There are really only a couple of uses for trivia questions in technical interviews: verifying someone's resume (i.e. if you claim to be skilled in some area, t

There are really only a couple of uses for trivia questions in technical interviews: verifying someone's resume (i.e. if you claim to be skilled in some area, trivia questions should be, well, trivial) and as a jumping-off point for a discussion to see how you think. I have always found hiring managers who use this, tend to me developer come manager and tend to have a superiority complex. I have never liked trivia questions because the interviewer generally tries to find some obscure item, that is unknown to 90% of people just getting work done and the only reason they know it is that they goggled "really hard tech trivia that will make me feel superior when all the applicants don't know it"