Interviewee Competency Tests
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Well, ya see... I have this CD.COM that hides the details... so I just type
CD somedir,CD somelogical,CD .., etc. I was asked once, when applying for an OpenVMS System Manager position, something like; "What's the syntax for changing such-and-such on a printer queue?" But of course at my previous job I not only had COM files, I had defined keys to work as mini-macroes, and I couldn't actually remember the syntax?! Have I mentioned that I have two AlphaServers running OpenVMS 8.3?Cool! We have a number of OpenVMS machines, from old VAX machines that amazingly still run!, to Alphas, to the newer Itanium models. It's been an eye opening experience using them, and I've even had the chance to do a bit of system programming on them.
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
It would be helpful to know what sort of application you expect the contractors to develop, but in general, if he/she can program in any language with any level of competence, you can expect passable performance. Ask general questions, not platform/language-specific ones. If you eliminate candidates because they haven't worked in your peculiar environment, you probably will lose a few super-stars because of your own stupidity. Anyone who truly loves programming can pick up a new language or operating system in a few weeks; total immersion on-the-job training is extremely effective. I've had jobs, while a full-time employee, in which I had to master three operating systems and four languages in a span of six months. It was easy to do, because it was my job to do it and I loved what I was doing. Look for reasoning/ problem-solving skills, rather than platform-specific experience, and keep the manuals handy at the newby's desk. A history of problems solved is far more important than what environments have been experienced.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
How about "What is a VMS Logical Name and when do you use them?" If they don't know the answer, then they can't possibly understand VMS. Another good question -- if you were asked to develop a VB application that could talk to an OpenVMS back end, how would you do it? There's a few different ways to do it (sockets, Telnet, or Serial Communications) are the three primary ways they should think about it. Walt
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
Thing is... any potential contractor with those required skills with anything about him/her, probably subscribes to the CodePoject newsletter. He will have received this post in his inbox this morning like i did and thought hmmm I can do that... and may apply for the job (if close to home) armed with a lot of the questions and answers you're going to be asking. If only it were closer to home, I could do with a new job Ive been here 10 years next month. :laugh: It is difficult though finding questions. We had a standard set of questions drawn up that we give to all new employees and the same guy marks each one, so we can compare like for like. Good luck
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
There is quite a range of technologies so I would consider which parts are a necessity. I would be a very good candidate for most of this, but have only ever heard of Fortran and Ingres and wouldn't have a clue. I would imagine there would be a lot of people in my position who are solid ASP/VB6/COM+/SQL Server developers without Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II, which frankly sounds pretty scary. I think you would want strong ASP.NET/VB.NET/C# skills. C# will help with the programming knowledge, VB.NET/ASP.NET with the ASP. (ALthough ASP DEvelopment is a skill in itself because of its oddities) All the best!
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
Try this site (this is a link to a sample question) for a more general programming aptitude test. People can know a lot about technology, but not necessarily be a good programmer. This site will more accurately test problem solving skills, logical thinking, etc. http://pages.netaxis.ca/winrow/sample.htm[^]
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
To test a potential contractor bring them in and have them write a program in Fortran (any language) and see (1) does it work? (2) does the code make any sense? If they can get that far they can probably do the work. I couldn't do it now without some searching in help, but there was a time when I wrote a simulation system for testing Air Force control systems in Fortran/VMS. It's like riding a bicycle, you don't have to re-learn, you just have to remember, which can take a few minutes. Jim
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We are looking to bring in some contractors as application developers, but would like to give them a competency test to be completed on site. Our environment is a mix of old and new: Windows Server 2000 and 2003 SQLServer 2000 and 2005 VB 6 ASP (classic and .NET) VS.NET 2005 COM+ Alpha VMS with Fortran and Ingres II Type of questions to ask or links to example tests would be much appreciated. (Edit to add other areas) Tim
Memorization of syntax is not an indication of the quality or competency of a candidate IMHO.
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
a code generator written in DCL.
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