My favorite interview technique is to provide the candidate with a program written in a language they aren't familiar with and ask them to debug a problem. Of course I don't expect them solve it, but I like to watch how they going about attempting.
Matt Liotta President & CEO Montara Software, Inc. http://www.montarasoftware.com/ 888-408-0900 x901 > -----Original Message----- > From: John Paul Ashenfelter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 1:43 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: building cert tests (WAS Re: certification experiences/plans?) > > Boy, do I agree. I took the Brainbench MS-SQL exams to asses whether > they'd > be useful for evaluating the SQL knowledge of some candidates for a > enterprise reporting group. I distinctly remember that there were 3 > questions on Oracle to MS-SQL migrations (out of 40), including "How do > you > install it". What a waste. And then look at the statistics -- I scored 3.7 > out of 5 which was also the 89% percentile. Visualize a very steep spike > instead of a bell curve to understand what the distribution of scores must > resemble. > > I will say, having written exam questions for another online company (hey, > I > was young and needed the money), that it is very hard to write useful > questions within the parameters these companies give you. You can write > some > good ones, no doubt. But if I remember, it was something like $500 for 100 > questions and each question had to have a right answer, 3 wrongs, and a > "close" answer that got partial credit. And then there's the whole fitting > it into the domains of knowledge that the test developer designed. Oh, and > it's plain text and the potential for one image, but you have to create it > yourself (me!=artist). I thought it would be a good review for me, and it > was, but it's not easy to write a *good* exam with only multiple choice > questions for a topic that's much more essay/practicum oriented. Thus the > move in several high-level certification worlds towards hands-on testing > (Cisco, Oracle for example). > > Regards, > > John Paul Ashenfelter > CTO/Transitionpoint > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John Wilker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "CF-Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 10:10 PM > Subject: RE: certification experiences/plans? > > > > That's one thing about on the spot tests and certifications and what > > not. I keep a lot of junk rattling around in my brain some useful some > > not, but there's just no way I can remember all the attributes of a > > given tag. I just can't. I know where to look to find the information > > though and can get the answers pretty darn quick. > > > > I think having instant recall on such things as all the attributes of a > > tag or all the cgi server variables is not that impressive but that sure > > makes it easier to take the cert exams. I usually don't take those tests > > when interviewers ask. When I'm in my cube I won't be being timed and I > > will have my books, notes, listservs and whatever other tools I use > > available. So the, "how would I...?" exams right there with x number of > > people staring at you is just frustrating. > > > > J. > > > > John Wilker > > Web Applications Consultant, Writer > > Macromedia Certified ColdFusion Developer > > Founder/President IE CFUG > > www.red-omega.com > > > > Whatever is wrong it is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp > > stick. Unless of course you just got poked in the eye with a sharp > > stick. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Jeffry Houser [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 6:51 PM > > To: CF-Talk > > Subject: RE: certification experiences/plans? > > > > > > At 06:18 PM 1/6/2003 -0800, you wrote: > > > Some haven't > > >cared and some have wanted me to take a brainbench exam on the spot. > > > > I took one such of these test ( Not BrainBench, but a company that > > escapes me ) and the questions asked were so vague / detached from real > > development it was very frustrating. One question I remember was "How > > many > > possible values are there for the X attribute of Y tag?" In what real > > world situation would that come up? Never! For example, I may know > > that > > the cfobject tag can be used for creating an instance of specific > > objects > > (COM, Corba, Web Service, etc.. ) but that doesn't mean I know ( or even > > > > need to know ) how many valid values there are for the type attribute of > > > > the cfobject tag. > > > > > > -- > > Jeffry Houser | mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > DotComIt, Putting you on the web > > AIM: Reboog711 | Phone: 1-203-379-0773 > > -- > > My CFMX Book: > > <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0072225564/instantcoldfu-20> > > My Books: http://www.instantcoldfusion.com > > -- > > Ask me how to get a free recording of your band > > -- > > Original Energetic Acoustic Rock: http://www.farcryfly.com 80's, 90's, > > and Now: http://www.mtmexperience.com > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
