On Thursday 07 June 2007 19:21, Jim Cheetham wrote: > On 07/06/07, Carl Cerecke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Indeed. I don't recall being asked to write code in any job interview. > > I was once - write a PHP CRUD app as part of an interview for > sysadminning(!). I created a non-working app that the interviewer (Hi > Roger if you're out there) couldn't debug either until I said "we *do* > have Internet available, don't we?" and a 2 minute googling fixed the > problem ...
I was asked recently to write FizzBuzz for a preliminary pre-interview test. It took me a short while to get used to the idea, then another few minutes working out what they were actually asking for; I found it hard to believe them when they told me they were impressed with my code. I also felt like a fool. If you don't know modulus arithmetic ... > > > Ever. I've been surprised that prospective employers haven't grilled > > me that hard. Not that I'm unprepared, of course. > > One of my colleagues held the opinion that all technical interviews > should be open-book, open-Internet, phone-a-friend - because that's > what you'd do in the job, and the ability to research was just as > important as the ability to do. I have wondered about the value of tests in tertiary institutions, since I was told by Jan Nordhoff - he worked at Taits in the mid-nineties; he also taught for a while at Lincoln U. - that I was one of the better programming students he had had, which didn't stop me failing my first semester test. How well do these university tests - with their closed conditions - relate to the work environment? How often would I be expected to solve a restricted set of problems without asking anybody for clarification of their requirements, using debugging tools, etc, within a very tight three-hour period? > > > Also, I've never worn a tie to a job interview. I'm never sure if it's > > a good thing or not. > > You need a tie to strangle the blood supply to the brain if you want > to move from technical to management :-) I've worn a fie on a number of occasions; I have also felt a total fool on such occasions. > > -jim Wesley Parish -- Clinersterton beademung, with all of love - RIP James Blish ----- Gaul is quartered into three halves. Things which are impossible are equal to each other. Guerrilla warfare means up to their monkey tricks. Extracts from "Schoolboy Howlers" - the collective wisdom of the foolish. ----- Mau e ki, he aha te mea nui? You ask, what is the most important thing? Maku e ki, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata. I reply, it is people, it is people, it is people.
