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I generally ask interview questions which attempt to expose how a candidate thinks through a problem. And, I often tell them that they aren't being given enoug

I generally ask interview questions which attempt to expose how a candidate thinks through a problem. And, I often tell them that they aren't being given enough information, so they should ask me relevant questions. Am I The Google? In contrast, if I see a resume with a few years of experience writing Java code (working full-time on 90%+ Java systems), then I think it's reasonable to discuss the specifics of the language/platform. If you've supposedly been writing Java code for a few years and you can't tell me how exceptions work, then you're a moron or a liar.

wildwood 17y ago
I absolutely agree - if I'm trying to gauge whether an applicant really knows as much as they think they know, I would ask questions where the interviewee might think "google it" is acceptable, but that would make me trash the application. For example, if someone rates themselves as 7 out of 10 on java, they better be able to come up with a handful of functions on Object that are useful to override, or walk through the rough call sequence to query a database using jdbc. And that should all be from memory. Maybe that's unfair on my part, but I feel like it does a lot to filter for people who can actually walk the walk.
- sjf 17y ago
  Because everyone who writes in Java uses JDBC? Why not ask them about core features of the language?
  - lhorie 17y ago
    A real interview question I've seen that seemingly no one gets right: what's a transient variable in Java? I figure wildwood's assuming a job where you deal with databases.