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I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

erenyagdiran.github.io

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Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#301

Post by dongo »

tetha wrote: post #221
andrewljohnson wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found that your job post determines the types of candidates you get. If you describe a really hard programming job, people self select out. If you describe an easy one, everyone applies. iOS developer? Floodgate. Crypto expert? Trickle.

Same experience here. We have an offering for normal java development with high performance aspects - tons of applications. Our monitoring/devops position? Few and far between.

iknorite. Job post for pool boy at Hugh Hefner's mansion - tons of applications. Stall cleaner at adult video arcade - just a trickle.

You're comparing a fun job to a job where at best nobody ever says anything to you and at worst, you're taking the blame for the whole company's servers being down.

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#302

Post by UrMomReadsHN »

walshemj wrote: post #296
UrMomReadsHN wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That exists, its called a co-op. I couldn't graduate without doing x months of co-op.

When did block release training or work experience start getting called co-op given that in various areas of the world a coop co-op means a cooperative like Mondragon. I have only seen it (co-op) used in the last few years.

Well I finished school longer than a few years ago and cooperative education (co-op for short) has been around since the early 20th century.

http://www.ceiainc.org/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_education

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#303

Post by smoe »

porpoisemonkey wrote: post #151
michaelchisari wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For developers that have the academics, but not the experience, I've always said that the industry needs to adopt the apprenticeship programs that other trades have. Where you do a mixture of work for the company, and trade schooling run by the industry to teach you the specific skills you need. For example, an IBEW apprentice will do a lot of gruntwork on the job site. Pulling wire, for instance. But they'll get exp…

Apprenticeship requires a constant stream of mentors. I'm not sure there is an ample supply of professional programmers who would be interested in taking on the responsibility of mentoring in addition to their full-time jobs.

It really depends what those professionals are used to. I did an Apprenticeship as Software Developer in Switzerland. That is, 1 year of school followed by 3 years alternating between the company and the school. So once you start at the company you already have a viable amount of knowledge in programming, databases, networking, etc and supposed to be able to work on your own.

You don't get constant mentoring at the company, but can ask one of the developers or fellow apprentices when you're stuck with one of the tasks you get assigned. Or for example, any time a developer had a small task that he felt, I couldn't do by myself, or it was too time critical he just asked me to sit beside him and watch, listen and take notes while he did the work. How it works is different in any company but the outcome should be the same: real world experience on real projects with real clients and their time/budget constraints.

That means, once your finished and a professional yourself, it isn't a question of interest but a completely normal thing to help out the apprentices. Because that's how you got to the point where you are.

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#304

Post by notfoss »

skizm wrote: post #201

Should have sent them a password locked program called *DoorHasBeenCracked". The only thing it does is post passwords to an http server that you control. There is a good chance they try their own password on it. New school phishing attack. /s

Ignoring the /s tag, it sounds apt for a hollywood movie or a sci-fi show, but in reality it will most likely be run on an unnetworked VM. But funny nonetheless :P

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#306

Post by notfoss »

fsniper wrote: post #217
icebraining wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, you don't know if he downloaded the file from this machine. It could even be networkless. Second, instead of a VM, it could be a livecd with no permanent storage attached. That's what I'd do if I had to debug potentially malicious binaries. It's fine to ask, but it's wrong to assume.

Old school virii that could burn your display card comes to my mind. Working with root is always a threat. A livecd is consience but still does not make it fully secure. I told I am being picky. Most of my concerns may be handled but their are not shown to be.

Umm.. virii is not a word.

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#307

Post by Fuzzwah »

jtheory wrote: post #249
michaelchisari wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Real-life tests are THE best thing to send job candidates I agree, but only if you're allowed to use references/google/etc and given a reasonable amount of time to accomplish it. I've had a "real-life" test where I wasn't allowed to verify or look up information, or where I'm giving a very short time to execute, and I've always thought those were absurd. The idea that you would ever have to do something like this i…

It's gets a bit complicated when your job candidates may find your test interesting enough that they post a complete walk-through of the solution online. The candidate was kind enough to avoid posting the name of the company (to hopefully hide the walk-through from Google queries for "crack me hiring test company name ", but an HN discussion might then arise around the walk-through, in which the company would be name…

Pick a unique keyword for it all and SEO the hell out of a site selling the walk thru.

Make it slightly wrong, or obviously fingerprinted.

Re: I was asked to crack a program in a job interview

#308

Post by davesque »

jeorgun wrote: post #298
davesque wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, did those at University of Colorado Boulder.

Small world— I've just started this exact assignment at CU. Kind of a neat coincidence seeing it discussed here.

Systems with Dr. Han?
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