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Yes, but some interview questions are more important than others. I was asked this question before. I didn't know the answer. I still got the job. A year later

Yes, but some interview questions are more important than others. I was asked this question before. I didn't know the answer. I still got the job. A year later, I'm asking the question. I obviously don't hold it against interviewees if they don't know the answer. I see it is a "bonus points" question, not one that will make/break my opinion of a candidate. Asking about cycle detection in linked lists can be informational even if the candidate doesn't know Floyd's algorithm. Like simpler questions, often the interviewee's thought process is more important than their final answer.

RogerL 13y ago
Why do you ask questions that don't influence your hiring decision? I find these kinds of questions quite annoying because I suspect the interviewer is not trying to measure me appropriately - and I have turned down job offers where I thought the interview questions were poor. Why ask a question when you have empirical evidence that you can perform quite well (I'm assuming you are a good engineer) without being able to answer the question? It makes no sense to me.
- AnIrishDuck 13y ago
  > Why do you ask questions that don't influence your hiring decision? Every question influences hiring decisions. Some questions just carry far more weight than others. Also, the answers often aren't as important as the thought process. All else equal, the candidate that knows Floyd's algorithm would get the job over the candidate that doesn't. But we're talking about people here, and it's really rare that all else will be equal. > Why ask a question when you have empirical evidence that you can perform quite well (I'm assuming you are a good engineer) without being able to answer the question? We don't tell the candidate "write out Floyd's Algorithm". We say "how would you detect cycles in a linked list". If they can't derive SOME solution, that does count against them (and I'll be bold enough to say they probably aren't a good engineer). Someone who derives a decent but suboptimal solution to the problem isn't far behind someone that actually knows Floyd's. In the end we're ranking people here, not objects. Many things factor into the final decision.

RogerL 13y ago

Why do you ask questions that don't influence your hiring decision? I find these kinds of questions quite annoying because I suspect the interviewer is not trying to measure me appropriately - and I have turned down job offers where I thought the interview questions were poor. Why ask a question when you have empirical evidence that you can perform quite well (I'm assuming you are a good engineer) without being able to answer the question? It makes no sense to me.

AnIrishDuck 13y ago
> Why do you ask questions that don't influence your hiring decision? Every question influences hiring decisions. Some questions just carry far more weight than others. Also, the answers often aren't as important as the thought process. All else equal, the candidate that knows Floyd's algorithm would get the job over the candidate that doesn't. But we're talking about people here, and it's really rare that all else will be equal. > Why ask a question when you have empirical evidence that you can perform quite well (I'm assuming you are a good engineer) without being able to answer the question? We don't tell the candidate "write out Floyd's Algorithm". We say "how would you detect cycles in a linked list". If they can't derive SOME solution, that does count against them (and I'll be bold enough to say they probably aren't a good engineer). Someone who derives a decent but suboptimal solution to the problem isn't far behind someone that actually knows Floyd's. In the end we're ranking people here, not objects. Many things factor into the final decision.