| HN Mirror

> couldn't print a 2d array to the console. > should never have been engineers

that's a challenge for a technician, not an engineer's role.

I know plenty of engineers who can tell you how cars work, what customers like, how they should interact with the cloud, what functions make them safe,... They are ok at designing new models. But they would 100% feel distressed if they had to check their oil or tire pressure.

Also, knowing how to properly print an array is probably something you can find on the internet, when you're not familiar with the specifics of a language. So it's not even a relevant skill to test for a technician.

Secondly, "Those who are competent" is a terrible thing to hear from a recruiter. You usually hear that from mismanaged companies with no introspection nor continuous improvement process, who judge the candidates and absolutely not themselves nor their processes and job ads. They think that competence is an 1 dimensional absolute value, and interview you in java for a C# position, turn you down because you don't know the number of ports available in ipv4, or make you play games with dominoes.

or in that case :

> senior level front end position > console

you think all developers know how to develop console applications.

Unfortunately, a console application is pretty specific, uses specific packages and methods, and you never need that when you work on GUI apps or web apps. This question would have been a relevant if you wanted a sysadmin or a devops engineer to do scripts. But it is not relevant to interview a front end developer. FE developers have a knowledge of frameworks to build interfaces, as their title indicate. They don't do scripts for the console.

"It's not the job ad, the position, or the interviewing processes that are flawed. That candidate was definitely not born competent but had to learn his job, and we only want naturally skilled persons here" aka >Those who are competent will always be hired. Those who are are not, the jig is up.