Technical Qs for new hires

[Blogg]

Anybody know of a website with example questions/answers I could ask a potential employee at interview?
As Net Admin I am sitting in on the interview and will evaluate the candidate.
I would like to ask him some questions so I could determine his experience/skills as the last guy we hired was a lamer.

Many thanks,

Blogg

 

[jepoybato]

While I do not know of any sites specifically, I usually sit in as the technical interviewer (SA, not NA) and had a general theory on the type of questions to ask.

I generally tried to start off with a couple of softballs, lob a few easy ones in there that they can answer and get comfortable with the interview. You can always tell a paper cert versus a real-world techie by the answers to these questions by the verbage they use.

I would then throw a couple of questions that I'd expect some actual thought process to answer and would require real world experience.

Lastly I would ask a couple of complicated questions that don't have a straight answer (you know the ones, where there could be a myriad of causes for the problem). I don't expect a quick answer to them but would like to gauge their thought process in troubleshooting the answer (do they start with the obvious and rule those out first, etc) and how they may handle the possibility of not knowing the answer (do they try to BS you, etc).

I'm a big believer in the theory that if people are getting 100% of your questions correct then you aren't testing them hard enough to know where their limitations are.

Just my two cents worth...

- Jeffery

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It ain't lovin,
if it ain't Monkey-luvin'...
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[Blogg]

Thanks Jeffery for the tips, I aggree with you regarding your method to detect people who BS about their skills.
I mean, I would much prefer to work along side someone who has no skills than to the person who constantly gives you BS all day. Why do they BS in the first place? they cannot learn this way! and only make enemies.

Regards,

Blogg

 

[chiph]

I've worked beside someone with no skills -- even leaving the headphones on with the music turned up to deafening levels didn't discourage him from asking stupid pointless questions (they were gone in two weeks, which was 13 days too late, IMO)

Since then I've realized how important it is to hire the right person in the first place. Someone who is technically knowlegable, can work on their own, is articulate, bathes regularly, and is reasonably friendly.

So far as interview questions - There's the Microsoft way, which is to ask questions like "How many gas stations are there in the US?", "Why are manhole covers round?", "Design a function to tune the six strongest radio stations for a car radio", and "Reverse the contents of a linked list".

Chip H.

 

[JeremyNYC]

joelonsoftware.com, if you're looking for mondo serious people. There's a whole section on the site on this. The questions are serious. He only hire absolute brainiacs, and maintains that's the only way to go about building up a software business.

He an ex microserf, so their hiring philosophy had a lot of influence on him.

Jeremy

==
Jeremy Wallace
AlphaBet City Dataworks

http://www.ABCDataworks.com

Affordable Development, Professionally Done

Please post in the appropriate forum with a descriptive subject; code and SQL, if referenced; and expected results. See thread181-473997 for more pointers.

 

[spi200]

Hi

You don't want to come across as a ball tearer, so start out with the easy question's and work on up. You don't want to put off a potential applicant, when the employer is checking me out I am check them out at the same time.
Maybe also you could ask them about a difficult problem which they have encounter recently and the way they resolved the problem. ie Did they escalate the call to someone else or did they do some of their own problems solving and search the web\forums or setup a test environment to help isolate the problem. From the answers you will either be pleased or you will know that this guy\girl has never had a real tough problem to work out for themselves. At the end of the day you want a guy who will take problem's off your desk not put them there.
To a good techo a "major problem" is just something that they can get their teeth into - fix it - then tell you about the "WIN" they had and get on with the next one.

Regards

David Dundas
Techo with 20 years in IT

 

[Blogg]

Thanks for your advice guys, the reason I needed this advice in the first place was to determine someone with talent over someone who lies about there talent. I too am tired of no hopers who lie there way into an IT role only to slack off and give 0 percent. These types give IT personnel everywhere a bad rep. and only reduce our market value.

Regards,
Blogg

 

[ericscitegic]

Here are a bunch of questions that Microsoft is reported to ask.

Not my content... but really great questions. You could fill up a few days of interviewing if you wanted to.

The answers aren't so much the goal as seeing how the interviewee responds to them, thinks, and attacks the problem.

I've used a few as well with very positive results.

http://www.sellsbrothers.com/fun/msiview/default.aspx?content=question.htm

Eric Bertrand
SciTegic, Inc.

 

[rexxxy]

I think it should also be pointed out that technical ability can generally be learned, a proper fit into your existing team cannot. So dont go overboard on the technical questions, its best to get a feel for the type of person your are interviewing. A 100% supergeek might be able to answer all your questions perfectly, but if he dosent suit your existing team and client expectations then he is not going to be the right person for the job.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[dwarfthrower]

That's worth more than 2c rexxxy, that's the $64,000 question. "Will this person fit into my existing team?" About a year ago my boss hired a guy to join our team - technical ace, could write code that made me cry. Problem is he wouldn't. He was lazy and unenthusiastic about everything. To top it off, he wouldn't even communicate with the rest of the team. After the 2-hour lunch breaks and 45 minute overseas phonecalls got the better of us we fired him and I replaced him with a recent grad who "just wanted to do stuff". Sure her programming skills were fairly rudimentary, but because she's willing to learn and enthusiastic about doing even the most mundane tasks, she's making great strides.

 

[ericscitegic]

I 100% agree!

Getting them to answer mindless questions about inane technical details isn't really the point. Rather to see how they respond to a little pressure, some conversation, some new things, etc. To get them to talk so you can get a feel for their personality and compare it to how some of your current team members behave.

Eric

Eric Bertrand
SciTegic, Inc.

 

[rexxxy]

Im my experience having worked in 4 Blue Chip Firms over the past 6 years or so, I have found that the technical abilities are what you list on your CV. The interview is generally a quick glance over your CV and then questioning about past experiences and ways in which you delt with certian situations. The teams which I have worked with have all been fantastic, positive people doing good work in a good team environment.

If I were to be asked a billion technical questions I would be put off the job. Every technical environment is different and there is only so much overlap. Your positive attitude and ability to be a part of a team is something which can be weeded out in an interview.

 

[JustADude]

As somone who has done a lot of hiring, I can say that if you are looking for questions to ask, then you may not understand what kind of person you are looking for. Here's what I look for (in order of importance):

Honest
Motivated
Plays well with other children
Learns well
Skills

While you may have a minimum skill level that the person must operate at, that characteristic won't be the most meaningful to you if the top four aren't there.

If someone's not honest, then you'll never know if they did the work, did it well, screwed off most of the day, etc. Its critical that someone honestly represents what they know and what they don't know.

If someone is not motivated, you'll never get the productivity you want.

If someone can't interact with others, every day will be hell. You want someone who can communicate. Sometimes you have to draw people out. There are gems out there once they feel comfortable with you.

I'll take someone with fewer skills any day if they _like_ to learn.

So just talk to the person. Ask about what they like best and worst about their last job. Ask about the toughest thing they ever did. What are they most proud of? Ask when their last all-nighter was. Ask what job they want one year from now. five years from now. Ask when they want to retire. Ask if they are a leader or a follower -- and be sure to say the both are important. Ask how long it takes them before they ask for help. Ask whether they like multitasking or are serial workers. Ask whether they like to know what their next task will be after this one. Ask them what they do when when they get stuck or reach a dead end. Do they work better alone, in a small group or in a big group? DO they work better or worse under pressure? What's the last technical book they bought with their own money? Are they a tinkerer? Are they an early adopter? What's their favorite tech web sites? Where would they go to ask technical questions outside of the company? Do they have a network of techie friends?

If you can capture your own day-in day-out experiences, you'll know better what to ask.

Have fun!

 

[Blogg]

I didn't think so many of you had so many thoughts on this... thanks.
Blogg

 

[chiph]

It's been 7 months since the last reply -- did you hire someone? How did they work out?

Chip H.


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