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Certainly you can learn Fizzbuzz and string reversing, meaning that you could be a false positive in the interview. Assuming that you are interviewing experienc
by takno 11y ago
Certainly you can learn Fizzbuzz and string reversing, meaning that you could be a false positive in the interview. Assuming that you are interviewing experienced devs and you use the test as a kicking-off point for discussing any errors rather than as an opportunity for calling the candidate an idiot, you are unlikely to hit false negatives.
Even in these circumstances I've had a decent proportion of candidates never able to even begin to outline some code, let alone get far enough in to enounter "tricks" or "pitfalls". These are candidates I'm comfortable assuming have not learned to code.
- thenipper 11y agoThat blows my mind. I believe you it's more like what are people learning with these degrees? I code for fun mostly and I feel like even my 'basic' level knowledge should be able to outline code for a simple problem like fizzbuzz or string reversal.
- mikestew 11y agoGo read up on the origins of FizzBuzz. It was intended to filter out the non-coders, despite what their resume might say. That was Spolksy's problem: BS in CS, resume otherwise looks good, get them in for a tech interview and they simply bomb. Mind still blown? Yeah, well, it happens more than you think. Varying definitions for "SDET" are out there, but I think most would agree that an SDET should be able to code. I've had SDETs with Microsoft on their resume that couldn't even match curly braces, let alone write something that would compile and work. So I use FizzBuzz or an equivalent. I tell the candidate up front that it should take them single digit minutes. I offer points for creativity if they find it too simple. And once in a while a candidate with ten years experience shows up who can't do it. Glad we didn't start with that red/black tree implementation, then.
- thenipper 11y agolate reply.. but damn thats crazy. Admittedly I'd get lost on the red/black tree but a basic loop and modulus is pretty much like CS101...
- mikestew 11y agoIt is crazy, and thankfully not all that common. But I've observed it often enough to never trust a resume. Granted, far more often with SDETs[0] than "regular" devs, but I've seen a few of the latter that would struggle with or outright fail FizzBuzz. The craziest part, though, is that most worked someplace else previously. Did they outright lie about previous roles? I wouldn't believe they lied, but I'm certain they blatantly exaggerated. [0] Why more common with SDETs? My theory is that SDET is easier to fake, and if your SDET "development" consists of var foo=FindUIElement("bar");foo.click(), then FizzBuzz could give you trouble.
- thenipper 11y agoSo I work right now supporting a recruiting team with technology project management/data analysis and I can definitely agree with never trusting a resume. I've learned most of the time people don't actually know they're exaggerating, they tend to be unaware of how limited their skill set is.
- _Codemonkeyism 11y ago"Even in these circumstances I've had a decent proportion of candidates never able to even begin to outline some code" Same here.
- p0nce 11y agoWell in this case I would be surprised if any other programming question wouldn't reveal them.