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That is way too little information for anybody to give you any sort of significant or valuable feedback. What position are you hiring for? What other skills and
by pattusk 7y ago
That is way too little information for anybody to give you any sort of significant or valuable feedback.
What position are you hiring for? What other skills and abilities did the candidate demonstrate?
Was the candidate's ignorance merely formal (did not know that "^" was power? did not know what a negative power does?)
It seems unfair to me to have a single question be a dealbreaker, so you will have to give more background info.
- interviewtester 7y agoHiring for Senior Software Engineer. Candidate doesn't know what negative powers does. Candidate showed some other skills. Just wanted to know HN thinks about it.
- philpem 7y agoI had to look it up... Yes it's basic maths, but it's something which isn't commonly used. It's something I'd expect a mathematician to know, but not your average member of the public. For an SE, I'd expect them to know binary powers of two and why they're important in computer systems, but negative powers? I can't immediately recall a time I've used them. Frankly, it looks like a pub quiz question, or one thrown in by an interviewer just to be difficult. A bit like a "what does this code do" question which digs into Undefined Behaviour.