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Where I work we do something similar but it's a "homework" question we give to people who pass our initial resume screen (https://github.com/maxmind/dev-hire-ho
by autarch 11y ago
Where I work we do something similar but it's a "homework" question we give to people who pass our initial resume screen (https://github.com/maxmind/dev-hire-homework https://github.com/maxmind/dev-hire-homework). We tell them not to spend more than 1-2 hours on it. We decide whether or not to interview them based on the quality of the code they produce.
In the interview we ask things like:
* what is OO and how is it different from procedural programming? (high level conceptual)
* why do you want to leave your current position?
* what appeals to you about this job? what do you think you might like least?
* what is the purpose of testing?
* tell us about the programming languages you've used. what's your favorite? what do you like most about it? least?
I'd rather have a more conversational interview after already having established their ability to code.
- collyw 11y agoHomework exercises are a large burden on the candidate, so expect to half your pool for that reason alone. I only do about half or less of these, as most are crappy an unrelated to the job. I prefer to plan and do things thoroughly, not rush a solution out in a couple of hours. And to be honest asking for more than a couple of hours is more than you should be asking unless you are willing to pay.
- autarch 11y agoWe've had a pretty good response rate when asking people to do this. Of course, I totally understand why someone would say no. I'd love to find a better way to evaluate someone's skills, but absent a good public FOSS portofolio, what are my options?
- collyw 11y agoAsk them to bring in a sample of work and discuss it? I have plenty of work I could show people, but I don't have on github. Admittedly that won't work for everyone.
- georgemcbay 11y ago"Homework exercises are a large burden on the candidate" People keep saying that, but I'd MUCH, MUCH rather do a single couple of hour "homework exercise" that I can submit than do a full day (or more!) of "implement whatever pet algorithm/data structure I think is really swell" for like 3-6 different people in series, which is how a horrifyingly large amount of companies still tend to do things. Give me a task, let me do it, have your tech people discuss my solution amongst themselves. If they like my solution bring me in to discuss it (to verify I didn't "cheat") and to determine culture fit. Seems like a lot less wasted time for everyone with far few of the stressors (hard time pressure, etc) that make most tech interviews so amazingly terrible.
- sotojuan 11y ago> People keep saying that, but I'd MUCH, MUCH rather do a single couple of hour "homework exercise" that I can submit than do a full day (or more!) of "implement whatever pet algorithm/data structure I think is really swell" for like 3-6 different people in series, which is how a horrifyingly large amount of companies still tend to do things. The best part is that a lot of companies make you do both : ) I've had that happen to me.
- meggar 11y agoThe homework question is great. But how could a candidate's answers to those interview questions be indicative of anything really?