4 ms·

Lot's of candidates lie. The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number. They copied the first solution that they f

Lot's of candidates lie. The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number. They copied the first solution that they found, variable names, etc. the few times they changed the variable names, they kept the same number of spacing, braces in same position. So one line might have "if (...){ " where another has "if(...){" How demanding can this be? Once money is involved, folks will do almost anything. I had to fire a recruiter once for asking me to lie. Updated my resume, sent me the updated copy with tools I don't know and have no intention of learning and said he was going to use that.

Clubber 8y ago
>The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number. I've read some really stupid programming questions, but that has got to be one of the top 5 stupidest. Also, I think you mean to say "integer," as Romans didn't have the concept of "decimal." http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52552.html http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52552.html
- dx034 8y ago
  Why stupid? As a take-home exercise it doesn't sound too bad. Won't take forever to solve but still requires some understanding of algorithms. Not as easy as FizzBuzz but also nothing you can't solve after work.
  - Clubber 8y ago
    1. The candidate must know how roman numerals work to pass. (This was before OP said it was a take home test which makes it a little better, but ...) 2. The question uses the term "decimal," rather than "integer." Roman numerals don't account for decimal numbers, so it's not even an accurately answerable question as posed. 3. When you google Roman Numerals and decimal, the first link tells you this. I assume the writer didn't event attempt to google. 4. The question will filter out candidates who don't know how roman numerals work and / or googled it to research how roman numerals work. Not only are these good candidates filtered out, but now they are telling all their other good candidate friends about that company and their stupid questions. 5. The pool of good candidates that will respond to your opening just temporarily diminished by a few people (depending on friends in #4) 6. For all this, the business didn't even test something that is in any way relevant to what that business does, unless that business is a digital clock face maker for smart watches or something. If any one of these happened, that's bad. Way more thought and consideration should have gone into this question.
    - segmondy 8y ago
      It was a typo. Not decimal. But whatever.
      - Clubber 8y ago
        Ya, whatever. I guess you failed that test, huh? You must be a bad programmer based on that. Better luck at your next interview. See how silly the premise is?
        dx034 8y ago
        Isn't a quality of a software engineer to produce good code even when the specification isn't 100% correct? A lot of bad software exists because it was designed to only do what was written in the spec with no room for flexibility. Good engineers will have a dialogue with other stakeholders and clarify any issues and potential future uses. That means, if you read decimals for roman numerals you'd ask them to clarify as there are no decimals, just integers. They'll admit the mistake and already know that you read the task properly.
        Clubber 8y ago
        Sure, a great software developer can built a solution with a simple problem definition, "We spend a lot of money communicating with stakeholders." You have to understand though, as a good developer, if someone asks me a question like that, it strongly implies that they don't know what the hell they are even doing. Hiring managers have to be keenly aware of what their questions are implying about their companies. I don't think many give it much though other than googling, "tough interview questions." FWIW, I've sat on both sides of that table.

Clubber 8y ago

>The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number. I've read some really stupid programming questions, but that has got to be one of the top 5 stupidest. Also, I think you mean to say "integer," as Romans didn't have the concept of "decimal." http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52552.html http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52552.html

dx034 8y ago
Why stupid? As a take-home exercise it doesn't sound too bad. Won't take forever to solve but still requires some understanding of algorithms. Not as easy as FizzBuzz but also nothing you can't solve after work.
- Clubber 8y ago
  1. The candidate must know how roman numerals work to pass. (This was before OP said it was a take home test which makes it a little better, but ...) 2. The question uses the term "decimal," rather than "integer." Roman numerals don't account for decimal numbers, so it's not even an accurately answerable question as posed. 3. When you google Roman Numerals and decimal, the first link tells you this. I assume the writer didn't event attempt to google. 4. The question will filter out candidates who don't know how roman numerals work and / or googled it to research how roman numerals work. Not only are these good candidates filtered out, but now they are telling all their other good candidate friends about that company and their stupid questions. 5. The pool of good candidates that will respond to your opening just temporarily diminished by a few people (depending on friends in #4) 6. For all this, the business didn't even test something that is in any way relevant to what that business does, unless that business is a digital clock face maker for smart watches or something. If any one of these happened, that's bad. Way more thought and consideration should have gone into this question.
  - segmondy 8y ago
    It was a typo. Not decimal. But whatever.
    - Clubber 8y ago
      Ya, whatever. I guess you failed that test, huh? You must be a bad programmer based on that. Better luck at your next interview. See how silly the premise is?
      - dx034 8y ago
        Isn't a quality of a software engineer to produce good code even when the specification isn't 100% correct? A lot of bad software exists because it was designed to only do what was written in the spec with no room for flexibility. Good engineers will have a dialogue with other stakeholders and clarify any issues and potential future uses. That means, if you read decimals for roman numerals you'd ask them to clarify as there are no decimals, just integers. They'll admit the mistake and already know that you read the task properly.
        Clubber 8y ago
        Sure, a great software developer can built a solution with a simple problem definition, "We spend a lot of money communicating with stakeholders." You have to understand though, as a good developer, if someone asks me a question like that, it strongly implies that they don't know what the hell they are even doing. Hiring managers have to be keenly aware of what their questions are implying about their companies. I don't think many give it much though other than googling, "tough interview questions." FWIW, I've sat on both sides of that table.