161–170 of 242 posts
> Pick any topic you want: a hobby you have, a book you’ve read, a project you worked on–anything. Hopefully there's more guidance than this, because I feel like I'd freeze up and start "um"ing for five minutes trying to decide the best concept to explain. Maybe this says more about me than the exercise, though...
Hmm, I'm not sure I like the idea of intentionally trying to steer the candidate off on a tangent. It feels like a trap. In an interview, the interviewer literally has all the power, and saying "no" or refusing to answer a question posed by the interviewer seems rather difficult. This would be doubly hard for me since I like to teach (both my parents are teachers and I love to explain things to people so that they ca…
> Hmm, I'm not sure I like the idea of intentionally trying to steer the candidate off on a tangent. It feels like a trap. And, yet, it's quite a realistic model of what happens in meetings and presentations all the time. > In an interview, the interviewer literally has all the power, and saying "no" or refusing to answer a question posed by the interviewer seems rather difficult. You could say the same with regards…
In a meeting or presentation, you have a subject and an agenda and many people present who expect you to cover them.
In an interview, it's one-on-one. If the interviewer asks you A, then stops and asks you B, there's no reason not to move to B. If the interviewer is suddenly asking about B, they must want to know about it. There are no other stakeholders present who might care more about A. You didn't even know you were going to be talking about A until a few minutes before!
It's an important skill to be able to say "no" and stay focused on a subject. But this is a shitty test for finding out whether a person has that skill.
The submitted site seems to be having trouble keeping up with the referrals from Hacker News, judging by its response time. (And that is amusing for a site called "refer.ly" that is all about user referrals. The site still needs upgrading to work at scale.) The question is "I want you to explain something to me. Pick any topic you want: a hobby you have, a book you’ve read, a project you worked on–anything. You’ll ha…
I've never worked in consulting, but, so far as I know, the big, MBB consulting firms tend to incorporate most of the advised measures in tokenadult's post when evaluating potential employees. These measures include GMAT cut-offs, GPA cut-offs, very lengthy interviews that incorporate questions like the one discussed here, and they ultimately prefer to hire people who have previously interned with them, and what bett…
If you're at all curious, I'd recommend reading The Lords of Strategy by Walter Keichel, which a (albeit opinionated) history of the consulting practice.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think most people prefer reading it "inline" and not linked. Tokenadult, please continue reposting.
"I think most people prefer reading it "inline"" How do you know what most people prefer?
Tokenadult, keep posting.
Also, take a page from patio11's book and start selling access to this advice. (and perhaps consulting).
Hmm, I'm not sure I like the idea of intentionally trying to steer the candidate off on a tangent. It feels like a trap. In an interview, the interviewer literally has all the power, and saying "no" or refusing to answer a question posed by the interviewer seems rather difficult. This would be doubly hard for me since I like to teach (both my parents are teachers and I love to explain things to people so that they ca…
Reality is filled with traps.
> steer the candidate off on a tangent
Customers, coworkers, managers, do this intentionally or not, maliciously or not.
Any good candidate can do the technical job. Great candidates can survive and thrive in the work place.
The submitted site seems to be having trouble keeping up with the referrals from Hacker News, judging by its response time. (And that is amusing for a site called "refer.ly" that is all about user referrals. The site still needs upgrading to work at scale.) The question is "I want you to explain something to me. Pick any topic you want: a hobby you have, a book you’ve read, a project you worked on–anything. You’ll ha…
> a general intelligence test used in hiring that could have a "disparate impact" on applicants of some protected classes must "bear a demonstrable relationship to successful performance of the jobs for which it was used." This part has been revised in practical use all over the country in the last 10 years. If a test shows group-X scoring on average lower than group-Y, this in itself now proves that the test is bias…
You don't have to worry about this if you're a private California software company assigning work-sample tests that are "100% spot on for job performance." Job performance is not linked to race.
(If you think that job performance at a software company is linked to race, I recommend that you keep your opinion to yourself. Maybe you can use it to your private advantage! ... or maybe you have racist assumptions.)
The submitted site seems to be having trouble keeping up with the referrals from Hacker News, judging by its response time. (And that is amusing for a site called "refer.ly" that is all about user referrals. The site still needs upgrading to work at scale.) The question is "I want you to explain something to me. Pick any topic you want: a hobby you have, a book you’ve read, a project you worked on–anything. You’ll ha…
I agree that intelligence and work samples are the most critical things to look at. The trick with work samples is that most people focus too narrowly. Yes, coding is a critical part, so don't skip it. But so is team communication (no matter how great of a programmer you are, if you won't respond to my emails, I won't think you are a great employee). So are code reviews (if you call people morons for not agreeing wit…
Hmm, I'm not sure I like the idea of intentionally trying to steer the candidate off on a tangent. It feels like a trap. In an interview, the interviewer literally has all the power, and saying "no" or refusing to answer a question posed by the interviewer seems rather difficult. This would be doubly hard for me since I like to teach (both my parents are teachers and I love to explain things to people so that they ca…
> It feels like a trap. Reality is filled with traps. > steer the candidate off on a tangent Customers, coworkers, managers, do this intentionally or not, maliciously or not. Any good candidate can do the technical job. Great candidates can survive and thrive in the work place.
None of these situations are the same as an interview. If you're providing an explanation at the behest of the interviewer, why not also depart on a tangent, also at the behest of the interviewer?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your question could be better phrased: Why do you think most people prefer to read it "inline"? Far less snark, don't you think? My answer would be: because some of my highest voted comments have been snippets copied from a larger work instead of just linking to the larger work. Perhaps people don't want to open up a new tab, perhaps they don't want to load a new page, perhaps they appreciate keeping the content in c…
"snark" Guilty as charged! ""prosperity sake"" (think you mean "posterity"?)
We'll just keep this between you and me right?