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Worst interview questions for software developers

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Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#161

Post by sokoloff »

neilv wrote: post #107

> 4. Why do you change jobs so often (so rarely)? If an engineering candidate's last few positions have all been about a 1-year vest, that's definitely going to be on my mind. I'd prefer to build a coherent, highly-effective development team who can see us through the whole lifecycles of this and successive projects -- not what might as well be fly-by-night gig contractors, tossing less-aligned check-off sprint deliv…

I will almost always ask why the candidate left their last few positions (or is looking to leave their current role at a minimum). Rarely does a candidate give an answer that cements the "definitely hire" decision, but I've had a few talk themselves out of a likely offer. This typically takes the shape of story-telling where everyone else at three different companies was too blind to see their obviously superior talent and brilliance or three companies in a row where everyone was just too difficult to get along with. In both cases, while it's theoretically possible to be true, there's only one common element across all three companies and they're sitting across from me...

If the answer comes back as mostly pay/opportunity: I get it; that's a real problem in a lot of places and it causes a lot of ambitious juniors to change companies frequently; no concern.

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#163

Post by jlund-molfese »

unauthed wrote: post #12

I'll mention one which I've had which I considered bad. Worse than most on the linked list IMO. The question was "What is the worst challenge you've faced, and how did you deal with it or overcome it?" and on me asking if it should be work related, "it doesn't have to be work related". I can't remember whether the wording was exactly "hardest challenge" or "worst problem" or "most difficult challenge", but it used an…

The interviewer’s phrasing is a little clumsy, but an interview goes both ways. The candidate has a responsibility to maintain boundaries too. It sounds like the interviewer was trying to give you the opportunity to provide a non-work related response if you wanted, and anticipated something like you volunteering on a difficult project where you overcame challenges and helped people. Really, the challenge isn’t what’s important, it’s how you handled it and the result that matters.

It’s like how, in the US, if a stranger asks how you’re doing, you shouldn’t actually tell them how you’re doing. You should just say you’re doing fine, because they aren’t asking the question literally.

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#165

Post by Manuel_D »

amelius wrote: post #145
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #142

> Have a family/children? How does this affect your work? I'm pretty sure that question is illegal. I do know that asking if someone is married, is illegal (in my state). We got lots of CYA training from HR, telling us to not ask these questions.

How should the interviewee respond to illegal questions?

Just lie and give them the most advantageous answer. If they confront you on this later say, "I don't remember being asked that. And is is illegal for an employer to ask such a question. Are you admitting to breaking employment law?"

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#166

Post by Terretta »

Question 10 is a situation / behavior / analysis question in disguise, sometimes called a Fermi problem but that doesn't say why it's useful.

Question 10 with a 'walk me through the thinking' reveals aptitude for modeling and dimensional analysis, but at a higher level, shows ability to break complex problems down into many simpler and easier to solve problems.

That is the essence of dev.

It shows thinking through and around the problem, identifying the first component to pull out, revealing key threads to other components, that together tell you if you're in the ballpark on modeling and analysis.

All dev is breaking problems down well. A thinking aloud response to 10 reveals a lot. The estimate itself (the Fermi part) isn't actually what matters.

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#167

Post by lizardactivist »

I think this is a cultural thing as well.

I am reminded of how Daniel Stenberg (author of curl) interviewed with Mozilla, and mentioned it was several interviews taking place over several days. Obviously questions like these made up the bulk of the interviews, because they could not seriously have any doubts of his skill as a software developer.

Several interviews stretching over several days; accused serial killers have had to endure less before going to trial.

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#168

Post by chrisandchris »

karaterobot wrote: post #48

> How do you see yourself in five years? Man, this question. I was asked this question in an interview for a startup. I gave the regular answer that was expected of me. The interview went well, and at the end when the interviewer (who was the co-founder) asked if I had any questions, I turned this around on him: "where do you see [company x] in five years?" He laughed and talked about finding product-market fit and g…

I would try to answer (to my future supervisor) something like "I'll have your job, because I want to grow and get better". But that might the interview. Of all the dumb questions, I think this one is the dumbest because there are only wrong answers.

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#169

Post by bluefirebrand »

amelius wrote: post #145
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #142

> Have a family/children? How does this affect your work? I'm pretty sure that question is illegal. I do know that asking if someone is married, is illegal (in my state). We got lots of CYA training from HR, telling us to not ask these questions.

How should the interviewee respond to illegal questions?

It depends on if the interviewee is bothered by answering it or not.

If you don't want to answer, you can try pushing back gently and see if they get the hint. Maybe something like "I would prefer not to answer personal questions but I'm happy to answer any questions about my work experience and professional history"

It places you in an awkward position of course. But it can't really harm your chances at that point. Your interviewer will either realize they are offside with the question and drop it and it won't really affect their perception of you, or they will insist you answer a question they shouldn't be asking and you probably shouldn't work for them anyways

Re: Worst interview questions for software developers

#170

Post by Terretta »

cramjabsyn wrote: post #164

Please add fizzbuzz and other stupid code trivia to the list. If you want to see how a developer really works, ask them to submit a patch, participate in a real code review and review their public facing code contributions.

By its very ubiquity, FizzBuzz is a beautiful filter. It's shocking how many interviewees can't do it, so bullets dodged. Then for those who regurgitate the conventional solution, extend the problem to FizzBuzzBang with Bang when divisible by 7, and see if light dawns.

I dislike your tools based "do it live" test unless you pre-configure their preferred tool chain end to end. Many devs are rote in their tools of choice while lost in anything else. That's ok.

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