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I'd say that the topic of "node.js" skill covers such a wide range of skills, experience and scenarios, that you'd need to be an expert already to judge how lit

I'd say that the topic of "node.js" skill covers such a wide range of skills, experience and scenarios, that you'd need to be an expert already to judge how little you know. Someone who'd applied it to a single domain successfully can reasonably feel like they've got a good handle on it. Your question is essentially a proxy for server-side architectures and applications, not nodejs itself. It invites misrepresentation.

donkeyd 7y ago
I'm still not grasping how the question "what have you actually built with node?" is "a proxy for server-side architectures and applications, not nodejs itself." and "invites misrepresentation." I feel like you guys think I asked them to rate themselves 1-5 on the subject. I did not, I got their resume, where they themselves rated them on the subject. With my question I was just checking whether that self-assessment was correct. I don't see how that is a bad question... Should I just believe their resume? Should I give them some programming assignments? Should I ask them to write a complex algo on a white board? I feel like just asking is a good way, personally, but maybe I'm wrong.
- dmurray 7y ago
  The self-rating is useful because it gives you a measure of their perceived proficiency in skills relative to each other. You still have to ask a question like you did, but now that you know that "3/5 stars in Node" means advanced beginner level, you have a good idea what to expect when they rate their SQL skills 5/5 or their CSS 2/5.
- Aeolun 7y ago
  Maybe it’s like this: Given that I have no experience with Go, I’d still rate myself at least 3 when someone asks me how well I’d be able to work with it because the job they’re asking it for is ‘back-end development’. Of course this falls apart the moment they ask me any Go question during the interview, but not when I’m actually asked to build a web application in it after being hired. (the one time this happened people thought I’d been working with the new language for years, but no, it’s just a whole lot of transferrable skills)
- fatbird 7y ago
  Sorry: I misunderstood slightly, thinking it was something you put to them. In our tech interviewing I ignore self-assessed ratings, finding them useless for the reason you do, but I don't hold it against them if they're inaccurate just for the reasons I outlined.

donkeyd 7y ago

I'm still not grasping how the question "what have you actually built with node?" is "a proxy for server-side architectures and applications, not nodejs itself." and "invites misrepresentation." I feel like you guys think I asked them to rate themselves 1-5 on the subject. I did not, I got their resume, where they themselves rated them on the subject. With my question I was just checking whether that self-assessment was correct. I don't see how that is a bad question... Should I just believe their resume? Should I give them some programming assignments? Should I ask them to write a complex algo on a white board? I feel like just asking is a good way, personally, but maybe I'm wrong.

dmurray 7y ago
The self-rating is useful because it gives you a measure of their perceived proficiency in skills relative to each other. You still have to ask a question like you did, but now that you know that "3/5 stars in Node" means advanced beginner level, you have a good idea what to expect when they rate their SQL skills 5/5 or their CSS 2/5.
Aeolun 7y ago
Maybe it’s like this: Given that I have no experience with Go, I’d still rate myself at least 3 when someone asks me how well I’d be able to work with it because the job they’re asking it for is ‘back-end development’. Of course this falls apart the moment they ask me any Go question during the interview, but not when I’m actually asked to build a web application in it after being hired. (the one time this happened people thought I’d been working with the new language for years, but no, it’s just a whole lot of transferrable skills)
fatbird 7y ago
Sorry: I misunderstood slightly, thinking it was something you put to them. In our tech interviewing I ignore self-assessed ratings, finding them useless for the reason you do, but I don't hold it against them if they're inaccurate just for the reasons I outlined.