Charlie,

No, sorry.  This was code on their in-house server.   As I recall Figi's 
program was a routine that read some files, did some calculations, and printed 
out the results to green-bar.

You can build a similar test suite out of any program(s):

1) Chose working, cleanly designed, program.

2) Write down a list of code/design techniques which would demonstrate what 
your company needs.

3) find in 1 examples of 2, and then devilishly apply hacks which break 2.  
(typos,  mangled loops, misplaced logic switches, etc.)
 
4) find a broken keyboard.

Marc Rutherford
Principal Programmer/Analyst
Advanced Bionics LLC
661 362-1754


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charlie Noah
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 8:26 AM
To: U2 Users List
Subject: Re: [U2] [OT] Interview Questions

Hi Marc,

I don't suppose you have a copy of that program you'd be willing to share?

Charlie

On 10-08-2013 10:10 AM, Rutherford, Marc wrote:
> My all-time best interview was 20 years ago at FigiGraphics in San Diego.  I 
> was given a (Basic) program I was told had 12 known bugs in it.  I was given 
> twenty minutes to find and fix them.   Some were trivial, but annoying to 
> debug none the less. Others were more subtle, and several involved mutual 
> interactions.  The group of them did provide enough coverage so as to 
> demonstrate if you had a broad Basic knowledge plus debug/code skills.
>
> Also I was seated at work station with a keyboard that had a bad key.  Part 
> of the test was to see how long I would go before I complained.  Of course 
> the lost time came out of my twenty minute allotment....  :-)
>
> I am surprised that in my entire career this was the only time I had ever 
> been given a hands-on 'performance test' by a hiring company.
>
> And how many times have I been assigned by my company to an interview panel 
> where we would pick someone who 'interviewed well' - only for them to go down 
> in flames later on...
>
> Marc Rutherford
> Principal Programmer/Analyst
> Advanced Bionics LLC
> 661 362-1754
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] 
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kevin King
> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 7:36 PM
> To: U2 Users List
> Subject: [U2] [OT] Interview Questions
>
> This is not specifically a job posting, but I do have ads up on Monster and 
> LinkedIn looking for talent.
>
> At the risk of confessing too much, I have historically been far too easy in 
> the interview process.  As a result, I have had some less-than-excellent 
> hires and spent far too much time and money trying to rescue underperforming 
> and/or recalcitrant staff.  Therefore, I'm planning to be much more 
> discriminating this time around, and am building a series of technical 
> questions to help quickly identify those that have the right skills, 
> abilities, and attitude for our team compared to those who may not.
>
> That being said, I have a question for the group:
>
> Technical questions aside, what are the best interview questions you've 
> asked, been asked, or otherwise heard about that help differentiate between 
> the candidates worthy of additional consideration vs. those that are not?
>
> Each company is different of course, but that aside I'm hoping to get some 
> ideas to cut to the heart of the matter as quickly and efficiently as 
> possible, both for the sake of the interviewer and the interviewee.  (My 
> technical interview is bordering on 200 questions and growing at an alarming 
> pace.) If there were a half dozen questions to open with that could help set 
> the stage for what may be to come, that could be very beneficial for everyone 
> in this mix.
>
> Also, in an effort to keep the OT to a minimum, please don't ask me questions 
> about the positions here.  If you have questions, email me directly or 
> through LinkedIn.  I'd prefer to keep this topic on point of your recommended 
> interview questions.
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