I disagree. When I'm interviewing, I take any line item on a candidate's resume as license to hammer them on their knowledge of that technology and its paradigms.
About 6 years ago I was interviewed for a position that was (mostly) C++ coding.
I told them I had been coding in C++ for four years.
They said "So what level are you, Expert or Guru?"
I thought it was a trick question, and replied that anyone who calls themselves an "expert" after less than 7 years or "guru" after less than 12, is probably over-representing their skill level.
Unfortunately (1) they were serious, (2) what I said applied to all three of my interviewers and (3) it was an internal interview. I had to leave the company very soon afterward. My former boss insisted that I was at least as skilled (at coding) as those three (I passed the technical questions comfortably), and it was just my reluctance to self-promote that let me down.
I don't regret it at all. I would not have done well in that culture, whether I had the coding skills or not. And I avoided having to move (1000s of miles.)
I am not a hammerer. Yet once when I saw PL/SQL on a candidate's resume, I did start asking some questions--not stuff like "explain PRAGMA WNDS" but "tell me a bit about how you've done xyz in PL/SQL" and promptly hit a blank look.
I think that it is reasonable to ask questions about what is on a resume.
I told them I had been coding in C++ for four years.
They said "So what level are you, Expert or Guru?"
I thought it was a trick question, and replied that anyone who calls themselves an "expert" after less than 7 years or "guru" after less than 12, is probably over-representing their skill level.
Unfortunately (1) they were serious, (2) what I said applied to all three of my interviewers and (3) it was an internal interview. I had to leave the company very soon afterward. My former boss insisted that I was at least as skilled (at coding) as those three (I passed the technical questions comfortably), and it was just my reluctance to self-promote that let me down.
I don't regret it at all. I would not have done well in that culture, whether I had the coding skills or not. And I avoided having to move (1000s of miles.)