Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!
You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
You are not logged in. If you are already registered, fill in the form below to log in, or follow the "Sign Up" link to register a new account.
You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
That's the way to do it. I try to keep up with the jargon, but nine times out of ten it's a case of finding out that somebody has given a fancy name to something blindingly obvious, presumably to make it sound more impressive than it is, or possibly because they only learned about it in some purely academic setting rather than by writing code in the real world
This.
In the early days of C++ I was interviewed for an ICL project where they'd decided to implement in C++.
I'd done objected oriented courses, had plenty of experience with the Glockenspiel development environment - the C++ was precompiled to "C" and then recompiled using a "C" compiler.
Anyway, sat opposite me was the Project Manager and a Techie they'd hired from Finland.
The Techie started asking some really esoteric questions - Stroustrup might've struggled with some of these. I answered to the best of my ability in a way that the PM would understand. The Finnish guy was practically screaming at me by the end of the interview "No, you are not correct! It says here..." and that is when I turned to the PM and said "I am answering the questions in a manner that proves I understand the question, not as someone who has the C++ bible open in front of me. I am obviously wasting your time and to be quite frank, you're wasting mine. I'll show myself out!"
It happens.
Suck it up, move on.
But - and this is very important, don't piss on your shoes!
I had a technical phone interview last year. They asked a really open ended question (which I've now stolen) along the lines of 'Explain x and y in as much detail as you can' so I took a deep breath and imparted my knowledge onto them into excruciating detail.
Ten mins later I've got the agent on the phone sorting me a start date. Guy who asked it later admitted he was struggling not to laugh as I took the piss out of his question and left no doubt I knew my tulip.
You have to take a marble statue (1000 kg) from one side of a swimming pool to the other using a rowing boat.
half way across, the statue falls out and sinks to the bottom. At the point the statue falls out of the boat, does the water level in the pool rise or fall ?
What is the surface area of the hull that was submerged before the statue fell, the dimensions of the boat, the total dissolved solids measurement of the pool water and does the leisure centre have fernox in its radiators?
You have to take a marble statue (1000 kg) from one side of a swimming pool to the other using a rowing boat.
half way across, the statue falls out and sinks to the bottom. At the point the statue falls out of the boat, does the water level in the pool rise or fall ?
Second one I've had where it's an endless barrage of esoteric technical questions, the likes of which I honestly don't believe anyone I have ever worked with or anyone in my network would be able to answer.
I got around 80% of them right but the remaining 20% were in serious wft territory.
Seems to be the new norm, in which case studying up on deliberately arcane interview questions is a must for survival.
You have to take a marble statue (1000 kg) from one side of a swimming pool to the other using a rowing boat.
half way across, the statue falls out and sinks to the bottom. At the point the statue falls out of the boat, does the water level in the pool rise or fall ?
That's the way to do it. I try to keep up with the jargon, but nine times out of ten it's a case of finding out that somebody has given a fancy name to something blindingly obvious, presumably to make it sound more impressive than it is, or possibly because they only learned about it in some purely academic setting rather than by writing code in the real world
Leave a comment: