4 ms·

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 Fi

by 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.

by dx034 8y ago

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.