On 01/10/17 22:39, Marc Tompkins wrote: >>> Probably the best programming test there is look at code >>> that's already been developed, >> >> It is what we did with the bug finding test.
> My test was, fortunately for me, not a start-from-scratch FizzBuzz problem, > but debugging a report module that was on the department's "to-fix" list. I think that's the point, its much easier to use real code in a debug situation than in a write-something-new type test. If the code is halfway decent you can figure out what it does even if you don;t know the libraries - or even, as in your case, the language! But if you had been asked to write a new function in that reporting system (assuming you knew COBOL) that would have been much harder without knowing the database schema or the query libraries that existed. > It took me about twenty-five minutes to find the problem But here is another problem, when we interviewed folks we got an hour in total per candidate so if a single exercise took 25 minutes we would never have had a chance to explore the other skills they needed. It had to be 10-15 mins max. The reality is that interviewers need some kind of filter and there is no perfect one. I've come to the conclusion that the hire process should work on the basis that you take someone on for a 3 month trial, its the only real way to tell if they are any good. But legal and corporate requirements mean that's unlikely to ever happen. In the meantime interviewees and interviewers alike struggle to find a meaningful way to select real talent in a market where far more unsuitable candidates present themselves than suitable. I fact often we could not even get enough good candidates to fill the jobs available. It typically went like this: 10 jobs 1000 applicants (if it was advertised externally) 100 interviews (run by the HR team) 40 tested (this is where I came in) 8 selected + 2 temporary contractors hired Over the years we tried lots of different formats but the end results were always about the same. -- Alan G Author of the Learn to Program web site http://www.alan-g.me.uk/ http://www.amazon.com/author/alan_gauld Follow my photo-blog on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alangauldphotos _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
