First time as interviewer on weds

Yeah, that's exactly the reason I hate it. I don't see the point in forcing yourself to limit your coding to what you can remember - and I will NEVER be able to remember loads of documentation for a single language, let alone the several I work with.

I'm always looking at MSDN/Php/SQL docs/books - even if I know how to do something I'll always try to find a better/more effectively.

Interviews stress me out massively - I HATE THEM - even if I know the exact answer to any question I'm always nervous. Dunno why, but meh.

If I don't know how to do something then i'll find out somehow. Coding tests are just awful (to re-iterate :))
 
i think the answer here is surely, to ask for examples of previous code code. Sometimes this isn't possible due to licensing / NDAs etc, but the candidate should have some examples of code they have written.

Also, instead of getting the candidate to code, get them to write some pseudo code instead, showing HOW they would approach the problem. I think this would show up other traits in a cadidate also.
 
love interviews for some reason, gives me loads of time to talk about myself :D

Only had 1 interview where I had to write code, that was javascript + html for an interview at BBC. Completely naffed it up due to panic and my mind just going blank when I knew what to do, just couldn't do it without having my general layout in front of me.

Didn't get the job to say the least!
Its good to test people I suppose but I wouldn't base the whole job on that test as some people have a photographic memory where others just know the pseudo code but couldn't actually write it in front of you, doesn't mean they would be less suited to the job though!
 
boycee said:
Memory does not = cleaver. It's all about application (no pun intended)!
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Yep.

And as Einstein once said, “Why should I memorize something I can so easily get from a book?”

As long as the guy has access to php.net for reference and any other major sites for quick finding functions and code snippets I think he should be okay. As long as he can code and understand the fundamentals easily enough of course. If I was the interviewer, I'd rather give them small bits of code showing a problem (but nothing something stupid like a random } missing), and asking them to their face if they notice it and how they could resolve it. If they can't figure out the problem quickly, I'd ask how they would go about troubleshooting the problem to find a resolve which is just as important and fixing problems in code.
 
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whitecrook said:
Indeed. Quite unprofessional.
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:confused: And there was me thinking it was quite unprofessional not to show up in the first place. If he doesnt want to be named and shamed then at least a courtesy call saying he will not be attending would have sufficed.

If you were holding interviews for another job vacancy and saw this, and he had applied, wouldnt you think twice about employing him? As not showing, and then canceling the call when we ring him is just rude in my opinion! Wasted a good few hours of my day while other work is piling up.

Hamish said:
A good interview question that I got was "Tell me the difference between HTML and XHTML"
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Anyways back on topic. Hamish, very good question, thanks! :)
 
Mort said:
:confused: And there was me thinking it was quite unprofessional not to show up in the first place. If he doesnt want to be named and shamed then at least a courtesy call saying he will not be attending would have sufficed.
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Yes, it is quite unprofessional of him to not show up, but it was even more unprofessional of you to post his name and the town he lives in on the net - being the lamer I am, I now have access to directions to his house. And also, 2 wrongs don't make a right.
 
JonB said:
Make sure that you know the answer to that though first! ;o)
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Well duh :p hehe

Sic said:
Yes, it is quite unprofessional of him to not show up, but it was even more unprofessional of you to post his name and the town he lives in on the net - being the lamer I am, I now have access to directions to his house. And also, 2 wrongs don't make a right.
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Ok fair enough, point taken, name removed. But it wasnt my intention to attract potential stalkers to him ;) Some part of me was worried which is why I said about him maybe having an accident, and maybe someone may have known him, but yeah the most part was just me being pi**ed off at having my time wasted, as I am sure many of you would agree is not cool :(
 
Here in the UK giving out the guy's name is illegal, something like the data protection act maybe?

I'm glad he decided that he didn't want the job you were offering, I certainly wouldn't want to work for someone who just gives out personal information to other people with such disregard, especially people he/she doesn't know. It's disgusting. So what if he wasn't polite, blah blah blah.. personal information is personal information, and is not to be given out to anyone. People like you fuel identity theft.
 
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bitterSTAR said:
Here in the UK giving out the guy's name is illegal, something like the data protection act maybe?

I'm glad he decided that he didn't want the job you were offering, I certainly wouldn't want to work for someone who just gives out personal information to other people with such disregard, especially people he/she doesn't know. It's disgusting. So what if he wasn't polite, blah blah blah.. personal information is personal information, and is not to be given out to anyone. People like you fuel identity theft.
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alright dude. it seems like it was an honest mistake, and he realises it wasn't right - just leave it at that, yeah? Let's get back on topic, as I'm sure some people may find this thread useful
 
Yeh back OT :)

How about ask them how they would tackle a large scale project/problem.

Then look for them breaking it down into smaller tasks.
Looking at the problem logically.
Ask them a stupidly hard question and see if they're honest and say they do not know.

We always shout out questions in our office, chances are someone's done it before, what's the point in struggling for a day when someone could just help you for 5mins. Obv make sure you learn it yourself too though :p
 
Sorry everyone, i was gonna leave it at just that - it's just something i feel very strongly about.

Back to the discussion, how about having a discussion about standards and accessibility to get an idea of how important they are to him, etc.?
 
As i said I was stressed out at having the interview in the first place, then even more stressed that it was all a waste of time, didnt mean to do anything malicious or offend anyone etc.

Like boycee's idea of the truth test to see if they are honest about not knowing. also was thinking about one of the debugging tests, write a perfect piece of code that validates 100% etc and see if they spot that there are zero mistakes instead of just making stuff up? Or is that too mean?

And you say "him" bitterSTAR, my next two interviews are both female devs!
 
On my course at uni, there were 6 girls out of 400 os us. That said 2 of them were pretty much always in the top 10 for coursework (along side me :p)
 
First interview went fine, we decided to keep all the techie stuff / coding tests until the 2nd interview though.

But she was pretty good, especially for a graduate, had a few very impressive self projects as well. Think she finished with a first at uni too, and she was really keen, and seemed like she really enjoyed to code which I can totally relate too ;)

Think we had even less females on my course at uni, but I guess from a womans point of view thats even more reason to be top (or near) of the class!
 
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