[thelist] Interview Questions

Kevin D. White nonzero at well.com
Thu Feb 7 16:08:01 CST 2002


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Here is the technique I would always use and has served me well over
the years.

First, never interview a candidate by yourself.  Always have one
person asking questions and the other taking notes.  Second, always
spend some time just getting to know the candidate.  Everyone has a
canned speech for interviews, let the candidate give their speech.
As the interviewer you are also expected to have a speech, so give
it.  This breaks the ice and sets the tone.  Then the test....

Pick a project from your own work experience that required all the
skills you are looking for.  If you can't find one project then
squish a couple together.  Just make sure you can present a coherent,
believable story to the candidate.  Present the candidate with the
basic project scope, setting, and objectives.  The key is to start
with a simple setting and then icrease the complexity as the test
progresses.  If it's too complex then both of you will get confused.

Allow the candidate to ask clarifying questions and be prepared to
alter the situation based on their questions.  Then pose specific
tactical problems and require them to solve the problems first by
verbal description then possibly on the whiteboard.  Don't expect
crystal-clear functional code.  Settle for pseudo-code sprinkled with
the right keywords.  No one writes good code on a whiteboard.  Plus,
you should be far more conerned with the candidate's problem-solving
skills than their ability to cough-up correct syntax.

Vary the problems and situation based on the candidate's answers.  If
your questions appear easy, turn up the heat by increasing the
complexity of the problem.  If the candidate get's stuck, reassure
them and move on to a problem in a different area.  Never show
disappointment with an answer.  You can dispute an answer but don't
get stuck in argument or allow the candidate to spin their wheels.

This has been my testing tactic for close to seven years.  It can be
very stressful for all parties if the atmosphere isn't kept light and
cordial.  If both sides get stressed then you have probably screwed
up the interview.  I've used it to build integrated developer teams
both large (25) and small (2).  It has always worked for me.

Finally, never give a candidate only one round of interviews.  Always
expose them to at least two levels of your company.  But only ever
use the above test technique in the first round.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Kristy Frey" <kristenannfrey at yahoo.com>
> Anyone out there have suggestions for questions or techniques to
> verify that someone is truly qualified for a web development
> position during an interview.  These days, so many people lie about
> their skill sets.  I'm actually writing a small quiz to give our
> candidates before the interview just to verify that they have some
> basic SQL skills, Advanced HTML skills, programming logic...

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