Crazy Interview Tests

[Peter Loew]

I once had an interview for a J2EE role and they sat me down and gave me a technical Java (not J2EE) test.

I had to write a program from scratch, no Internet or referencing allowed except from the API, that took all the elements of the periodic table, sorted them and made words out of the letters by linking them to words in the dictionary!

What's more you had to read both the elements and the dictionary words in from txt files! I got through the file reading in bit, but could not do the actual algorithm in time! They gave me this to do not in a quiet interview room, but in a busy open office. It wasn't even related to the job role which was a J2EE developer role!

Anyone else had any ridiculous technical tests to do for a job interview?

P

[MarillionFan]

I was once asked to cycle around the car park weaving in and out of police cones.

[tim123]

I'm an embedded bod.

I was once given a test to write in C, with no manuals, a DOS program that parsed the command line parameters.

I hadn't the faintest idea what to do. However, this is (I have discovered) a simple execrcise if you had learnt your C through this route, but it displays SFA about ones understanding of embedded code.

tim

[mcquiggd]

I went for a C# gig and the hiring manager, who didn't know anything about C#, simply asked me questions about C++, which had no relevance to the role, but he knew some of the answers... I know nothing about C++ syntax so was at a loss when expected to write code on paper to solve his algorithm problems. I kept asking him if there was any C++ involved in the role, just to get him to admit there was not, and to make him feel stupid.

Name of the company - Tadpole Technologies, these days employing impoverished C# cons for the princely sum of £225 a day. Wowee.

[wc2]

At an interview I was once asked why a manhole cover was round.

I was the only person who got the correct answer.

[Pondlife]

At an interview I was once asked why a manhole cover was round.

I was the only person who got the correct answer.

It's because that's the shape of the manhole, surely.

[wc2]

It's because that's the shape of the manhole, surely.

Nope..

[Troll]

Manhole covers don't have to be round

[wc2]

Manhole covers don't have to be round

Why is a round manhole cover round?

[mcquiggd]

At an interview I was once asked why a manhole cover was round.

I was the only person who got the correct answer.

I was asked that during the paper test for my current (permie!!) job - didnt bother answering it. Still got the job as I managed to describe a Duck in terms of Interfaces and Inheritance.