[thelist] Good "tests" for prospective employees?

[M. Seyon]

Message from Jay Blanchard (6/30/2005 02:25 PM)

>[snip]
>Has anyone had potential low-end developers (html/css/light db and
>scripting) complete any kind of qualifying "test" as part of the hiring
>process?  I've got people interviewing for a production position next
>week, and wondered if anyone had done this.  I'd like to test their css
>skills, and just make sure they have experience working with site on a
>real-world (rather than a textbook) basis.
>[/snip]
>
>I like thinking exercises that help to demonstrate other cognitive
>skills...here are some examples

A good book on this topic, that I recently read, is "How would you move 
Mount Fuji?" by William Poundstone (ISBN 0-316-91916-0). Aside from 
explaining the answers to many of these types of interview 
brainteaser/problem solving questions, it presents interesting insight into 
the development of IQ testing and such, and at the end presents a handy 
chapter titled "How Innovative Companies Ought to Review".


>By adding one line turn the following into a 6.
>
>IX

A curve is a line. I'd shape mine like this - S.


>What is the ordering in the following numbers? What would be the next
>number in the sequence?
>
>8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 6, 3, 2

Ei... Fi... Fo... Ni... On... Si... Th... Tw...
Can't be Se(ven) so Ze(ro)
0. Sorted alphabetically. Where is the seven though?


>What is the next letter in the following sequence?
>
>OTTFFS

Didn't get this till I got the one before. I wouldn't ask them in the same 
interview. Although to not ask them in the same interview is as good as 
throwing out a random series.

O(ne) T(wo) T(hree) F(our) F(ive) S(ix) S(even).
S. There's the seven. Cheater.
Kinda had me confused cause I used to see lots of mail stamped OTTGS, or 
somesuch here. Never figured out what that stood for but it was something 
government related. Rambling.


>What is the pattern that differentiates the two groups?
>
>Group #1: AEFHI
>Group #2: BCDGJ
>
>What group does K belong to? R? T?

Huh?

Here's a question for you though:

Are you willing to hire, or not hire a prospective applicant based solely 
on a correct/incorrect response to any of these questions?

Suppose the only reason I knew those answers was because I'd heard the 
questions before?

To quote from Poundstone's book,

"Before you pose any question to a job applicant, you ought to ask yourself 
two questions:
- Am I willing to hire someone because of a good answer to this question?
- Am I willing to reject someone because of a bad answer to this question?"

He goes on to say,

"A good interview puzzle should be easy enough that you're willing to 
reject anyone who doesn't solve it. That's probably the best way of 
describing the optimal difficulty level for a question with a definite 
right answer. You want a puzzle such that many people will fail to solve 
it, but practically all "acceptable" candidates will get the answer."

And to the original poster here's a question that I would ask an 
interviewee. This is under the assumption that the person will be coding 
designs done by someone else, rather than creating the design themselves.

"The graphic designer has created a template that requires pixel-perfect 
layout. What would you do?"

There's no right answer to that. It can range from "jump in and start 
pounding away like a good keyboard jockey" to "march down there and give 
him what for!". Somewhere in between those two extremes there will be an 
attitude that's right for your company.

On the topic of giving the interviewee a technical proficiency test, 
personally, I would ensure that the test is for a completely generic, 
imaginary company/product. Because if I were in the shoes of the 
interviewee and I were asked to do such a task for a prospective employer's 
actual website my cynical mind would immediately ask "yeah, and when I 
create the code for you what do you need me for again?"

Or compensate them for their time, as Matt suggested.

regards.
-marc

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