Post AUbR0ZouRas7ipcEAS by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
(DIR) More posts by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
(DIR) Post #AUbR0ZouRas7ipcEAS by mjg59@nondeterministic.computer
2023-04-13T07:51:19Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Huh. Sudden revelation that interview scenarios that involve the interviewer trying to teach you a concept and then testing how well you understand it say more about how good the interviewer is as a teacher than how good the candidate is at understanding
(DIR) Post #AUbRTxKQ7V5H1tMbbM by dequbed@mastodon.chaosfield.at
2023-04-13T07:55:58Z
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@mjg59 aren't most technical interviews at least as much a test if the interviewer is good at the particular method chosen?A lot of people aren't at their technical best when stressed, and a good number of interviewers do think more pressure / more artificial restrictions will make stuff go smoother.
(DIR) Post #AUbRbtZfxdcnhgHjge by chrisisgr8@tech.lgbt
2023-04-13T07:57:48Z
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@mjg59 teaching is a game of getting into the other person's head and almost nobody appreciates how in depth that actually is
(DIR) Post #AUbSUQAkyhcgRTd4kK by SpaceLifeForm@infosec.exchange
2023-04-13T08:08:16Z
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@mjg59 If the candidate does not respond with anything constructive, even if they are not really familiar with the concept, then the interviewer knows that the candidate will not make it,If the candidate can not even respond with "I'm not familiar with this concept, but tell me more", then it is just not going to go anywhere,
(DIR) Post #AUbTRQdyrwWEzPR49g by sigkill@mastodon.social
2023-04-13T08:18:36Z
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@mjg59 the key is to give the candidate just enough to grab onto without giving out a complete solution
(DIR) Post #AUbUKG7xfd7wIgbVHk by jez@social.sdf.org
2023-04-13T08:27:08Z
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@mjg59 The inverse works well too: just because I’m having trouble understanding doesn’t mean I’m dumb, but it does suggest the teaching is suboptimal.
(DIR) Post #AUbV6JwemOkS2aEYOO by ayourtch@mstdn.io
2023-04-13T08:37:24Z
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@mjg59 when we did the “comprehension tests” interview at work, we would take a relatively obscure RFC we knew folks would not have read, which would be short enough to grok in an hour; and then had a troubleshooting exercise which involved the knowledge from this very RFC. It is far from perfect, but at least gives some consistency.
(DIR) Post #AUbVsrGuAvq9IjqiCu by bignose@fosstodon.org
2023-04-13T08:46:05Z
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@mjg59 Always point back to the fact the applicant should be interviewing the employer just as much as the other way around
(DIR) Post #AUbWuZSVTS8oaZekgi by ivan@tomica.social
2023-04-13T08:56:53Z
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@mjg59 when being interviewed I prefer questions that explain scenario and allow me to come up with a solution. Like "design best solution for this". Allows me to brainstorm, ask questions, etc. What I felt as a person performing the interview is that not anyone can handle such questions. They mostly work great in Mid/Senior positions, but Juniors expect more tightly scoped questions (eg. how would you check the disk usage).(1/2)
(DIR) Post #AUbWubK4XmaCMzj2oq by ivan@tomica.social
2023-04-13T08:57:13Z
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@mjg59 Anyhow, never experienced those "let me explain something to you, and you explain it back to me". What is the purpose of those? Are those made up concepts or something standard? If standard, how does the interviewer know if you knew it before (s)he explained it vs concluded on the spot? What value do they get from this approach?(2/2)
(DIR) Post #AUc6PpQFfVB1TKF34K by kilpatds@mastodon.social
2023-04-13T15:35:14Z
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@mjg59 Assuming the same person does the interview with multiple people, the interviewer's teaching ability should be able to be factored out.You do still end up with a very unfortunate source of bias though, as most everyone is a better teacher to their in-group than to their out-groups... so it's got a high risk of selecting for "people like me"