3 ms·

I don't know how I could prove or verify this, but in my experience it feels very easy to detect a difference between people who understand a systems topic and

I don't know how I could prove or verify this, but in my experience it feels very easy to detect a difference between people who understand a systems topic and people who've treated it like a cram test. I recall one interview in particular where the guy gave textbook answers to anything like "what technology would you use here" or "what are the benefits of X vs. Y", but fell apart completely whenever I scratched the surface for an implementation detail.

scarface_74 3y ago
You verify it by asking them to walk through their previous experience and why they made the tradeoffs they did. You can also ask them “knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?”. That lets them talk about practical experience and theoretical knowledge. When I use to interview infrastructure people, I could tell quickly the ones who only knew anything based on cramming with ACloudGuru. On a related note: when I work with customers consulting in cloud application development, I am quick to distinguish between what I know well where I have practical experience, what I can ramp up on quickly based on related knowledge and what I only know from watching a video.