| > It's pretty hard to get someone solving actual problems in a single day. Do you have some examples of how this might be done? Solve a small problem - of which millions can be found in issue trackers. Here is an example I just read on Github: Somebody reports that reading a JSON file results in a value that clearly is an integer being misidentified as "Not an integer". The source code is a parser written in C and the code is quite readable. Give the candidate an hour to try to figure out what is happening (obviously, the language and context must be a match for the job). Important - I think: It would be good if the problem is unsolved and the interviewer him-/herself does not know the answer. Also: Don't send them into a room alone, watch them. I know that adds stress, but learn how to lower it, make it clear you too don't know the answer. If the candidate really can't cope with someone watching, well, okay, let them try alone, I just think if the atmosphere is right this is valuable. There is no right way to approach solving such a problem, but without and not meant for judgment, I think this is just interesting to see how different people approach problems. Of course, if the interviewer has string opinions about how it should be done that is a bad method and I myself would not like to be interviewee in that case. |
I think one-use questions like this must be are bad. It makes it harder to compare candidates, which is what you really want in an interview.