Funny interview answers
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates?
Well I did once ask a lady in reference to her Master's thesis project (a computer program) where she got the idea from.... you heard the leafing through a notebook and typing on a computer... then an answer.... So I asked what the hardest thing about the project was while looking perplexed at my bosses and other members of the interview committee crowded around the speaker phone... you heard more sounds of leafing through notes... then furious typing, then more leafing through notes... and an answer.... I asked a few more questions because I was getting entertained with this, seeing how long it would take to answer the questions because they were all opinion, not answers, everyone else was asking specific questions that required specific answers, there was much less typing and quick answers after the typing. :laugh:
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
Thanks for sharing. :laugh:
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
Seems like the candidate fully understood that when it comes to computers, one does not interpert querys, they answer the query posed!
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
My favorite answer when someone asks, "Are there any questions?": "Who played Lumpy on Leave It To Beaver?"
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You work with computers and do not recognise a perfectly acceptable answer? Shame on you.
Q: Would you like tea or coffee?
A: Yes
Is also perfectly cromulent.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
Ok, this isn't a funny answer but a question. Q: What are the 5 process steps in UML. A: There arn't any process steps in UML. The interviewer got all flustered and insisted that there are five process steps in UML. I didn't get the job. I emailed him later that he probably was thinking RUP when he said UML. I never heard back.
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You work with computers and do not recognise a perfectly acceptable answer? Shame on you.
Q: Would you like tea or coffee?
A: Yes
Is also perfectly cromulent.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Reminds me of an old joke: A software engineer and his wife: She: Darling, we're out of bread. Would you please go to the supermarket an get one? And if they have got eggs, get six. Him: No problem, sweetheart! The software engineers goes to the supermarket and comes home with six breads. She: Why the hell did you buy six breads? Him: Because you told me so.
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Well, I do agree it was a "valid" answer, but no marks were given. The guy anyways plonked the exam with several wrong answers and bad code, but the point was that I enjoyed his sense of humour and I was merely asking if people have had similar experiences. Instead of which, you were trying to assess the fairness and balance of our interview process. Hot air. :rolleyes: But thanks for responding - it was humorous anyways. :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
And you probably missed the best candidate for the job. I don't know who in his right mind thinks that giving this kind of questions for a job interview and over the phone shows them anything except that people under extreme stress don't perform very well at intensely intellectual games. I am doing the interview circuit right now - I have 30 years programming experience, I rarely get support calls for my stuff but I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag during a job interview. I basically hand in a blank piece of paper when the idiots hand me a test. This is not to say I can't perform under pressure - I have dictated code over the phone in a foreign language in order to get a payroll back up and running (not mine). Anyone with any brains will have researched the effectiveness of test at job interviews and realized they only predict that a person can do a test under extreme personal pressure and absolutely nothing else. In fact when you check out the personality types of the best programmers you will realize that you are weeding out the best of the best with these interview techniques so good luck with your mediocre picks.
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
I was recently interviewing a CS graduate who had told me he wanted to make programming his life. I asked "Did you write any programs aside from the assignments?", wanting to see what his interests were. He replied, "No." He didn't make my final list of candidates.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11
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And you probably missed the best candidate for the job. I don't know who in his right mind thinks that giving this kind of questions for a job interview and over the phone shows them anything except that people under extreme stress don't perform very well at intensely intellectual games. I am doing the interview circuit right now - I have 30 years programming experience, I rarely get support calls for my stuff but I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag during a job interview. I basically hand in a blank piece of paper when the idiots hand me a test. This is not to say I can't perform under pressure - I have dictated code over the phone in a foreign language in order to get a payroll back up and running (not mine). Anyone with any brains will have researched the effectiveness of test at job interviews and realized they only predict that a person can do a test under extreme personal pressure and absolutely nothing else. In fact when you check out the personality types of the best programmers you will realize that you are weeding out the best of the best with these interview techniques so good luck with your mediocre picks.
I was asking for funny interview experiences and I did really not want you to assess the 'effectiveness of test' at job interviews conducted by anyone anywhere. I see you're offering your thoughts on that line for FREE, but thanks anyway. I'm not sure how many best programmers have you met, but I do think I'm a very good programmer, and unlike you, I *can* program my way out of a wet paper bag. There are more kinds of people than you may probably know, but I'm not going to spend time convincing you on that. :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
What a horrible question... The question was not open ended, not behaviorial driven and least of all not asking for demonstrative proof that they knew the information you were looking to obtain. I would be laughing at you as an interviewer.
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I was recently interviewing a CS graduate who had told me he wanted to make programming his life. I asked "Did you write any programs aside from the assignments?", wanting to see what his interests were. He replied, "No." He didn't make my final list of candidates.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11
What did you expect, when you ask a yes / no question?
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My job is to give such answers. I was taught to do so by my father. A recent test asked for three things make for a successful meeting; I answered: bagels, cream cheese, and brevity. In the real (IT) world, those are much more important than the concepts expressed in the class. I hope you don't write system specs like that question.
I agree 100%.... horrible question... What is worse... is he expected a different answer... I hope his code is not like that ...
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Yes, the question is wanting.
I disagree... the question is a yes / no answer question... A better question would have been : In a short coding example, show how to use the C++ casting operators. Gets what you want and the answer can be written in a very short code snippet: double x = 3.1; int i; i = (int)x;
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I disagree... the question is a yes / no answer question... A better question would have been : In a short coding example, show how to use the C++ casting operators. Gets what you want and the answer can be written in a very short code snippet: double x = 3.1; int i; i = (int)x;
Or, still better:
double x = 3.1;
int i;
i = static_cast<int>(x);-- gleat http://blogorama.nerdworks.in[^] --
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What a horrible question... The question was not open ended, not behaviorial driven and least of all not asking for demonstrative proof that they knew the information you were looking to obtain. I would be laughing at you as an interviewer.
M i s t e r L i s t e r wrote:
What a horrible question... The question was not open ended, not behaviorial driven and least of all not asking for demonstrative proof that they knew the information you were looking to obtain. I would be laughing at you as an interviewer.
What a waste of time! How did you get the idea that I was the "interviewer". There was some sort of written test going on, and I just happened to know a funny reply given by a candidate through a colleague (he was correcting the test papers). Had you read the whole thing before starting to type out a reply, it would have been much easier. Why don't you laugh at yourself for not being able to read?
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
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I disagree, I think the intent of the question was clear to anybody with half a brain. We already have something that will follow the literal instructions given, their called computers. We need people who can do the fuzzy reasoning to translate a slight vague question into something definite and precise. Kinda like what you just did.
Wjousts wrote:
We already have something that will follow the literal instructions given, their called computers. We need people who can do the fuzzy reasoning to translate a slight vague question into something definite and precise.
And when you start to blur the line in thinking between a computer and a human, then you become awesome. ;P The ability to be coldly logical and completely abstract at the same time. Get it right and debugging will be a breeze. The actual coding itself can sometimes be annoying though, too logical and you have no idea what they're asking you to do. :laugh:
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Usage determines language, not the other way around. Unless you're French.
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So, my lead was correcting these written test papers and he burst out in laughter suddenly. I went there to see what was it about and found this answer written by a candidate:
Q: Can you identify and define the C++ casting operators?
A: yes.:laugh: :laugh: Yes?! I also reckon a telephonic interview in which a candidate defined function overloading as "stuffing in too much of code in any given function". I muted the phone and laughed like mad before telling him I'm done with the call. :laugh: Have you ever been given such funny answers by any candidates? :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
A couple of years ago, I was interviewing for a C++ Windows developer position, and the interviewer asked me if I knew how to map a network drive from a command prompt. It had been so long since I had done it that way I couldn't remember, but I told him how to do it in Windows. He said "some of us prefer to do things the old way." I replied "some of us prefer to keep our skills current." Needless to say, I didn't get the job.
Mark D. Collins
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Cromulent[^] as defined by the Urban dictionary. References an inherent Simpsons reference[^] (item 3).
Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
There's also the collective noun for baboons: "flange". :-)
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A couple of years ago, I was interviewing for a C++ Windows developer position, and the interviewer asked me if I knew how to map a network drive from a command prompt. It had been so long since I had done it that way I couldn't remember, but I told him how to do it in Windows. He said "some of us prefer to do things the old way." I replied "some of us prefer to keep our skills current." Needless to say, I didn't get the job.
Mark D. Collins
On the brighter side, it was probably going to be too bad of a job if they were all doing things the old way (especially things like mapping a network drive from command prompt). You could be glad you weren't sucked into it. :)
It's time for a new sig. Seriously.
