Honestly, the question doesn't make much sense. I don't mean the one you ask your applicants, I mean the one you asked us.
Is your salary range wide open? Most positions I know of that might attract qualified senior people are completely out of range for someone who's 23. If I were asked this (and I'm not THAT far past 23, though I started professionally at 21) I'd be surprised. No one that young has really had a chance to accumulate the experience required for the positions I interview for.
So if your salary range is low, you actually might want to discard your more experienced candidates. They should all hold better positions, and the ones that don't you don't want. There will be exceptions of course, but finding them might be rough.
But let's assume it is wide open, or at least a large range. What are you actually looking for? It sounds like you want people who are 'good'. That's pretty vague. Are certain skillsets required? Are you willing to let them learn on the job if they show promise (my current position uses a language I was unfamiliar with, but I made it obvious during the interview that I knew how to program)?
If you're looking for generic questions, then ask them how they would go about solving a variety of problems, from simple to complex. While what they consider a good or not so great solution is important, far more useful is the decision making process that made them arrive at the answer they gave you.
Also, a fun interview question I like to throw at people: I'll look at something they list multiple types of on their resume (usually OS and Database). Let's say they've listed MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, and MSSQL. I'll ask which is their preference. I don't actually care. It's a setup for the following question, which is why? Many candidates will pick one and not have a reason.
Me: What about Oracle do you prefer? Candidate: It's the best database. Me: In what way? Candidate: ummmm
in contrast, I was perfectly okay with: Me: Why do you prefer Solaris? Candidate: It's the one I'm most familiar with.
Bottom line, figure out what you want. It'll make it much easier to know when you find it.
Re:Please Read _Speaker_!
on
Ender in Exile
·
· Score: 1
movies sequels usually suck.
For books, that's far more often not the case.
Re:Hey, remember when Ender's Game was good?
on
Ender in Exile
·
· Score: 1
Hell more than half the posts I read nowadays are from UIDs higher than mine, and I don't exactly consider mine low.
You're going to have to adhere to the conditions of the LGPL if you actually want to use all of WebKit, so what's the difference?
IIRC, the LGPL is somewhat BSD-esque. You can't do binary only distribution on the changes to the LGPL code itself, but you aren't required to release source code on anything that links to the LGPL.
English is by far the master of adopting useful words from other languages. There are only about 5 words that are native to English. The rest came from somewhere else.
And drunks, or people who are just plain stupid. It doesn't work on someone smart enough, but it usually doesn't need to.
Random story: I lived with my Grandmother for a few years, and I got into an argument with her about locking the screen door. I wanted to know what kind of criminal existed that would be able to tackle the massive heavy dead bolted door, but be completely stymied by the screen door where you could simply rip open the screen and unlock. Even more amusing is that the screen was already ripped, as she had once forgotten to bring the screen door key with her and had to cut it herself to get in.
Yet again, Slashdot has confused "a proposal by a British government minister" with "a law which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament". The former has occured, the latter has not.
Same thing happens often with US bills, i.e. "a proposal has been approved by the Senate Blah Committe" is confused with "a law has been passed by both houses of congress and signed by the president."
There's a world of difference between a guy who's been doing help desk and a guy who's been doing QA. The responses to these two questions aren't going to be the same.
Kind of OT, but the mini-preview on your comment contained this:
I was recently shopping for a new car. For various reasons, it was pretty much down to three choices:
Subaru Outback (I'm in upstate
I automatically assumed (correctly in this case) that you were in NY. And now that I think about it, I can't remember residents of any other state referring to part of their state as "upstate".
And yet, I've never seen someone use words like "ensure" properly on this site.
Well than, let me ensure you that some of us know how to use it good.
okay, more seriously: Why have a higher standard for people who are still learning English than for people who are supposed to already know it? I can't speak for everyone, but I tend to criticize someone's English in two situations: 1. When I think they should know better (native speakers making dumb mistakes) 2. When I think they should know better (non-native speakers making REALLY dumb mistakes... must every sentence end in an exclamation point?)
So, for me at least, it's a higher standard for native speakers than non-native.
And for me to criticize someone's English on an internet forum, it's got to be extra-super icky.
Right. Because the first thing that popped into my head when I read the summary was "Oh, he'll probably just lay down and take this. No fight in that guy."
Slashdot Mirror
Honestly, the question doesn't make much sense. I don't mean the one you ask your applicants, I mean the one you asked us.
Is your salary range wide open? Most positions I know of that might attract qualified senior people are completely out of range for someone who's 23. If I were asked this (and I'm not THAT far past 23, though I started professionally at 21) I'd be surprised. No one that young has really had a chance to accumulate the experience required for the positions I interview for.
So if your salary range is low, you actually might want to discard your more experienced candidates. They should all hold better positions, and the ones that don't you don't want. There will be exceptions of course, but finding them might be rough.
But let's assume it is wide open, or at least a large range. What are you actually looking for? It sounds like you want people who are 'good'. That's pretty vague. Are certain skillsets required? Are you willing to let them learn on the job if they show promise (my current position uses a language I was unfamiliar with, but I made it obvious during the interview that I knew how to program)?
If you're looking for generic questions, then ask them how they would go about solving a variety of problems, from simple to complex. While what they consider a good or not so great solution is important, far more useful is the decision making process that made them arrive at the answer they gave you.
Also, a fun interview question I like to throw at people: I'll look at something they list multiple types of on their resume (usually OS and Database). Let's say they've listed MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, and MSSQL. I'll ask which is their preference. I don't actually care. It's a setup for the following question, which is why? Many candidates will pick one and not have a reason.
Me: What about Oracle do you prefer?
Candidate: It's the best database.
Me: In what way?
Candidate: ummmm
in contrast, I was perfectly okay with:
Me: Why do you prefer Solaris?
Candidate: It's the one I'm most familiar with.
Bottom line, figure out what you want. It'll make it much easier to know when you find it.
movies sequels usually suck.
For books, that's far more often not the case.
Hell more than half the posts I read nowadays are from UIDs higher than mine, and I don't exactly consider mine low.
You're going to have to adhere to the conditions of the LGPL if you actually want to use all of WebKit, so what's the difference?
IIRC, the LGPL is somewhat BSD-esque. You can't do binary only distribution on the changes to the LGPL code itself, but you aren't required to release source code on anything that links to the LGPL.
I have heard that many prostitutes file income tax returns.
Reason being that prostitution is usually a misdemeanor offense, while tax evasion is a felony.
ah.
no, there's no way I'm aware of to do that in vi mode.
Maybe.
I'm not actually sure what you mean by 'updates the search results as you type'.
or if you're a vi freak like me:
set -o vi
escape (enters command mode)
k to scroll up
/ to search
Totally not the reply you're looking for, but when I first saw your subject line I thought it said "uniformed sheep", and, well, that made me giggle.
Only states can vote for the presidency.
As a result, since once in a while we do actually remember our history, only residents of states are required to pay federal income tax.
English is by far the master of adopting useful words from other languages. There are only about 5 words that are native to English. The rest came from somewhere else.
I think they're trying to say that he enjoys hunting deer.
It's all one in the same .... seriously? C'mon.
Locks are to keep honest people out.
And drunks, or people who are just plain stupid. It doesn't work on someone smart enough, but it usually doesn't need to.
Random story:
I lived with my Grandmother for a few years, and I got into an argument with her about locking the screen door. I wanted to know what kind of criminal existed that would be able to tackle the massive heavy dead bolted door, but be completely stymied by the screen door where you could simply rip open the screen and unlock. Even more amusing is that the screen was already ripped, as she had once forgotten to bring the screen door key with her and had to cut it herself to get in.
Well now that makes senses.
I'll confess, whoosh. I still don't get it.
And that makes it not a typo?
... in a stark room with hot lights. Honda was later quoted as saying "He was a tough one, but eventually we got him talking."
Yet again, Slashdot has confused "a proposal by a British government minister" with "a law which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament". The former has occured, the latter has not.
Same thing happens often with US bills, i.e. "a proposal has been approved by the Senate Blah Committe" is confused with "a law has been passed by both houses of congress and signed by the president."
There's a world of difference between a guy who's been doing help desk and a guy who's been doing QA. The responses to these two questions aren't going to be the same.
Kind of OT, but the mini-preview on your comment contained this:
I was recently shopping for a new car. For various reasons, it was pretty much down to three choices:
Subaru Outback (I'm in upstate
I automatically assumed (correctly in this case) that you were in NY. And now that I think about it, I can't remember residents of any other state referring to part of their state as "upstate".
Yes, but how often do you get forked by Bulgarians?
... and Americans (and let's be honest here, they almost universally have two legs) ...
If it's true everywhere, why point it out as a characteristic of a single group?
And yet, I've never seen someone use words like "ensure" properly on this site.
Well than, let me ensure you that some of us know how to use it good.
okay, more seriously:
Why have a higher standard for people who are still learning English than for people who are supposed to already know it?
I can't speak for everyone, but I tend to criticize someone's English in two situations:
1. When I think they should know better (native speakers making dumb mistakes)
2. When I think they should know better (non-native speakers making REALLY dumb mistakes... must every sentence end in an exclamation point?)
So, for me at least, it's a higher standard for native speakers than non-native.
And for me to criticize someone's English on an internet forum, it's got to be extra-super icky.
Don't give in to them, Ray.
Right. Because the first thing that popped into my head when I read the summary was "Oh, he'll probably just lay down and take this. No fight in that guy."