[thelist] Hiring Eye Opener - Web Skills Testing (long)

jay.blanchard at thermon.com jay.blanchard at thermon.com
Tue Feb 26 07:02:01 CST 2002


Good morning,

We are in the process of trying to hire an entry level web developer, so I
developed the test below to determine basic knowledge and skills of web
development. I know that some of the answers are not exact, and my
definitions may be imperfect, but this test will give an idea of basic
knowledge. The test was given orally so that an applicant had the chance to
demonstrate knowledge of concept even if they did not know the exact term
or definition. The last portion of the test (18) the applicant was given a
printed web page that contained basic formatting...table, list, <h1> - <h3>
headings, a 2 column layout, etc. They were given access to a text editor
and a web browser. They did not have to complete the page, but they were
given 30 minutes to get as far as the could. There was a possibility for
bonus points.

The results were shocking to me. Out of a possible score of 100 the range
was from 40 - 62, with the highest score being turned in by a recent
college graduate with a degree in Computer Science. (I was hoping to get
someone in the 75 - 85 range.) Here is some of what I learned from the
applicants;

No one knows what SGML is.
GET is a web request to the browser, where POST sends info to the server.
(They all said this.)
They knew what CSS was, for the most part, but it was easier to use FONT tags.
None had ever heard of "valid HTML", not even the concept of validation was
familiar.
"Liquid layout" has to do with that old JAVA thing that appeared to create
a reflection in water.
None knew that a table did not display until the closing table tag was parsed.
Only one could construct a basic SQL SELECT statement, none were familiar
with Data Connection Strings.
None attempted to employ CSS in the final portion of the test.

What does this mean? Are we, the seasoned professionals in web development
not sharing our knowledge and experience (I agree with an earlier post on
mentoring.)? Without a way to certify (with some meaning) web developers by
testing for comprehensive knowledge how can employers know what to ask for?
I have a thousand other concerns and questions....

Thanks,

Jay

<tip type="Hiring - Skills Testing" author="Jay Blanchard">
Where demonstrable skills are concerned, such as web development, test all
applicants on an equally scored system so that you can accurately gauge
skill level. Applicants demonstrating way above average response at one
skill level should be tested at the next highest skill level as well.
Develop easily scored tests for all technical positions and use them.
Modify those tests as required by progress/technological advances in a
given field. Where possible have senior level developers familiar with
day-to-day problems construct test questions or situations based on those
situations.
</tip>



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Assessment of Web Development Skills Examination

1.      What does HTML stand for? It is a subset of what language?
         a.      Hyper Text Markup Language
         b.      SGML – Standard Generalized Markup Language
2.      What three tags are required in a web page?
         a.      <html></html>
         b.      <head></head>
         c.      <body></body>
3.      When using forms in a web page what is the difference between “GET”
and “POST”?
         a.      GET – the form variables get passed in the URL
         b.      POST – the form variables get passed in the HTTP request
4.      What is the primary difference between scripting languages and
compiled languages?
         a.      Scripting languages are parsed or compiled at run time,
(for instance, when a web page containing script is requested) where
compiled languages have already been parsed or compiled into machine level
code and are just awaiting information to be passed to them for the
operation to be performed.
5.      Name three popular scripting languages for the web.
         a.      PERL
         b.      VBScript
         c.      JavaScript
         d.      PHP
         e.      Cold Fusion
         f.      JavaScript
         g.      allow for others
6.      What does CGI stand for? What does CGI do?
         a.      Common Gateway Interface
         b.      Handles the communications of scripting languages between
browser and server.
7.      What does CSS stand for? What is the primary purpose of CSS?
         a.      Cascading Style Sheet
         b.      To allow the definition of various styles for web pages to
be assembled separate from the content and markup of the web page. An
example would be font selection, color elements, placement of elements on
the page, etc.
8.      What are the two currently accepted graphics file formats on the
web? What is the difference between the two?
         a.      GIF – (Graphics Interchange Format) Primarily used for
graphics where basic color schemes are involved. The method of file
compression is not suitable for photographs or graphics containing
thousands of colors.
         b.      JPG or JPEG - (Joint Photography Experts Group) Primarily
used for photographs and graphics containing thousands of colors as the
compression technique is specifically suited to these types of files.
9.      What is the “7 Second Rule”?
         a.      The “7 Second Rule” is a usability rule that states a web
page should take no more than 7 seconds to download and display to the site
visitor on the slowest probable connection, which is currently accepted as
28.8K per second.
10.     What is “valid HTML”? How can you test for “valid HTML”?
         a.      Web page code that validates with no mistakes according to
the type of HTML used in the page.
         b.      You can test web pages with the HTML Validator located at
the World Wide Web Consortium’s web site, http://www.w3c.org .
11.     What are some reasons to use “valid HTML”?
         a.      To insure that the web page will be viewable in the widest
number of browsers.
         b.      To make the code easier to maintain and understand.
         c.      To increase accessibility to the web page by persons who
may have one or more physical handicaps that may impair their ability to
view the web site compared to persons who have no physical limitations.
12.     What is a “liquid layout”?
         a.      It is a layout that allows the web page to flow according
to screen resolution.
13.     Many people use tables for layout in HTML. What are some potential
problems with using tables for layout?
         a.      Some browsers do not interpret the table tag properly and
may not display the layout as expected.
         b.      Nothing in the table is displayed until the browser has
parsed the entire table.
14.     You will now be shown some pages with code. Please identify what
the code is;
         a.      CSS – Cascading Style Sheet
         b.      HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language
         c.      XML – Extensible Markup Language
         d.      JavaScript – (ECMAScript)
15.     What is ASP? What is it used for?
         a.      Active Server Pages – used with Microsoft Internet
Information Server but is being made available on Unix/Linux servers as well.
         b.      It is used for server side processing of information and
procedures prior to delivering a web page to a visitor. It can use multiple
scripting languages such as VBScript, JSP, and PERL.
16.     What does SQL stand for? How is it used within web sites?
         a.      Structured Query Language – the most popular language for
building and manipulating relational databases.
         b.      For retrieving dynamic information from databases to use
in web sites or in web applications requiring the input or extraction of data.
17.     What is ODBC? What is a Data Connection String?
         a.      Open Database Connectivity Standard – the bridge between
programming languages and database type.
         b.      Data Connection String – this is a connection source using
the ODBC driver to establish proper communication between application and
data services. The basic elements are data source (database), user id, and
password.
18.     You will now be given a sample web page (printed) and provided with
basic tools to accomplish the project. Your time limit is approximately 20
minutes. Please do as much as you can do in the allotted time.

Each correct answer for questions 1-17 is worth 2 points for a total of 68.
These points may be awarded subjectively if the applicant knows the concept
(discovered in the interview conversation). The final question/exercise
will be scored as follows and is worth a total of 32 points;

2 points each for the correct required tags (x 1 for each tag used)
         <html></html>                   <a href=””></a>
         <head></head>                   <p></p>
         <body></body>                   <table></table>
         <h1></h1>                               <tr></tr>
         <h2></h2>                               <td></td>
         <strong></strong>                       <ol></ol>
         <li></li>                               <div></div>
1 point each for the correct required tag attributes (x 1 each attribute used)
         alt =                                   align =
         bgcolor =                               class =

Bonus points;

There are two methods for achieving the two-column layout shown in the
example. One is using a table to define two columns, which is known to have
pitfalls.

The other method is to use CSS. If CSS is employed by the applicant he or
she has demonstrated above average skills and should be awarded 20 points
as a bonus.

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