Funny interview answers
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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.
I think it is a good idea to purposely give questions that are a bit vague. I do not want an employee that never takes the time to think. Anyone with a brain would know that a Yes/No answer was not the intention of the question. I think a great way to weed out the smart asses is to give the smart asses a venue to show their true colors.
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I have always found that short programming assignments are much better than a Q&A style interview. Looking for things like self documenting and modular code is more important to me than seeing if the applicant knows what reference counting is.
yes, short programming assignments are useful. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's better than asking them questions about programming. They're both useful. If a programmer doesn't know the concept of reference counting, then that's fine. I would assume that may not know the terminology, and I would ask them to solve a problem where I think reference counting would be the best solution (multiple owners for an object, when you're not sure which owner is going to get disposed first), and see what they come up with. Hopefuly, they'll do something like referencing counting.
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It's the question that is wrong, not the answer: his answer was perfect. The question should have been: Q: Identify and define the C++ casting operators. If you can't even pose a question correctly how do you expect to be able to carry out a fair and balanced interview?
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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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.
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It's the question that is wrong, not the answer: his answer was perfect. The question should have been: Q: Identify and define the C++ casting operators. If you can't even pose a question correctly how do you expect to be able to carry out a fair and balanced interview?
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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It's the question that is wrong, not the answer: his answer was perfect. The question should have been: Q: Identify and define the C++ casting operators. If you can't even pose a question correctly how do you expect to be able to carry out a fair and balanced interview?
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
I totally agree. This question (i. e. the original one) reminded me of that one: Q: Can I ask a question? A: You just did. I could offer another example from a job interview I was having: Q: How does Windows work? A: Windows works? My response got me some good laughs, but also a reprimand (later) by the senior consultant who was with me to introduce to the company I was supposed to work for as a consultant. On an unrelated note I was accepted after providing the right answer (and some other stuff).
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yes, short programming assignments are useful. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's better than asking them questions about programming. They're both useful. If a programmer doesn't know the concept of reference counting, then that's fine. I would assume that may not know the terminology, and I would ask them to solve a problem where I think reference counting would be the best solution (multiple owners for an object, when you're not sure which owner is going to get disposed first), and see what they come up with. Hopefuly, they'll do something like referencing counting.
Yeah, Terminology might indeed be an issue. I know for a fact that half the idioms programmers fresh from university are using are foreign to me, not because I don't know the concept, but because I've simply never heard them being called that way when I learned them 25 years ago, or there weren't actually any name associated with that concept at the time. Best example are the design patterns as presented by Gamma et al. Be it Visitor-Pattern, Bridge, Factory, whatever, I've known and used the principles behind these for 20 years and more, just never had a name for it. Took me some time to catch up to the naming conventions, after realizing there wasn't actually any new content, just a new cover ... But then this might just be me. I am the kind of guy who in a physics test spends like 10 minutes deriving the equations for general relativity from the most basic formulas in mechanics, because I was too lazy to learn more than those and prefer understanding the principles over knowing every formula from the top of my head...
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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
This is the kind of answers my gf gets confronted with every day. In the meantime she's learned to copy my style, and more often than not I'll lose a step when she does. Probably it's a good thing we're not socializing all that much (outside the internet), 'cause anyone visiting is likely to get annoyed and confused at the same time when trying to follow our conversations.... :laugh: To the OP: the answer is truly worthy of a mathematician - the answer is: 1. short 2. accurate 3. utterly useless. ;P
modified on Thursday, July 15, 2010 8:10 AM
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Yeah, Terminology might indeed be an issue. I know for a fact that half the idioms programmers fresh from university are using are foreign to me, not because I don't know the concept, but because I've simply never heard them being called that way when I learned them 25 years ago, or there weren't actually any name associated with that concept at the time. Best example are the design patterns as presented by Gamma et al. Be it Visitor-Pattern, Bridge, Factory, whatever, I've known and used the principles behind these for 20 years and more, just never had a name for it. Took me some time to catch up to the naming conventions, after realizing there wasn't actually any new content, just a new cover ... But then this might just be me. I am the kind of guy who in a physics test spends like 10 minutes deriving the equations for general relativity from the most basic formulas in mechanics, because I was too lazy to learn more than those and prefer understanding the principles over knowing every formula from the top of my head...
I new guy who would used integrals to remind him what the area of circle is. :) We all have methods. It's easier for me to remember, if I can remind myself of examples. Log of 100 is 2. That reminds me what a log is. In my mind, Pythagorean theorem is the 3/4/5 right-triangle, and the multipe-roots of a cube is the 1/2/sqrt(3) example.
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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.
From an old thread posted in late '09[^] Cracks me up everytime.