Reply to: Contractor Interviews

[LondonManc]

Hey! Just because I declined to sub you £20

Wise as well eh?

[barrydidit]

He is but he's also from Yorkshire so 'loan' isnt a word he recognises.

Hey! Just because I declined to sub you £20

[northernladuk]

He's a contractor isn't he?

He is but he's also from Yorkshire so 'loan' isnt a word he recognises.

[LondonManc]

Fail -as you aren't.

He's a contractor isn't he?

[SueEllen]

Is "Loan shark, because i'm morally bankrupt" likely to impress?

Fail -as you aren't.

[barrydidit]

I prefer "If you could be any shark other than a great white, which would it be and why?"

I don't care which actual shark they pick but it's all about their ability to convince me that their choice can be logically argued.

Is "Loan shark, because i'm morally bankrupt" likely to impress?

[LondonManc]

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.

I've always wanted to ask "So I'm driving my car at the speed of light and I switch my headlights on. What happens ?"

I prefer "If you could be any shark other than a great white, which would it be and why?"

I don't care which actual shark they pick but it's all about their ability to convince me that their choice can be logically argued.

[LondonManc]

When I interview people, I always always always ask a few pointed technical questions based on a project on their CV or what they've told me to ensure they have actually done the project. Its amazing how many people cant even answer a technical question on something they supposedly worked on for a number of months, which screams to me, bulltulip.

There are a lot of blaggers out there.

Personally if I have had a tough interview it makes we want to work there, as usually the people you are working with are of a high ability as they also had to get through the interview

+1 for this; it's how I tend to interview people too. A few generic questions that everyone gets (very important if someone else has picked the candidates) to sort out the basic time wasters, but generally I'll spend half an hour on someone's cv to establish questions based on it that are relevant for the role that I'm holding interviews for.

If clients don't show that level of interest in who they are recruiting, it doesn't bode well for the level of interest that they show in the rest of the project.

[radish2008]

Worst one i had was "what happens inside new" which lead onto "what happens inside malloc" which lead to "what happens if the memory allocation hits a memory boundary" which lead to me saying "I do not know. I have never programmed at that level"

He failed me for being unable to answer basic questions.

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.

I've always wanted to ask "So I'm driving my car at the speed of light and I switch my headlights on. What happens ?"

[MyUserName]

Worst one i had was "what happens inside new" which lead onto "what happens inside malloc" which lead to "what happens if the memory allocation hits a memory boundary" which lead to me saying "I do not know. I have never programmed at that level"

He failed me for being unable to answer basic questions.

[northernladyuk]

YMMV in my opinion. Some clients do all sorts of stupid interviews and some its just a 20 min chat. As others have said, the gigs with just a chat tend to be the best.

I also get a bit peed off when I get asked stupid obscure technical questions by a young scrote trying to impress his boss and "beat the contractor" in interview. I think - hang on Ive been doing this 25 years so what if I dont know the exact command off the top of my head.

BUT, sometimes you just have to suck it up if you want the gig. Being in gig until end Feb and being able to sort something out now for a new one is golden imho. Even if its a bit weird. If it was me I'd have sucked it up and see what happened.

BTW - weirdest interview I had was 40 questions on 4 subjects (10 each). One of the four subjects I knew nothing about at all and then knew it. Still asked me the questions. I got 29 out of 40 apparently (even got 1 right from the 10 I knew nothing about). Gave the gig to some guy who got 30. Nothing else just a test. Weird.

Did the questions include:

Absence or loss of control whilst conscious leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or bladder, other than enuresis (bed-wetting), despite the wearing or use of any aids or adaptations which are normally or could reasonably be worn or used.
9(a) At least once a month experiences:
(i) loss of control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or voiding of the bladder; or
(ii) substantial leakage of the contents of a collecting device, sufficient to require cleaning and a change in clothing.
Score 15

9(b) The majority of time is at risk of loss of control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or voiding of the bladder, sufficient to require cleaning and a change in clothing, if not able to reach a toilet quickly. Score 6

9(c) Neither of the above applies. Score 0

[JoJoGabor]

When I interview people, I always always always ask a few pointed technical questions based on a project on their CV or what they've told me to ensure they have actually done the project. Its amazing how many people cant even answer a technical question on something they supposedly worked on for a number of months, which screams to me, bulltulip.

There are a lot of blaggers out there.

Personally if I have had a tough interview it makes we want to work there, as usually the people you are working with are of a high ability as they also had to get through the interview

[SueEllen]

I've been on both ends. Interviewing, I've had everything from a 10 min call discussing when I can start, to written technical tests.

When I've interviewed people, their personality and mindset is something I'm usually more interested in, so I start off with a few simple techie questions to gauge general subject knowledge and then ask open ended questions and see how they'd troubleshoot a problem.

I have worked with people who muddled through the interview and were absolutely awful when given anything to do, so perhaps sometimes a hard test is a good starting point even if it means they end up saying, "I don't know the answer to that, I'd have to Google it." rather than attempting to flannel you.

Being given effectively 1 day consultancy gig though? Sod that for a game of soldiers!

Those are the kind of interviews I expect and have no problem with.

Asking me to do an online test with questions which I can Google and I'm very good at Googling is a waste of everyone's time.

[perplexed]

It means you have a chance of securing the role. It is not a weakness you know.

Secured the role anyway via interview. Interviewers themselves said they kept arguing with HR that the tests were pointless so HR ended up changing the policy.

[kaiser78]

Agree. I've been sent links to online tests in the past - refused to do them as they are so easy to game. If I were so minded I simply use a second laptop to google answers and look a genius.

What's the use?

It means you have a chance of securing the role. It is not a weakness you know.