• (cs)

    A candidate who is a SQL expert but can't do a SELECT. What do you do with him?

    Buy him to lunch and keep considering him for the job, of course. Fist!

  • meg (not in IT) (unregistered)

    Having no IT experience or knowledge whatsoever, I'm looking forward to sending my resume to this company when I'm in the market for a new job.

  • (cs)

    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

  • Andy Goth (unregistered)

    Seriously, it took me a couple years to figure out that C# really is pronounced "C-sharp". I had assumed "C-pound" on account of "C-sharp" being too punny and already in use for several projects.

    I can't figure out if that disqualifies me from commenting here or makes me a valued asset to the WTF community.

  • Andy Goth (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot

    Ooh, I know! C-tictactoe!

  • Jim (unregistered)

    1 - If you have only ever really learned from books, you may be very proficient, but wouldn't know the difference between C-Sharp or C-Pound. Though, if he is claiming to have experience in C#, I'm sure his past job would have corrected him at some point.

    2 - Programming is programming. As long as the person knows how to code, picking up new languages is pretty simple. Asking them if they know a certain API isn't a good question. Finding out how their approach would be to learning a new API or language, on the other hand, would be more important. Especially when the C# and VB.NET API's are the same anyway, just a different language syntax. Just because he didn't use XML before doesn't make him weak. More appropriate questions would be to ask him about his past experiences, explaining problems he has faced in the past, and see how he has solved them.

  • J (unregistered) in reply to Andy Goth

    Maybe in spanish... C-Gato (Gato = Tictactoe)

  • Vollhorst (unregistered) in reply to Andy Goth

    It is not C-zing?

  • (cs)

    If you know the difference between C-Sharp and C-Pound it means you spent too much time talking about it and not on a computer using it.

  • (cs)

    Now I know what "body rental" thingy, so typical in Italy, is all about. Now I have to investigate what The Body Shop sells.

  • Hexamaniac (unregistered) in reply to Andy Goth
    Ooh, I know! C-tictactoe!

    I prefer C-0x23.

    Oops, time for some

    CAFEBABE

    Love, FFFF FFFF

  • mccoyn (unregistered)

    I'm a little disappointed he didn't ask what the letters in SQL stand for, just to be sure this guy knew absolutely nothing about it.

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    A candidate who is a SQL expert but can't do a SELECT. What do you do with him?

    Buy him to lunch and keep considering him for the job, of course. Fist!

    The things people will do for a free (company paid) lunch!

  • Karellen (unregistered)

    I prefer C-hash or C-octothorpe.

  • (cs)

    "I think I have some work he can do" sounded like a setup for a non-WTFy ending (from the company's point of view). I thought the next part was going to say how he was the new janitor or something. But no, we're dropped straight to the hiring with no explanation. Didn't the boss have some reason not to interview the next guy? Was there a next guy?

  • Smeghead (unregistered)

    In UK that would be C-Hash ;)

  • Smeghead (unregistered)

    I'm also sure that we have hired Corey and all his friends and family recently :(

  • McGuffin (unregistered)

    But did he say "see-kwal" or "ess-cue-ell"?

  • (cs)
    What datatype would you use to store a string of characters?

    Can I only choose one? Otherwise, it depends on what I want to do with it:

    CString, char*, std::string, BSTR*, CComBSTR, _bstr_t, BSTR wrapped in a VARIANT, various string classes supplied by libraries such as Xerces or TinyXml, whatever...

  • (cs) in reply to Jim
    Jim:
    Just because he didn't use XML before doesn't make him weak.

    Maybe not, but XML was around even back in VB 6.0, and if this company did most of its stuff in xml, they should at least expact a basic understanding of the topic. Most programming books mention and even scratch the surface on what you can use XML with the language. Doesn't seem like Corey was volunteering any strong experience anyway.

  • (cs)

    alas, is this joint void of *nixers? No one's suggested the obvious

    "C-she"

  • SomeCoder (unregistered)

    I feel like this story just abruptly ends. How did SQL get on his resume? How did a "VB to C#" typo get on there?

    Good WTF, I just feel like it ended without all the details being told.

  • Rik (unregistered)

    We could do with a new body. Any body!

    A body of water!

  • A. Heinz (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    No, it's clearly C-mesh.

  • (cs)
    SomeCoder:
    I feel like this story just abruptly ends. How did SQL get on his resume? How did a "VB to C#" typo get on there?

    If the guy was sent there via a recruiting firm, that might be why. I've heard that a lot of these headhunters will add buzzwords to a candidate's resume, in order to increase the chance of you getting hired - even if you get canned in three months because you can't do the job, the headhunter's already been paid their fee.

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    I feel like this story just abruptly ends. How did SQL get on his resume? How did a "VB to C#" typo get on there?

    Good WTF, I just feel like it ended without all the details being told.

    I think it's pretty obvious this guy just dropped a whole bunch of buzzwords on his resume without knowing the technologies or even knowing what they are.

    It's a pretty standard practice but the WTF here is that they recognized this guy was full of crap and they hired him anyway.

  • (cs) in reply to Jim
    Jim:
    1 - If you have only ever really learned from books, you may be very proficient, but wouldn't know the difference between C-Sharp or C-Pound.

    It would be pretty hard to find a book on C# that doesn't explain in the preface (if not on the jacket) that the language's name is pronounced "C sharp".

    2 - Programming is programming. As long as the person knows how to code, picking up new languages is pretty simple.

    Agreed, but I didn't see anything in the story that indicated Corey knew how to code in ANY language.

    Besides which, individual languages may not vary much except for syntax, but there are a variety of language paradigms (procedural, object-oriented, declarative), and knowledge of or even expertise in one does not guarantee that someone will be capable of developing in others.

    Corey isn't a weak candidate because he's never worked with XML before. He's a weak candidate because it's 2008 and he doesn't have the foggiest idea what XML even IS.

  • Anon Fred (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    You idiot.

    It's C tic-tac-toe sign.

  • Anon Fred (unregistered) in reply to Anon Fred
    Anon Fred:
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    You idiot.

    It's C tic-tac-toe sign.

    Nuts, you guys beat me to it. I swear I searched for that string before commenting but assumed y'all'd use my punctuation. Sorry for the pollution.

  • jason (unregistered)

    Even if you never heard it pronounced, you can tell its c sharp, from the visual studio file extension .cs. I mean, if it was c pound, it would be .cp.

  • (cs) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    I prefer C3. It sounds almost explosive that way.

  • (cs) in reply to Anon Fred
    Anon Fred:
    It's C tic-tac-toe sign. [...] Nuts, you guys beat me to it. I swear I searched for that string before commenting but assumed y'all'd use my punctuation. Sorry for the pollution.
    I didn't want to pollute my post with excess punctuation. :^)
  • Obviously... (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    ... it's C tic-tac-toe

  • (cs) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    edit: comment withdrawn ( i should read all the comments before making my tic-tac-toe jokes)

  • Haditinspades (unregistered)

    Had a nearly identical experience, except I wasn't asked to sit in on the interview; the new body just suddenly appeared one day. After six months of attempting to explain daily such things as how to navigate the Windows desktop and how to check code in and out of source control, I surrendered and emailed my resignation.

  • Pawel (unregistered) in reply to savar

    I always thought it was spelled: C plus plus plus plus

  • (cs) in reply to Andy Goth
    Andy Goth:
    Seriously, it took me a couple years to figure out that C# really is pronounced "C-sharp". I had assumed "C-pound" on account of "C-sharp" being too punny and already in use for several projects.

    I can't figure out if that disqualifies me from commenting here or makes me a valued asset to the WTF community.

    The giveaway is probably the extension though or .cs should stand for "Cpound classeS"

  • KTC (unregistered)

    "I think I have some work he can do."

    Response with "He'll have a lot of work he can do if you hire him as I'll be gone that very day."?

  • yougetme? (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot
    <quote> So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp? </quote>

    None of the above, its C-tic-tac-toe-board

  • (cs) in reply to Outlaw Programmer
    Outlaw Programmer:
    It's a pretty standard practice but the WTF here is that they recognized this guy was full of crap and they hired him anyway.

    This is what happens when the boss doesn't listen to the employee he put in charge of screening candidates. This really annoys me sometimes. If you're gonna put someone in charge of making a decision, listen to them. Otherwise just do the job yourself and don't waste his time.

    Still it could be worse. My boss whose last programming project was in BASIC when he was a kid, hired a developer without asking any of his developer staff. No interview either, he just knew the guy from somewhere. Turns out that despite some programming experience he hasn't a clue when it comes to the technologies we use.

    A few near misses later (think 4 letter admin passwords on public sites) we're all a little bit wiser. And I keep my eye on him.

  • James Bender (unregistered)

    OK, I'm calling BS on this one.

  • CorXy (unregistered)

    C Brady Bunch? Anyone?

    Clearly the problem with Corey was the "e" in his name. We Corys are much more knowledgeable and efficient.

  • Mizchief (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot
    SnapShot:
    So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp?

    Naa, it's C-deez nutz

  • RP (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot

    MS calls it "C sharp"

  • (cs) in reply to yougetme?
    yougetme?:
    <quote> So which is it, C Sharp, C pound, C hash, C number sign or C octothorp? </quote>

    None of the above, its C-tic-tac-toe-board

    You fail this thread.

  • sol (unregistered) in reply to jason
    Even if you never heard it pronounced, you can tell its c sharp, from the visual studio file extension .cs. I mean, if it was c pound, it would be .cp.

    To be fair, people without any musical background and no knowledge of the sharp sign would not know how to pronounce it. The ".cs" file extension only hints that it might not be "C pound" or "C hash", but does not indicate what the "s" stands for.

    Interestingly, my girlfriend, who has no programming experience but lots of music experience immediately pronoucned it as "C sharp", and then assumed she'd gotten it wrong.

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to ObiWayneKenobi
    ObiWayneKenobi:
    SomeCoder:
    I feel like this story just abruptly ends. How did SQL get on his resume? How did a "VB to C#" typo get on there?

    If the guy was sent there via a recruiting firm, that might be why. I've heard that a lot of these headhunters will add buzzwords to a candidate's resume, in order to increase the chance of you getting hired - even if you get canned in three months because you can't do the job, the headhunter's already been paid their fee.

    Yeah that's what I was expecting the story to say but it never did. You're probably right.

  • (cs)

    You rarely see anyone hired entirely out of pity.

  • feep (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot

    C plus plus plus plus :)

  • E.M.H. (unregistered) in reply to SnapShot

    C tic-tac-toe

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