4 ms·

Saying "I don't know" is an accurate answer. The ability to ask meaningful questions is a big part of any programming job. And (in my opinion) harder to learn

Saying "I don't know" is an accurate answer. The ability to ask meaningful questions is a big part of any programming job. And (in my opinion) harder to learn than any particular technology.

mondoshawan 7y ago
Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. If you want to see them ask questions, give a half explanation of the problem at hand instead and guide them to ask more detailed technical questions. Be an ally, not an adversary, and you will find talent better than if you push.
- notyourwork 7y ago
  It’s really not - as someone whose done 100s of interviews for a brand name tech company I don’t see this as a problem. The goal being for candidate to indicate their lack of knowledge but work through it. As an engineer you will encounter problems you don’t know how to solve. Pretending you know and bullshitting is a red flag.
  - mondoshawan 7y ago
    There are hundreds of ways to do this without intentionally tilting the candidate into failure later. As an interviewer you have absolute authority in the room -- don't abuse it and destroy the candidate.
    - notyourwork 7y ago
      I think you are misunderstanding my point by indicating that interviewer's shouldn't abuse their power. To be specific, I do a lot of things up front in an interview to help the candidate. The most important is informing them that they should treat technical exercises as a team exercise where we are teammates working together. Furthermore, I declare that there is no penalty for my assistance during the interview. The idea is for us to work together to solve a problem, my interest is in how they think and work through the problem. Furthermore, I explicitly tell them for discussion on prior experience and technical facets of interview that they are welcome to indicate they do not have an answer to my question or are unsure what's next. All of this combined creates a very pleasant experience which is an important part of my goal as an interviewer. I'm not trying to embarrass people, though I am trying to make a informed hiring decision which is a very expensive endeavor for my company. Therefore, beyond letting candidate enjoy themselves, my main focus is to ensure that I have sufficient confidence to hire or be willing to walk away due to lack of conclusive data.
- jvreagan 7y ago
  You are proving the OPs point: they are looking for people where "I don't know" is acceptable in collaborating with others, not for people where saying "I don't know" is considered a failure or humiliating. If someone is humiliated being asked a question they don't know the answer to, then they aren't a culture fit. As Jeff Bezos says, the older he gets, the more he realizes he doesn't know. Most people have no issue with saying "I don't know." I've worked with people that can't say "I don't know" - they are incredibly toxic.
- rifung 7y ago
  > Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. I don't think this is true only in interviews though. I have worked with people who can't seem to admit they don't know something and they're difficult to work with. It's completely fine if you can't do something. What's not fine is that you fail to communicate it to those around you and create false expectations. That being the case, I think it's fair to score a candidate negatively if they aren't able to say they don't know something.
- sigstoat 7y ago
  > Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. with hacker news so utterly convinced that employers have literal powers of life and death over their employees, when do you expect the potential employee to regain the ability to tell their employer that they don't know? after they've quit their previous job and moved across the country? a week after that? six months? maybe after they've got some kids?
UweSchmidt 7y ago
Maybe you could give the critical replies to your comment some consideration. There seem to be many interviewers who abuse their temporary power over candidates by freestyling a psychological excercise, and brag about it in threads like this. In a way forcing the other party to give up with an "I don't know" is humiliating, and graciously allowing this answer doesn't make things better. You'd put yourself above the other person. Imagine you'd interview someone you truly respect, a luminary of Open Source walks in. How would you go about the interview then? I think a great interviewer can make the interview an enlightening and wholesome experience for both parties - while easily identifying the exact qualifications and the fit of the candidate.
- ThrowawayR2 7y ago
  "I don't know" is something that developers encounter weekly, if not daily. There's nothing humiliating about acknowledging that there are things one doesn't know, whether in our daily jobs or in an interview.
- Stronico 7y ago
  I thought I had given consideration. I do not regard "I don't know" as giving up. Giving up would be not finding the answer eventually. I certainly don't find myself "under" some other person if they know the answer to a particular technical question. As for interviewing a luminary of open source what would be the difference? I imagine they (much like everyone else) don't know lots of things and are probably comfortable saying so. Their answers to how they would go about finding an answer would probably be wonderful.
  - UweSchmidt 7y ago
    Fair enough. Of course it depends a lot on the overall tone of the interview, and as I read more I'm sure you're doing it very well.
- NoodleIncident 7y ago
  You can call it whatever you want, but I think if a candidate would be humiliated by saying "I don't know" in an interview, that's a strong negative signal. Saying "IDK" and reading the docs, googling it, or asking for help is at least half of the job.

Saying "I don't know" is an accurate answer. The ability to ask meaningful questions is a big part of any programming job. And (in my opinion) harder to learn than any particular technology.

mondoshawan 7y ago

Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. If you want to see them ask questions, give a half explanation of the problem at hand instead and guide them to ask more detailed technical questions. Be an ally, not an adversary, and you will find talent better than if you push.

notyourwork 7y ago
It’s really not - as someone whose done 100s of interviews for a brand name tech company I don’t see this as a problem. The goal being for candidate to indicate their lack of knowledge but work through it. As an engineer you will encounter problems you don’t know how to solve. Pretending you know and bullshitting is a red flag.
- mondoshawan 7y ago
  There are hundreds of ways to do this without intentionally tilting the candidate into failure later. As an interviewer you have absolute authority in the room -- don't abuse it and destroy the candidate.
  - notyourwork 7y ago
    I think you are misunderstanding my point by indicating that interviewer's shouldn't abuse their power. To be specific, I do a lot of things up front in an interview to help the candidate. The most important is informing them that they should treat technical exercises as a team exercise where we are teammates working together. Furthermore, I declare that there is no penalty for my assistance during the interview. The idea is for us to work together to solve a problem, my interest is in how they think and work through the problem. Furthermore, I explicitly tell them for discussion on prior experience and technical facets of interview that they are welcome to indicate they do not have an answer to my question or are unsure what's next. All of this combined creates a very pleasant experience which is an important part of my goal as an interviewer. I'm not trying to embarrass people, though I am trying to make a informed hiring decision which is a very expensive endeavor for my company. Therefore, beyond letting candidate enjoy themselves, my main focus is to ensure that I have sufficient confidence to hire or be willing to walk away due to lack of conclusive data.
jvreagan 7y ago
You are proving the OPs point: they are looking for people where "I don't know" is acceptable in collaborating with others, not for people where saying "I don't know" is considered a failure or humiliating. If someone is humiliated being asked a question they don't know the answer to, then they aren't a culture fit. As Jeff Bezos says, the older he gets, the more he realizes he doesn't know. Most people have no issue with saying "I don't know." I've worked with people that can't say "I don't know" - they are incredibly toxic.
rifung 7y ago
> Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. I don't think this is true only in interviews though. I have worked with people who can't seem to admit they don't know something and they're difficult to work with. It's completely fine if you can't do something. What's not fine is that you fail to communicate it to those around you and create false expectations. That being the case, I think it's fair to score a candidate negatively if they aren't able to say they don't know something.
sigstoat 7y ago
> Saying "I don't know" like this in an interview scenario is nearly impossible for most candidates and only serves to humiliate rather than prove their abilities. with hacker news so utterly convinced that employers have literal powers of life and death over their employees, when do you expect the potential employee to regain the ability to tell their employer that they don't know? after they've quit their previous job and moved across the country? a week after that? six months? maybe after they've got some kids?

UweSchmidt 7y ago

Maybe you could give the critical replies to your comment some consideration. There seem to be many interviewers who abuse their temporary power over candidates by freestyling a psychological excercise, and brag about it in threads like this. In a way forcing the other party to give up with an "I don't know" is humiliating, and graciously allowing this answer doesn't make things better. You'd put yourself above the other person. Imagine you'd interview someone you truly respect, a luminary of Open Source walks in. How would you go about the interview then? I think a great interviewer can make the interview an enlightening and wholesome experience for both parties - while easily identifying the exact qualifications and the fit of the candidate.

ThrowawayR2 7y ago
"I don't know" is something that developers encounter weekly, if not daily. There's nothing humiliating about acknowledging that there are things one doesn't know, whether in our daily jobs or in an interview.
Stronico 7y ago
I thought I had given consideration. I do not regard "I don't know" as giving up. Giving up would be not finding the answer eventually. I certainly don't find myself "under" some other person if they know the answer to a particular technical question. As for interviewing a luminary of open source what would be the difference? I imagine they (much like everyone else) don't know lots of things and are probably comfortable saying so. Their answers to how they would go about finding an answer would probably be wonderful.
- UweSchmidt 7y ago
  Fair enough. Of course it depends a lot on the overall tone of the interview, and as I read more I'm sure you're doing it very well.
NoodleIncident 7y ago
You can call it whatever you want, but I think if a candidate would be humiliated by saying "I don't know" in an interview, that's a strong negative signal. Saying "IDK" and reading the docs, googling it, or asking for help is at least half of the job.