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Seems to me you just shouldn't ask typical "CS problems". The problem with those is that a positive result doesn't necessarily mean that the candidate knows any
by btmorex 16y ago
Seems to me you just shouldn't ask typical "CS problems". The problem with those is that a positive result doesn't necessarily mean that the candidate knows anything. It could be that they've just interviewed so many times that they know a few common answers to memorize.
I still think asking coding questions is extremely important. Programming is one job where you can actually test skill in the interview (unlike management for example, where you mostly have to rely on personality, work history, and references). I don't know why you woulnd't take advantage of that opportunity.
As for culture fit, obviously you need to do that too, but that's somewhat orthogonal to what else you ask about in the interview.
- aplusbi 16y agoIf you assume the goal of an interview is to hire "good" people then you're right. If you assume the goal of an interview is to not hire "bad" people, then I think you're wrong. I think in practice it's almost impossible to determine if someone is a "good" hire based solely on an interview (regardless of technique). It is possible to determine is someone is a "bad" hire based on an interview however.
- msluyter 16y agoI agree that these types of questions can lead to false positives, but what about the negatives? Don't these have some value as filters? After all, if I can't answer a simple question like string reversal, it suggests that I can't code AND I'm not enterprising enough to do some rudimentary Googling to practice technical interview questions.