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I'd be able to write HTTP request by hand, I've done that quite often, however I would not expect that to be a common skill. Looking at something, even often do
by rimantas 10y ago
I'd be able to write HTTP request by hand, I've done that quite often, however I would not expect that to be a common skill. Looking at something, even often does not in any capacity mean that you would be able to reproduce that from memory.
- TheOtherHobbes 10y agoExactly. These are memory tests, not ability tests. Beyond a very basic level, memory tests are too random to be useful. I once aced a geography exam because I happened to read up on the economics of Nigeria just before I took it. By sheer luck, there was a question about Nigeria in the paper. If I'd read about Zimbabwe instead I'd have been screwed. Neither possibility provided much insight into my competence as a geographer. Even if a job spec needs specific knowledge of key facts, you can't generalise from pass/fail memory questions to broad spectrum competence, or lack of it. If a candidate has no idea what an HTML request is, that's one thing. If they know damn well what a request is but can't list all the elements in a stressful interview while you're staring at them, - because in fact they spent the last year working on database code, and the API stuff was the year before that - that's something else entirely.