• Mike (unregistered)

    Concerning "Computer Skills": Millions of users = Open Source? WTF?

  • Mike (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    "C++ appeals to me because you can recycle other peoples code."

    Translation: "I don't know jack about C++, but I know how to copy and paste." Being 20 minutes late just re-enforces this image.

    In other words, I'm 30 years old, still live at home, mother does my laundry, never had a job, and I play with Playstation and programming.

  • SR (unregistered) in reply to Mike
    Mike:
    lolwtf:
    "C++ appeals to me because you can recycle other peoples code."

    Translation: "I don't know jack about C++, but I know how to copy and paste." Being 20 minutes late just re-enforces this image.

    In other words, I'm 30 years old, still live at home, mother does my laundry, never had a job, and I play with Playstation and programming.

    Jeez that's harsh. Well done!

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Buddy

    Back in 2002, I worked in a place with a sizable cube farm made of hexagonal cubes with 8-foot walls. Some cubes even had doors! As it turned out, I was a "lucky" one to have a door without having any managerial responsibilities. Well, my luck ran out one day when someone from office management came by with this question: "Does anybody report to you?" Naively, I answered: "no." A short time later, he came back with a cordless drill and removed my door.

    My next action was to drive to a local home furnishings store, and I returned with a shower curtain and rod. After showing these to my boss, my door was back in place the next morning.

  • hinek (unregistered)

    I would have invited the "Computer Skills"-guy, just to hand him a print out from a job-ads website ... :-P

  • Max (unregistered)

    We've had people google interview answers on phone interviews as well. One guy even said, "Hang on a minute... my screen is refreshing."

  • I don't really have to go, but... (unregistered)

    When checking out a company, at some point, use the restroom. If it's not cared for, employees won't be either. This also applies in deciding to do short term consulting work for a company.

    It's also a good time for that final appearance check in the mirror.

  • Quirkafleeg (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    I can't tell you the number of times I've had someone come in with a resume that says that they know Perl/C#/C++/Language X and when I ask them a simple question about said technology, they can't answer it and usually it comes out that they really don't know anything about it but since they've heard of it, they put it on their resume.
    It's often been suggested to me that I should put $subject on my CV but exaggerate how much or not say how much (or little) I know about said $subject. And I've told the people offering this, shall we say, advice that what they're asking me to do is to misrepresent myself and, well, to lie.

    I've also had a few people take my CV and, er, adjust it a little; the results were always misrepresentation, and sometimes badly-presented misrepresentation. Suffice it to say that I've invariably discarded much of what they've done…

  • quisling (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    Marvin the Martian:
    Anon:
    Every question in an interview is a opportunity to sell yourself. That you think the question about motivation has a canonical answer suggests that you are not very good at it.
    So you end up with a staff of salesmen? How is that going to help the company?

    Show me a successful company without salesmen.

    Show me a successful company with nothing but salesmen.

  • quisling (unregistered) in reply to rfsmit
    rfsmit:
    Quirkafleeg:
    Anon:
    Chris:
    so Gary, would you describe yourself as a motivated person?
    […] I'd answer "no", just to see what happens. […] seriously, what insight do you expect to gain from that question? And would you want to work for someone that asks you questions just for the questions' sake?
    What insight do we gain? Well, in your case, we've learned that you're an asshole. Pretty useful information, no?
    Or that it's been understood (and quite reasonably so) as a yes/no(/maybe) question and, as such, is responded to accordingly.
    […] In some cases, it's not the actual answer that is important, but how you answer it. FYI, "yes" is the wrong answer too. Anybody can claim to be motivated, prove it to me. Give an example of a time where you took the initative and got stuff done.
    Then the question's wrong: it's asking whether you would do something, rather than whether you would (or not) and why.

    Q: Would you describe yourself as a curmudgeon and why?

    A: That's not fair! I wanted to say "no"!

    Q: Ah! So you were lying!

    A: No!

    Q: There you go again!

    (for the fans of forty-year-old British houmour.)

    *golf clap*... I see what you did there...
  • Stanley H. Tweedle (unregistered)

    Two applicants send me identical resumes, differing only with their names and contant info. Same schools, hobbies, awards, project experience.

    I guess they would have been great candiates if I were running a piracy operation instead programming.

  • gil (unregistered) in reply to Stanley H. Tweedle
    Stanley H. Tweedle:
    Two applicants send me identical resumes, differing only with their names and contant info. Same schools, hobbies, awards, project experience.
    By any chance, was one of them named Jacques and another Mohammed?
  • (cs) in reply to SuperSuper
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. [...] "ok you guys are going to have a group discussion about what makes someone an effective math tutor... I'll be observing... ready? go!" The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.

    As a student who had some the best workgroups lead by extroverts and some of the worst lead by introverts, I actually like that method for sorting out applicants (for tutor positions!). Sure, it's not nice if your tutor doesn't have a clue about the subject. But I think good group management and the abillity to explain stuff in a way that other people can understand it are actually much more important skills for tutors. If my tutor can explain well but doesn't know the exact answer to my question, he can just ask the prof and explain next time. But if he's a genius in the subject who doesn't bring out a word, I've just lost two hours of my life.

    (Note: By extroverts I don't mean the "I'll bullshit myself through everything and don't give a crap about other people" type salesmen. I don't mean blondes without an ounce of logical thought in their head either. I don't think those people would be useful in any sensible job*. But I guess that's why she was watching the discussion. Or at least I hope so.)

    (*inb4 "Marketing": I said sensible job.)

  • (cs) in reply to SuperSuper
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. Sometime during the second or third year I decided to work as a math tutor for some on-campus school-sponsored tutoring service.
    . . .
    The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.
    Good. What the fuck use is an introverted teacher? If you'd had the job you would have failed your students badly. How could any responsible college appoint you? They have a duty of care to try and get the best for their students, and some shy introvert who won't talk to them is not the best they can do.
  • (cs) in reply to rfsmit
    rfsmit:
    Q: Would you describe yourself as a curmudgeon and why?

    A: That's not fair! I wanted to say "no"!

    Q: Ah! So you were lying!

    A: No!

    Q: There you go again!

    Not sure that one quite works; it looks like it's trying to be "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" and failing. Permit me to demonstrate:
    Q: Would you describe yourself as a curmudgeon and why?

    A: "No, I would not", and "because I am not one".

    I don't think it works with an "and" conjunction like that, gives way too much wriggle-room. The original formulation is by far the best.
    rfsmit:
    (for the fans of forty-year-old British houmour.)
    Hmm, I don't remember that from Python, so my guess: is it off an old Private Eye flexidisc?
  • quisling (unregistered) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. Sometime during the second or third year I decided to work as a math tutor for some on-campus school-sponsored tutoring service.
    . . .
    The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.
    Good. What the fuck use is an introverted teacher? If you'd had the job you would have failed your students badly. How could any responsible college appoint you? They have a duty of care to try and get the best for their students, and some shy introvert who won't talk to them is not the best they can do.
    Not a classroom teacher, you cantankerous cunt, a tutor. As in: subject matter expert, at least to a higher grade than those being tutored.

    Reading comprehension is another focus with a dearth of quality tutors, i surmise...

    ...holy wait the fuck a minute, i'm replying to DaveK? Gawdammit, are you trolling me??

    *grrrr*
  • quisling (unregistered) in reply to stuff
    stuff:
    Chris:
    SomeCoder:
    You generally don't gain insight from a question like "Are you a motivated person?" unless the interviewee is a real moron. Anyone can claim to be motivated and anyone can make up a story that shows that they are motivated. It seems like a useless question (for the most part).
    Exactly. And it annoys me having to make up some bullshit answer to a question like that simply because if I don't, I look like a moron that's too stupid to make up a bullshit answer.

    A lot of interview questions are just about making sure that the candidate has communication skills. Pretty much every job requires the ability to communicate effective, and sadly, a lot of people can't do that. If you can't talk about yourself for 3 min in an interview, you're probably hopeless on a team or in front of a client/customer.

    Oh dear.

    Does communicating effective involve knowifying the differentiations between adjectivals and adverbiages? In text modication, does it incorporify punctuatuary skills?

  • (cs) in reply to quisling
    quisling:
    Anon:
    Marvin the Martian:
    Anon:
    Every question in an interview is a opportunity to sell yourself. That you think the question about motivation has a canonical answer suggests that you are not very good at it.
    So you end up with a staff of salesmen? How is that going to help the company?

    Show me a successful company without salesmen.

    Show me a successful company with nothing but salesmen.

    So long as you define a salesman as someone who can sell themselves, then http://www.paranet.com. (At least, last I had any real experience with them.) Note that most of their people were only salesmen to the extent that Anon suggested people should be - individuals who feel that every moment of an interview, and for that matter, every moment of customer interaction is an opportunity to sell themselves.

  • JR (unregistered) in reply to Andy

    because you're the one that needs a job. They're the ones taking a chance by hiring you. You should know your basics without having to cheat

  • (cs) in reply to Chris
    Chris:
    Anon:
    What insight do we gain? Well, in your case, we've learned that you're an asshole. Pretty useful information, no? Apparently you think you're too good to answer silly interview questions and think everybody else is stupid for asking them in an interview of all places!
    Yes, I am and I do. I hate stupid questions with canonical answers that you are expected to give just because they expect to hear them.

    Good call. Because we all know that once you're hired there willl NEVER be a situation where you'll be expected to answer inane questions with tact or excercise diplomacy or in general not be an asshole. So seeing how you react to such situations in an interview is an obvious waste of time.

  • (cs) in reply to quisling
    quisling:
    DaveK:
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. Sometime during the second or third year I decided to work as a math tutor for some on-campus school-sponsored tutoring service.
    . . .
    The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.
    Good. What the fuck use is an introverted teacher? If you'd had the job you would have failed your students badly. How could any responsible college appoint you? They have a duty of care to try and get the best for their students, and some shy introvert who won't talk to them is not the best they can do.
    Not a classroom teacher, you cantankerous cunt, a tutor. As in: subject matter expert, at least to a higher grade than those being tutored.
    He's not going to be tutoring in a room on his own. A tutor isn't /just/ a subject matter expert, a tutor is a subject matter expert who can take a group of students, organise, manage and communicate with them, to the ends of helping them learn the material they're being taught by their lecturers.
    quisling:
    Reading comprehension is another focus with a dearth of quality tutors, i surmise...
    Nah, you're just being more pedantic with your use of language than I am. A tutor is a kind of teacher; it doesn't affect the main point, which is ...
    quisling:
    ...holy wait the fuck a minute, i'm replying to DaveK? Gawdammit, are you trolling me?? 
    *grrrr*
    I'm not trolling, despite my use of a bit of minor hyperbole; what I'm actually doing is assuming that the requirements of the job included *both* expert subject knowledge *and* communication skills. Regardless of whether you're an introvert or not, if you aren't even able to put your hand up and answer a question during a group discussion, how can you possibly be an effective tutorial leader? Seriously?

    It seems like a reasonable interview technique for the needs of the job at hand to me. Obviously I am assuming that they also check that the suitable candidates have subject skills, but we haven't been told anything about the later stages of the interview process. (Or the earlier; maybe the candidates had already been pre-screened for skills by looking at their exam results, talking to /their/ tutors and professors, examining their resumés and following up references, etc. etc.)

  • gilhad (unregistered) in reply to rfsmit
    rfsmit:
    My goodness. With an attitude like that, it'd be a wonder that you've ever worked.

    Of course you bring your ray-soo-may with you. You bring a list of questions and requirements. You bring a list of references. You do everything possible to make it easier to hire you.

    That is true only if you desperatly need the work there. I was not so desperate in my life. Nearly every interview I had was after THEY asked: "Would you like to work for us?" and it was always mutual talk - they was finding out, if they want me and on what exact place/conditions. I was finding out, if I want to work for them and on what exact place/conditions. If both parties was satisfied, we did make agreement. (and because both parties did they homeworks, it was so every time). The only exception was, when some my former co-workers started they our respective companies and asked me to join them - there was 5 such companies and I had to choose which one I like most - and all 5 did know about this competition :) So I passed 5 interwies and then select the one I did like more. Worked there for 7 years before I moved to even better job...

  • (cs) in reply to Buddy

    A few years ago there was an ad that said "A name on the door rates a Bigelow on the floor". My boss didn't have a name on the door - he didn't have a door! But Wing Chung was the best boss I'd ever worked for.

  • Eric (unregistered) in reply to Andy

    Because, dumb ass, you are the one who wants a job.

  • (cs) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    quisling:
    DaveK:
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. Sometime during the second or third year I decided to work as a math tutor for some on-campus school-sponsored tutoring service.
    . . .
    The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.
    Good. What the fuck use is an introverted teacher? If you'd had the job you would have failed your students badly. How could any responsible college appoint you? They have a duty of care to try and get the best for their students, and some shy introvert who won't talk to them is not the best they can do.
    Not a classroom teacher, you cantankerous cunt, a tutor. As in: subject matter expert, at least to a higher grade than those being tutored.
    He's not going to be tutoring in a room on his own. A tutor isn't /just/ a subject matter expert, a tutor is a subject matter expert who can take a group of students, organise, manage and communicate with them, to the ends of helping them learn the material they're being taught by their lecturers.

    Not all tutors handle groups of students at a time.

    That having been said, even handling one on one situations requires more social interaction than some introverts who sign up to be tutors can handle. At my college, there was no filtration process regarding who could be a tutor, beyond "apparently knowledgeable about the subject matter". I'm an introvert, but I spent many years, even before college, learning to adapt and communicate with people (enough such that there's a few people who think I'm an extrovert). As a tutor, I had a number of customers who were really appreciative of the fact that I could actually carry a conversation, and explain the subject matter in a variety of ways, rather than simply reading the book to them.

    And, yes, there were apparently tutors there who would simply read the book to the student being tutored, and worse. One guy apparently went to his student's apartment, stammered so bad she couldn't understand anything he said, until about 15 minutes into the session (she needed help and was desperate, and hoping that he'd manage to help her somehow), he managed to say, "You're a WOMAN!" and then ran away.

    I think the most astounding thing on this subject was that the guy I knew who simply pointed to the appropriate sections in the textbook 95% of the time was not the worst tutor around. (He would get out a different text book and point to where it had the answer the other 5%. That bit actually made him even better than some of the guys who would talk.) For what it's worth, that guy wasn't mute. He would talk with his family members, and would occasionally be monosyllabic with close friends.

    (Just in case it isn't clear from the above, I'm agreeing with DaveK that this is not necessarily a WTF.)

  • MSG (unregistered) in reply to SR
    SR:
    frits:
    If you insult a potential employer's facilities during an interview, you will not get hired.

    If their offices are a complete toilet you may not want to get hired.

    But still preferable to an incomplete toilet.

  • SumCoder (unregistered) in reply to @Deprecated
    @Deprecated:
    SomeCoder:
    Anon:
    Chris:
    so Gary, would you describe yourself as a motivated person?
    If someone asked me such a stupidly meaningless question during an interview, I'd answer "no", just to see what happens. I know that your interviews are even more ritualized than ours, but seriously, what insight do you expect to gain from that question? And would you want to work for someone that asks you questions just for the questions' sake?

    What insight do we gain? Well, in your case, we've learned that you're an asshole. Pretty useful information, no? Apparently you think you're too good to answer silly interview questions and think everybody else is stupid for asking them in an interview of all places! In some cases, it's not the actual answer that is important, but how you answer it. FYI, "yes" is the wrong answer too. Anybody can claim to be motivated, prove it to me. Give an example of a time where you took the initative and got stuff done. You may be the most motivated person in the world, but how is anybody else supposed to know that?

    You generally don't gain insight from a question like "Are you a motivated person?" unless the interviewee is a real moron. Anyone can claim to be motivated and anyone can make up a story that shows that they are motivated. It seems like a useless question (for the most part).

    I find it helps to weed out the morons...

    Yet, somehow the interviewer got the job...

  • annull (unregistered) in reply to SCB
    SCB:
    mvi:
    Anon:
    Chris:
    so Gary, would you describe yourself as a motivated person?
    If someone asked me such a stupidly meaningless question during an interview, I'd answer "no", just to see what happens. I know that your interviews are even more ritualized than ours, but seriously, what insight do you expect to gain from that question? And would you want to work for someone that asks you questions just for the questions' sake?

    What insight do we gain? Well, in your case, we've learned that you're an asshole. Pretty useful information, no? Apparently you think you're too good to answer silly interview questions and think everybody else is stupid for asking them in an interview of all places! In some cases, it's not the actual answer that is important, but how you answer it. FYI, "yes" is the wrong answer too. Anybody can claim to be motivated, prove it to me. Give an example of a time where you took the initative and got stuff done. You may be the most motivated person in the world, but how is anybody else supposed to know that?

    Are there any wrong questions to ask during an interview?

    Depending on where you live, there are often questions that it is illegal to ask in an interview, because of discrimination laws. But I don't think that it's illegal to discriminate against assholes (at least not yet).

    Good thing politicians don't realize they are assholes. Otherwise there would be positive discrimination!

  • futs (unregistered) in reply to stuff
    stuff:
    Chris:
    SomeCoder:
    You generally don't gain insight from a question like "Are you a motivated person?" unless the interviewee is a real moron. Anyone can claim to be motivated and anyone can make up a story that shows that they are motivated. It seems like a useless question (for the most part).
    Exactly. And it annoys me having to make up some bullshit answer to a question like that simply because if I don't, I look like a moron that's too stupid to make up a bullshit answer.

    A lot of interview questions are just about making sure that the candidate has communication skills. Pretty much every job requires the ability to communicate effective, and sadly, a lot of people can't do that.

    Apparently including the interviewer... How can it be effective to ask or answer a question that is clearly useless?

  • A non (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    @Deprecated:
    Seriously though, that question "Are you motivated" is just fluff. It's really saying, "Tell me something about yourself. Whatever you like!"

    Exactly! It's about getting to know somebody who you might end up spending 8 hours/day 5 days/week locked in a room with. Which going back to my first comment, if you demonstrate that you're an asshole in answering that question, then I don't want to be locked in a room with you for any length of time.

    WTF?

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to Andy

    Because you want the job?

  • Some Guy (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    If you insult a potential employer's facilities during an interview, you will not get hired.
    That sounds like a case of "I'ld be insulted if they did think I was a good fit for their company".
  • db (unregistered) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    Good. What the fuck use is an introverted teacher?

    Probably quite a lot since it's a very different social situation and they probably won't be introverted in front of the class. I was a very shy postgrad student when I started running practical classes for undergrads but it wasn't hard - they are there to listen to you. They do not have equal input and emotially I think that makes the difference - there is no reason to be scared of them.

    It's easy to get up in front of a class full of students and talk, far harder to do it on front of peers and a potential boss.

    It sounds more like a psychology experiment than a job interview. This "give the job to the loudest one" bullshit with a large enough group will give you manic sociopaths or people that did MBAs designed to make them look like manic sociopaths.

  • Introverted (unregistered) in reply to PSWorx
    PSWorx:
    SuperSuper:
    I just remembered a truly bizarre interview experience I had in college. [...] "ok you guys are going to have a group discussion about what makes someone an effective math tutor... I'll be observing... ready? go!" The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.

    As a student who had some the best workgroups lead by extroverts and some of the worst lead by introverts, I actually like that method for sorting out applicants (for tutor positions!). Sure, it's not nice if your tutor doesn't have a clue about the subject. But I think good group management and the abillity to explain stuff in a way that other people can understand it are actually much more important skills for tutors. If my tutor can explain well but doesn't know the exact answer to my question, he can just ask the prof and explain next time. But if he's a genius in the subject who doesn't bring out a word, I've just lost two hours of my life.

    (Note: By extroverts I don't mean the "I'll bullshit myself through everything and don't give a crap about other people" type salesmen. I don't mean blondes without an ounce of logical thought in their head either. I don't think those people would be useful in any sensible job*. But I guess that's why she was watching the discussion. Or at least I hope so.)

    (*inb4 "Marketing": I said sensible job.)

    As an introvert myself, I can tell you that a one-on-one or even teacher lead tutoring session is totally different than participating in a BS discussion where only the quickest and loudest BS gets heard. I'm an awesome tutor, but in most groups, I'm just far too polite to point out that you're full of BS.

  • Iadnah (unregistered) in reply to Mike

    I worked at a company about a year ago that should have every aspect of it documented and turned into a textbook on how not to run a business that does anything information technology related. Please allow me to elaborate.

    My first contact with the business was through a friend of mine who worked there, who referred me because they needed a website developed for them. I got an interview to discuss what they wanted, and approached them as an outside contractor, my preferred way to work. I rode with my friend to work and found that the place was rented office space in the same building as a roofing company. I was greeted by two dogs when entering the door, one of which was urinating on the carpet whilst running around in circles. No one seemed to have an issue with this, or clean it up. There was also the nice sound of a crying baby, which I later found to be the child of the owners.

    I was directed into an office with all sorts of paper and other trash on the floor, and a huge wall hanging depicting some kind of contorted naked women on the wall. The owner, an amputee with a robo-leg, and his wife (baby and all) were in there to talk to me about what they wanted. The usual pleasantries and questions went well, despite the baby and dogs, so we began to get into more of the heart of the matter. I asked them exactly what they wanted for their site, if they had a mock-up or if they wanted me to create one, whether or not they already had hosting, and the usual line of questions. They did already have hosting and a domain, but they had absolutely no idea what they wanted at all, except that they wanted their products displayed, a realtime chatbox for customer support, and they wanted me to tie the site into a support ticket system that had been developed in-house (and which was running off my friend's desktop). I'll spare the nightmare doing all this for them was, as it took several different mock-ups to get them to decide what they wanted, and they constantly changed spec while I was making it for them.

    As time went on, they insisted on having me go to their office and work there to develop the site, as I apparently wasn't making enough visible progress (because they kept making huge changes to what they wanted). I agreed, mostly because I needed the money. This was a horrible decision. Their network was a horrible mess, the internet was almost entirely saturated by facebook and email traffic, the dogs and baby were there every day, and the desk they gave me was in a nook in the hallway between the office area and the warehouse the roofers use. There was also no heating, save for a crappy space heater, and they insisted that I use one of their computers instead of bringing my own. Their computers were all machines the owner had previously used as gaming machines, but all of them were loaded down with malware, various crapware, and all of them had some sort of hardware problem with them. I was told their IT staff (my friend) was too busy developing something to fix any of this, and they did not want me installing Linux (my preferred dev platform, which all of my tools are made for) or using a LiveCD. They expected me to pick a computer and fix it so it could run Windows well enough for me to use. I did so, having to buy parts and software to do it, and billed them for. They scoffed at my rate of 35.00/h and tried to only pay me 10.00/h, even though I told them up front how much it would cost. They felt the need to dispute every single purchase, claiming they were unreasonable (a network card, a fan, a heatsink, and a power supply). On top of all this, they thought the bill of 750.00 for their site was completely outrageous. They tried to get the police involved, saying I hacked their computers and stole things, and all manner of other stuff, just because I refused to back down on the agreement we had in writing.

  • Fuzzypig (unregistered)

    Interview for single system admin job, speaking with the "Global Admin Manager".

    Me: "So what's your backup strategy for the databases?" Them: "Yes.". Me: "Sorry. So what is your backup strategy?" Them: "Yes, we do, I think. I'd need to check. Any other questions?" Me: "No. That's fine thanks!"

  • (cs)
    A quick google, however, search found that he copy-and-pasted answers from other web sites for 95% of the other questions.

    Even that answer was copy-pasted: http://cheapwebhostingreviews.us/2009/12/how-can-i-own-a-domain-name-without-having-to-renew-it/!!!

    Addendum (2010-01-12 00:40):

    Or even: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081204205325AAo3WQ6 which has more. And "Dave G" has been copy/pasting that answer all over the internet anyway... <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.google.com.au/search?q="To+get+a+domain+name%2C+you+have+to+pay+an+annual+fee+to+a+registrar+for+the+right+to+use+that+name."" target="_blank" title="http://www.google.com.au/search?q="To+get+a+domain+name%2C+you+have+to+pay+an+annual+fee+to+a+registrar+for+the+right+to+use+that+name."">http://www.google.com.au/search?q="To+get+a+domain+name%2C+you+have+to+pay+an+annual+fee+to+a+registrar+for+the+right+to+use+that+name."

  • Matt (unregistered) in reply to Andy

    "I copy-pasted my answers to your stupid test when I found out you had copy-pasted the test. If you can't be bothered, why should I?"

    Because they have a job.

  • emdx (unregistered)

    I recall getting a job after completing a code test.

    One question was "how would you write a chess-playing program?" to which I answered:

    1. Make sure the move is legal
    2. look at possible moves
    3. pick the best move
    4. do it.

    When he reviewed the answer, my future boss said "oh, good! Check if the move is legal" with a big smile.

    — Well, I got the idea with an old computer cartoon where a guy was playing chess against a robot, where the robot was pointing at the ceiling and while the guy looked up, the robot moved a piece on the board…

    CAPTCHA: haero

  • PerlGuy (unregistered)

    Did the temporary story take place in Last.fm? It certainly sounds like them!

  • Colin Edwards (unregistered) in reply to dkf

    Generally speaking, copying the answers is "the right solution". Setting up these services is a well-solved problem that is best addressed by using someone else's solution. Sadly, this insight is usually lost on junior programmers who feel like they need to create everything from scratch.

  • Justin (unregistered) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    quisling:
    DaveK:
    SuperSuper:
    The talkative super-social people start going on-and-on while the introverts are looking around like "wtf?!" I didn't get the job.
    quisling:
    Reading comprehension is another focus with a dearth of quality tutors, i surmise...
    quisling:
    *grrrr*

    It seems like a reasonable interview technique for the needs of the job at hand to me. Obviously I am assuming that they also check that the suitable candidates have subject skills, but we haven't been told anything about the later stages of the interview process. (Or the earlier; maybe the candidates had already been pre-screened for skills by looking at their exam results, talking to /their/ tutors and professors, examining their resumés and following up references, etc. etc.)

    If there were any more than 13 people in that group == Interviewer Fail.

    Group Psychology tells us that 13 is the maximum size for a group in which everyone will have a chance to talk, given a normal range of people. More than that, and some people will never have a chance to speak up, thus being denied any chance of contributing, and assumedly getting a job. A skilled interview using a group discussion technique normally has a Panel (not just one person) evaluating interactions, how is one person going to keep track of that many people and actually come up with meaningfull data on who should be hired?

    Better to give each person 1-2 mins to stand up before the group and give a Very quick talk on a germaine subject, that will at least give a measure of public speaking skills, knowledge of the subject, ability to improvise and react somewhat like they would in a classroom (assuming this is an interview for a classroom tutor job rather than a 1 to 1 tutoring job). If this was an interview for a one on one tutoring job, it's a Massive fail.

    CAPTHA - abigo. The surname of Deuce's cousin by marriage?

  • excatholica (unregistered) in reply to @Deprecated
    @Deprecated:
    SomeCoder:
    Anon:
    Chris:
    so Gary, would you describe yourself as a motivated person?
    If someone asked me such a stupidly meaningless question during an interview, I'd answer "no", just to see what happens. I know that your interviews are even more ritualized than ours, but seriously, what insight do you expect to gain from that question? And would you want to work for someone that asks you questions just for the questions' sake?

    What insight do we gain? Well, in your case, we've learned that you're an asshole. Pretty useful information, no? Apparently you think you're too good to answer silly interview questions and think everybody else is stupid for asking them in an interview of all places! In some cases, it's not the actual answer that is important, but how you answer it. FYI, "yes" is the wrong answer too. Anybody can claim to be motivated, prove it to me. Give an example of a time where you took the initative and got stuff done. You may be the most motivated person in the world, but how is anybody else supposed to know that?

    You generally don't gain insight from a question like "Are you a motivated person?" unless the interviewee is a real moron. Anyone can claim to be motivated and anyone can make up a story that shows that they are motivated. It seems like a useless question (for the most part).

    I find it helps to weed out the morons...

    errm... Isn't that what the CV and covering letter is for?

  • GreenIsn'tNormal (unregistered) in reply to toth

    I had a green movement once, but a trip to the doc and some medicine cleared it right up.

  • (cs) in reply to Gary

    Thanks, I needed that laugh.

  • The porn office (unregistered)

    I have a coworker who told me of one interview he had at some sort of porn magazine. While he was intervieing for the job in a conference room, outside the conference room a porn shooting was taking place. As he tried to answer his interviewer and appeared undisturbed by the scenery, full-hardcare-porn was taking place outside the conference room. Did I mention that the conference room was walled with glass?

    H

  • Joe (unregistered) in reply to dkf

    After you failed me I took pleasure in taking two more classes with you. Yea- I admit was being lazy. I passed those second two classes with flying colors and went on to be a multi-millionaire businessman. Thank you! But I was too busy learning something to bother with your class assignments. From the student who knew more than the teacher.

  • (cs) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    Every question in an interview is a opportunity to sell yourself. That you think the question about motivation has a canonical answer suggests that you are not very good at it.
    Most job interviews aren't supposed to be styled after roadside chit-chats with hookers. I'm not selling myself at a job interview. An interview is to get both parties to know each other in order to be able to make an informed hiring decision. A question as to whether I'm motivated is like a date asking me if I'm a good guy: missus, if you have to ask, we better part ways now.
  • Prism (unregistered)

    Given that us mere humans negatively impact the environment by simply existing... and given that the only reason we are permitted our lowly existence is due to the fact we produce something...

    ... reason then dictates that ANY form of recycling, be it IP, labor or newspapers... must tilt that Sword of Damocles, however slightly, away from our individual heads.

    So, painful as it may be, if we accept these premises, we must accept that this 'crazy new form of recycling' is valid.

  • Jay (unregistered)

    The incredible shrinking man who hates talking to users, sounds like something i would have said and done :)... gotta watch myself.

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