrote: I know what you're thinking punk, you're thinking did he spell check this document? Well, to tell you the truth I kinda forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this here's CodeProject, the most powerful forums in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk? A classic :-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
-
Reasonable command of English in writing and speach. You may want to fix this.... And yes, what IS 'within reason' as far as working from home is concerned ? Anyhow, I'd tend to ask questions related to C++ broadly ( why use a class, what do public/private/protected do ? What's a iterator ? etc. ) and then ask questions designed to establish if the person is keen to learn. If someone has the essential skills and is dedicated and able to learn, that is more important than if they know technology x IMO. Christian The tragedy of cyberspace - that so much can travel so far, and yet mean so little. And you don't spend much time with the opposite sex working day and night, unless the pizza delivery person happens to be young, cute, single and female. I can assure you, I've consumed more than a programmer's allotment of pizza, and these conditions have never aligned. - Christopher Duncan - 18/04/2002
Christian Graus wrote: then ask questions designed to establish if the person is keen to learn. I really think that is the most important of all factors, How much a person is prepared to learn and how much a person is capable of learning. Switching from job to job so much changes that what the applicant actually knows is generally not of high relevance. Unless you are buying a person for what they know :suss: Christian Graus wrote: If someone has the essential skills and is dedicated and able to learn, that is more important than if they know technology x IMO. My opinion also. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Job sounds just about tailor made for me. Except I am in India :( Anyway, you can ask them some generic OOPs questions relating to C++. In fact you might ask them to write down on a sheet of paper a couple of elementary programs or functions. I usually find that most new people who know a lot of hard theory don't really understand things like virtual functions as well as they claim to be when they speak. The moment you ask them to write something they freeze up. I sometimes actually write a few code snippets and ask them to correct the snippets or tell me what happens or to explain them. Nish
Check out last week's Code Project posting stats presentation from :- http://www.busterboy.org/codeproject/ Feel free to make your comments.
-
Tim Smith wrote: Would working from home if home is in Atlanta, USA be considered "within reason"? That depends... If you come in, let's say, 3-4 days a week that would be OK. However, since a normal workday is about 8 hours, and a trip from USA->Denmark (and Denmark->USA) takes about 11 hours, you would need about 30 hours a day. Maybe the timedifference would do something to help - or maybe not ;-) Tim Smith wrote: I know what you're thinking punk, you're thinking did he spell check this document? Well, to tell you the truth I kinda forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this here's CodeProject, the most powerful forums in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk? A classic :-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Don't mention the war... Are you also a Fawlty Towers fan? :) /ravi "There is always one more bug..." http://www.ravib.com ravib@ravib.com
-
Job sounds just about tailor made for me. Except I am in India :( Anyway, you can ask them some generic OOPs questions relating to C++. In fact you might ask them to write down on a sheet of paper a couple of elementary programs or functions. I usually find that most new people who know a lot of hard theory don't really understand things like virtual functions as well as they claim to be when they speak. The moment you ask them to write something they freeze up. I sometimes actually write a few code snippets and ask them to correct the snippets or tell me what happens or to explain them. Nish
Check out last week's Code Project posting stats presentation from :- http://www.busterboy.org/codeproject/ Feel free to make your comments.
yer but dont go overly mental about it firing a bloody great pointer question might weed out the nerds from the boys but do you want to hire a nerd or someone who can code AND you can have a conversation with like a real person (but that assume you're a real normal person yourself ;) ? I hate it when someone throws out a C function and sayd "find all the bugs" coz thats just being mean and no one writes perfect code and compilers catch the syntatic ones just see if they can solve problems and are human beings Bryce
-
yer but dont go overly mental about it firing a bloody great pointer question might weed out the nerds from the boys but do you want to hire a nerd or someone who can code AND you can have a conversation with like a real person (but that assume you're a real normal person yourself ;) ? I hate it when someone throws out a C function and sayd "find all the bugs" coz thats just being mean and no one writes perfect code and compilers catch the syntatic ones just see if they can solve problems and are human beings Bryce
bryce wrote: someone who can code AND you can have a conversation with like a real perso Yeah, like a woman coder eh? Jus kidding :-) Nish
Check out last week's Code Project posting stats presentation from :- http://www.busterboy.org/codeproject/ Feel free to make your comments.
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
These are typical of the questions that I ask a potential candidate in the interview. To put this in context, we do defence work, we have a fairly rigorus process (similar to RUP), and are fairly picky about who we hire. A good interview will go at least 90 minutes (You know you havent done well if you are out in 45). This is the complete list of questions, they are tailored to the position. We always ask sections 1, 2, 3, 7, 8. The questions on MFC, Sockets, OS's are a bit more specific to the position. 1. Present recent project Draw subsystem Draw one component showing relationships amongst classes using UML Describe approach to testing What reuse if any was required Discuss the order in which classes/sub-systems were developed Discuss any technically challenging aspects 2. Knowledge of C++ What are the benefits of C++/Object Oriented What are the drawbacks What is polymorphism Why would you use a virtual function Can you describe why a virtual destructor is useful How do you represent an interface in C++ What is a design pattern. List known patterns and there application. What are key issues that makes a good object oriented architecture. 3. UML What does a sequence diagram show What does a component diagram show What is a use case. What qualities represents a good UML model of a software system. 4. Windows / MFC What is the windows message queue What is important to do to make Windows apps well behaved What is the Doc/View architecture Describe what a CTreeView control does Describe the difference between processes and threads Describe synchronisation mechanisms available in MFC and how they can be used. How would data be shared between processes What is priority inversion and inheritance Describe available graphical drawing objects (CBitmap, CFont, CPen, CPalette, CBrush). What is a DLL and what are its advantages (saves memory, saves disk space, upgrades are easier) Describe what an ActiveX control is and what are the benefits (reusable, language independent, platform independent) 5. Client / Server TCP/IP Describe how a client server operates using sockets. What are the trade-offs between TCP and UDP. 6. Operating Systems What operating systems are you familiar with? Discuss t
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Hiya Christian, Personally I think questions like what is the function to do such and such not only insults the person being interviewed but the company and interviewer as well. I like to ask questions not so much to see if the person will get the correct answer, but to see how they think their way through a problem. I'm not talking things like "How many cans of coke can fit into the such and such dome?" I'm talking real programming problems that in all likelyhood the person isn't going to know unless they've personally faced the problem. I just want to see them work their way logically through the problem without giving up. Cheers, Tom Archer Author, Inside C# A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.
-
Would working from home if home is in Atlanta, USA be considered "within reason"? :) Tim Smith I know what you're thinking punk, you're thinking did he spell check this document? Well, to tell you the truth I kinda forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this here's CodeProject, the most powerful forums in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question, Do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk?
Hey, you already own your company. Not the mention the fact that working from home in Atlanta is my gig! :) Cheers, Tom Archer Author, Inside C# A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.
-
Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Don't mention the war... Are you also a Fawlty Towers fan? :) /ravi "There is always one more bug..." http://www.ravib.com ravib@ravib.com
Ravi Bhavnani wrote: Are you also a Fawlty Towers fan? I am ! I can't even tell you my favourite episode because they are all too darn funny. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Here is what I do: 1) Show them the broken string class in effective C++. If they can't spot the problems, we don't hire them. This does two things: a) verifies minimum C++ knowledge and b) tests to see if they have read Meyers books. I haven't met a single good C++ programmer that hasn't read effective C++. 2) Ask them to do a high level design of a well known application that has some similarities to the projects they would be working on. For example, we develop client server applications so I ask them to design a web browser. I am not talking about inserting an IE browser ActiveX control into a frame, I am talking about the actual browser. This tests to see how they approach design issues, since it is a well known application they can't give an excuse of needing requirements to do the design. 3) Have them write some code for you. For example, if you write MFC applications, sit them down at a computer and have them write a quick MDI application that can read and write a text file and display the contents in a view. If they can't do this in 30 minutes, they probably don't know MFC well enough to do the job. 4) Ask them how they rate themself on a scale of 1 to 10 in C++ where 1 is a newbie at 10 is Stroustrup. If they answer 8 or 9, grill them on the most exotic details of C++ such as member function pointers, template specialization and diamond shaped multiple inheritance. If they can't answer those, they don't know how much they really don't know and I won't hire them for a senior position. [Note I personally rate myself about an 8 on the scale and I have met few people in real life that know C++ better than myself] 5) If the position involves multi-threading, I grill them on concurrency issues all the way down to the hardware level. If they don't understand how multiple processors handle concurrency on the bus, I don't hire them. Multi-threaded programming is black art and I can't afford to waste my time debugging concurrency design problems or redesigning inefficient locking strategies. Chris Hafey PS - We are hiring as well, if you are tired of working with half wit C++ programmers and live in the bay area, drop me a line.
-
Here is what I do: 1) Show them the broken string class in effective C++. If they can't spot the problems, we don't hire them. This does two things: a) verifies minimum C++ knowledge and b) tests to see if they have read Meyers books. I haven't met a single good C++ programmer that hasn't read effective C++. 2) Ask them to do a high level design of a well known application that has some similarities to the projects they would be working on. For example, we develop client server applications so I ask them to design a web browser. I am not talking about inserting an IE browser ActiveX control into a frame, I am talking about the actual browser. This tests to see how they approach design issues, since it is a well known application they can't give an excuse of needing requirements to do the design. 3) Have them write some code for you. For example, if you write MFC applications, sit them down at a computer and have them write a quick MDI application that can read and write a text file and display the contents in a view. If they can't do this in 30 minutes, they probably don't know MFC well enough to do the job. 4) Ask them how they rate themself on a scale of 1 to 10 in C++ where 1 is a newbie at 10 is Stroustrup. If they answer 8 or 9, grill them on the most exotic details of C++ such as member function pointers, template specialization and diamond shaped multiple inheritance. If they can't answer those, they don't know how much they really don't know and I won't hire them for a senior position. [Note I personally rate myself about an 8 on the scale and I have met few people in real life that know C++ better than myself] 5) If the position involves multi-threading, I grill them on concurrency issues all the way down to the hardware level. If they don't understand how multiple processors handle concurrency on the bus, I don't hire them. Multi-threaded programming is black art and I can't afford to waste my time debugging concurrency design problems or redesigning inefficient locking strategies. Chris Hafey PS - We are hiring as well, if you are tired of working with half wit C++ programmers and live in the bay area, drop me a line.
Chris Hafey wrote: [Note I personally rate myself about an 8 on the scale and I have met few people in real life that know C++ better than myself] Sorry but, watch out for your ego, it's following you around the corner. Nick Parker
-
Chris Hafey wrote: [Note I personally rate myself about an 8 on the scale and I have met few people in real life that know C++ better than myself] Sorry but, watch out for your ego, it's following you around the corner. Nick Parker
My intent was to show that I rate myself lower than most of the people that I interview who end up having inferior C++ skills. The point being that I know what I don't, but there are many people who have no clue how deep C++ is. Perhaps I should have worded it differently. Or perhaps you are bitter because you would have failed my interview? Chris Hafey
-
Hi, We are currently hiring a C++/Windows developer, and I have some job interviews the coming week, with seemingly very competent applicants. Could somebody please help me to come up with some good questions, tests etc. that would make it easier to decide who to hire. More details about the job can be found at http://www.ingveon.com/job/job3.htm (new window) Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest ;) OK lets see, I've been out of a job for 6 months and your looking for a programmer. Do you think this is a sign? Will the company fly me and my family over to Denmark and pay for all the beautiful Denmark beer that I can handle? ;P Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Don't mention the war... The War. :-D Michael Martin Australia mjm68@tpg.com.au "He orginally got the Tweezers of Destruction through the scanners but then popped back outside for a smoke." - Chris Maunder 26/03/2002
-
My intent was to show that I rate myself lower than most of the people that I interview who end up having inferior C++ skills. The point being that I know what I don't, but there are many people who have no clue how deep C++ is. Perhaps I should have worded it differently. Or perhaps you are bitter because you would have failed my interview? Chris Hafey
Chris Hafey wrote: My intent was to show that I rate myself lower than most of the people that I interview who end up having inferior C++ skills. Ah, that makes much more sense now. I didn't mean to upset you about the ego thing, it just reads that way :) Chris Hafey wrote: Or perhaps you are bitter because you would have failed my interview? No, actually I don't believe that I would have failed your interview because the whole idea is to catch someone lying about their knowledge of C++. The only thing you are really accomplishing is keeping possible employees from exaggerating their knowledge of C++ to get employment. Though it is a noble cause and very ideal might I add, I would not fail this because I simply would show my true knowledge on the subject. You have to admit it really is interesting to see what a game interviews can be, they are played on both sides. I think I understand what you mean now in terms of your hiring practices. Good job. :) Nick Parker
-
Ravi Bhavnani wrote: Are you also a Fawlty Towers fan? I am ! I can't even tell you my favourite episode because they are all too darn funny. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
I agree, all 12 of them are wonderful! /ravi "There is always one more bug..." http://www.ravib.com ravib@ravib.com
-
Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Don't mention the war... Are you also a Fawlty Towers fan? :) /ravi "There is always one more bug..." http://www.ravib.com ravib@ravib.com
Very much so :-) I think John Cleese does a wonderful job of actually making you feel sorry for a person as unsympathic as his character. Generally I think the english sense of humor is great, even the stuff that were made 30 years ago are hilarious today. Danish humor made 30 years ago are mostly toe-curling :-( Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...
-
Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest ;) OK lets see, I've been out of a job for 6 months and your looking for a programmer. Do you think this is a sign? Will the company fly me and my family over to Denmark and pay for all the beautiful Denmark beer that I can handle? ;P Christian Skovdal Andersen wrote: Don't mention the war... The War. :-D Michael Martin Australia mjm68@tpg.com.au "He orginally got the Tweezers of Destruction through the scanners but then popped back outside for a smoke." - Chris Maunder 26/03/2002
Michael Martin wrote: Naturally, you are more than welcome to apply for the job - even if that was'nt the purpose of this post, honest OK lets see, I've been out of a job for 6 months and your looking for a programmer. Do you think this is a sign? Will the company fly me and my family over to Denmark and pay for all the beautiful Denmark beer that I can handle? The last thing I can handle - 6-8 Bjørnebryg shuld do the job ;-) About flying you to Denmark for an interview, we have actually done that in the past (the past=about 1½ year ago) and it just proved way too expensive. It proved to be difficult to pursuade people to stay because of our ridicoulous tax rules :-( At the time it was almost impossible to find a decent programmer. So afterall, the dot-com crash has been good for some of us ;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen Don't mention the war...