5 ms·

If you cannot reverse a string under pressure, you are likely unqualified for the job you are applying for. At least in my job, there is often more pressure tha

by adgar2 14y ago

If you cannot reverse a string under pressure, you are likely unqualified for the job you are applying for. At least in my job, there is often more pressure than "write a string reverse function in any language you like in 10 minutes."

nopassrecover 14y ago
It's a different kind of pressure though.
- adgar2 14y ago
  Explain. If you can't produce a god damned string reversal function in 10 minutes, why would I believe you can produce a bug fix to your own, complex code in a few hours? That's what interviewers are considering: the interview is a proxy to see if you can come close to the requirements of the job.
  - nopassrecover 14y ago
    Can you get in the zone with people watching and judging you intently? If you can't get into the zone with only a couple of people watching you, how will you get into the zone when the whole company is depending on your bug fix? The pressure of judgement is not the same as the work pressure of a stressful scenario. It's why public speaking and job interviews are among the most feared activities people go through, but people consider meetings boring and mundane.
    - merijnv 14y ago
      Easy, the company that is depending on me is not physically there, watching and judging me. Sure they probably are watching and judging me, but as long they're not physically present that makes all the difference to my mind...
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    I can program a string reversal with my eyes closed, tied up in chains, upside-down, while holding my breath. Or whatever. The point is more that for a person with a given skill level, interviews can be stressful and make them perform below that skill level. I try to structure my interviews such that people get more comfortable and I don't ram their head into a metaphorical wall. I get all the same information, but without all those hard feelings.
EnderMB 14y ago
What a load of bollocks. If your job is to write methods to reverse strings then you are unqualified, otherwise I wouldn't give a shit whether a candidate can reverse a string. Why would I want to know if someone can reverse a string if the job is to maintain a web app? A few questions for you. How old are you? Have you hired developers before? Truthfully, have you ever had to reverse a string under pressure at your current job.
- borplk 14y ago
  Are you kidding? reversing a string in your language of choice is far too trivial. If you can't do it you really aren't ready to be working in the industry.
  - cygwin98 14y ago
    Out of curiosity, when the interviewer asks you to reverse a string in your language, say Ruby, are you supposed to use existing algorithms/methods built-in in that language, or to flip each character using a for-loop? In Ruby, it's really a single method called reverse will do the trick, i.e., "hello".reverse gives "olleh". I'm trying to make sense of the reason why such a question is asked.
    - candybar 14y ago
      No, the expectation is that you'll use a loop or recursion. If you use an existing method/function, the interviewer will kindly ask you to implement that yourself. The general reason why such a question is asked is because interviewers don't have an infinite amount of time and there's no point in considering any candidate who can't do this. It's a way to weed out ridiculously bad candidates so that you can focus more on good candidates.
  - EnderMB 14y ago
    It's not about whether they can do it or not. It's about why knowing a skill that will take even a non-developer ten seconds to Google makes someone incapable of functioning as a developer. More often than not the people that spout that kind of nonsense are twenty-something junior developers that read a bit of HN and have decided that they know better than everyone else about what makes a good programmer. Why would you test if someone can reverse a string if you're hiring someone to maintain and build on some shitty web app?

by adgar2 14y ago

nopassrecover 14y ago

It's a different kind of pressure though.

adgar2 14y ago
Explain. If you can't produce a god damned string reversal function in 10 minutes, why would I believe you can produce a bug fix to your own, complex code in a few hours? That's what interviewers are considering: the interview is a proxy to see if you can come close to the requirements of the job.
- nopassrecover 14y ago
  Can you get in the zone with people watching and judging you intently? If you can't get into the zone with only a couple of people watching you, how will you get into the zone when the whole company is depending on your bug fix? The pressure of judgement is not the same as the work pressure of a stressful scenario. It's why public speaking and job interviews are among the most feared activities people go through, but people consider meetings boring and mundane.
  - merijnv 14y ago
    Easy, the company that is depending on me is not physically there, watching and judging me. Sure they probably are watching and judging me, but as long they're not physically present that makes all the difference to my mind...
- KirinDave 14y ago
  I can program a string reversal with my eyes closed, tied up in chains, upside-down, while holding my breath. Or whatever. The point is more that for a person with a given skill level, interviews can be stressful and make them perform below that skill level. I try to structure my interviews such that people get more comfortable and I don't ram their head into a metaphorical wall. I get all the same information, but without all those hard feelings.

EnderMB 14y ago

What a load of bollocks. If your job is to write methods to reverse strings then you are unqualified, otherwise I wouldn't give a shit whether a candidate can reverse a string. Why would I want to know if someone can reverse a string if the job is to maintain a web app? A few questions for you. How old are you? Have you hired developers before? Truthfully, have you ever had to reverse a string under pressure at your current job.

borplk 14y ago
Are you kidding? reversing a string in your language of choice is far too trivial. If you can't do it you really aren't ready to be working in the industry.
- cygwin98 14y ago
  Out of curiosity, when the interviewer asks you to reverse a string in your language, say Ruby, are you supposed to use existing algorithms/methods built-in in that language, or to flip each character using a for-loop? In Ruby, it's really a single method called reverse will do the trick, i.e., "hello".reverse gives "olleh". I'm trying to make sense of the reason why such a question is asked.
  - candybar 14y ago
    No, the expectation is that you'll use a loop or recursion. If you use an existing method/function, the interviewer will kindly ask you to implement that yourself. The general reason why such a question is asked is because interviewers don't have an infinite amount of time and there's no point in considering any candidate who can't do this. It's a way to weed out ridiculously bad candidates so that you can focus more on good candidates.
- EnderMB 14y ago
  It's not about whether they can do it or not. It's about why knowing a skill that will take even a non-developer ten seconds to Google makes someone incapable of functioning as a developer. More often than not the people that spout that kind of nonsense are twenty-something junior developers that read a bit of HN and have decided that they know better than everyone else about what makes a good programmer. Why would you test if someone can reverse a string if you're hiring someone to maintain and build on some shitty web app?