Re: [PLUG] OT (but not really): Tough Interview questions

[Toby DiPasquale <toby@cbcg.net>]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 8:21 AM, Mag Gam <magawake@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think "ridiculous" is a poor choice for a word. But I suppose it
> helps if I explained the role better.
>
> K.S said "..and a potential employer has a legitimate reason to ask."
>
> Then again  a potential employer has a reason to ask **any** question...

I disagree.

There's a whole raft of questions that an employer is legally barred
from asking you (age, sex, weight, marital status, etc) and then there
a bunch of questions that are wastes of both of your time. I would
place the questions you mentioned (with the exception of the poll v.
select question, maybe, depending on the position) into the latter
category.

I've definitely crossed potential employers off my list for asking
these kinds of questions in the past and when I was hiring I tried
very hard to make sure I never asked them myself. The problem with
these kinds of questions is that a) you either know the answer or you
don't, which isn't very real-world, and b) anyone with an Internet
connection can know the answer in under 20 minutes. I would much
rather ask a potential candidate to solve a problem while I watch or
dive deep on their past experiences than ask stupid questions like
"How many parameters does ioctl() take and what are they?".

-- 
Toby DiPasquale
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