Bad Interview Questions Adam Moskowitz adamm@menlo.com (please - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Bad Interview Questions Adam Moskowitz adamm@menlo.com (please - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 28, 2023 40 likes •635 views

Bad Interview Questions Adam Moskowitz adamm@menlo.com (please hire me!) http://menlo.com./liisa06/htgr/ Bad Interview Questions Examples of bad questions Why theyre bad Better questions to ask instead

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Bad Interview Questions

Adam Moskowitz adamm@menlo.com

(please hire me!)

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Bad Interview Questions

  • Examples of bad questions
  • Why they’re bad
  • Better questions to ask instead
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Please think of your favorite interview question

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But first . . .

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What about those elections?

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That was a trick!

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Two Kinds of Bad Questions

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Two Kinds of Bad Questions

  • Discouraged
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Two Kinds of Bad Questions

  • Discouraged
  • Prohibited
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Two Kinds of Bad Questions

  • Discouraged
  • Prohibited

– Like asking about politics

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Two Kinds of Bad Questions

  • Discouraged
  • Prohibited

– Like asking about politics – Going to do these first

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Prohibited Questions

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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
  • Religion
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
  • Religion
  • Political affiliation
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
  • Religion
  • Political affiliation
  • Medical history
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
  • Religion
  • Political affiliation
  • Medical history
  • Personal habits
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Prohibited Questions

  • Age
  • Marital status / Kids
  • Religion
  • Political affiliation
  • Medical history
  • Personal habits
  • Other similar things
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Why Can’t You Ask These?

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Why Can’t You Ask These?

  • They’re unlawful
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Why Can’t You Ask These?

  • They’re unlawful
  • Or they might get you sued
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Why Can’t You Ask These?

  • They’re unlawful
  • Or they might get you sued
  • Or they’re just plain rude
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So Don’t Ask Them!

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Discouraged Questions

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Discouraged Questions

  • Let’s start with some examples
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What does tsort do?

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OK Smarty-Pants . . .

  • Just what is a “topological sort”

anyway?

  • Well?
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What does “ls -X” do?

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What does “ls -X” do?

  • Or is it “ls -x”?
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What does “ls -X” do?

  • Or is it “ls -x”?
  • It’s both

– Depending on which version of Unix

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What does “ls -X” do?

  • Or is it “ls -x”?
  • It’s both

– Depending on which version of Unix

  • But why do you care?
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What does “ls -X” do?

  • Or is it “ls -x”?
  • It’s both

– Depending on which version of Unix

  • But why do you care?

– Hint: You don’t!

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What command works

  • nly on stdin?
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What command works

  • nly on stdin?
  • tr
  • But why?
  • And, again, why do you care?
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What commands do not accept command-line switches?

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What commands do not accept command-line switches?

  • It’s a long list

– Including true and false

  • And I still don’t know why you care!
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So Why Are These Questions Bad?

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So Why Are These Questions Bad?

  • They ask about trivia
  • But you care about knowledge
  • And understanding
  • Not to mention trouble-shooting skills
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What to Ask Instead

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What to Ask Instead

  • “What command lists the contents of a

directory?”

– “Lots of output options; what are some of them?” – “Can you change the sort order?” – “On which keys?”

  • Which leads to . . .
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Filesystem Questions

  • “What / how many ‘times’ are stored

about a file?”

– atime, ctime, mtime

  • “What do they mean?”
  • And this leads to . . .
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Inodes

  • “What is an inode?”
  • “What’s stored in the inode?”
  • “Is the file name stored in the inode?”

– “If not, where is it stored?”

  • Which brings us to . . .
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Links

  • “What’s the difference between a hard

link and a symbolic link?”

  • “Can you make a hard link to a

directory?”

  • “Can hard links cross filesystems?”

– “If not, why not?”

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See the Difference?

  • Trivia questions test, well, trivia

– And don’t go anywhere

  • Good technical questions probe both

the depth and breadth of a candidate’s knowledge and understanding

– There are those words again

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Other Possibilities

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Other Possibilities

  • Describe a problem
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Other Possibilities

  • Describe a problem
  • Ask the candidate to talk through the

solution

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Why?

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Why?

  • Shows you how the candidate thinks

about problems

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Why?

  • Shows you how the candidate thinks

about problems

  • And how they go about solving them
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Why?

  • Shows you how the candidate thinks

about problems

  • And how they go about solving them

– Which gives you some idea of how well they understand the technology

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Why?

  • Shows you how the candidate thinks

about problems

  • And how they go about solving them

– Which gives you some idea of how well they understand the technology

  • Which is different from what trivia they know!
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So . . .

  • Is your favorite question good or bad?
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That’s All, Folks!

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This Has Been a Try to Talk As Fast As Rob Pike Production

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  • Mr. Moskowitz’s

wardrobe by King Kog Creations

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After Today . . .

  • If you have more questions:

– <adamm@menlo.com>

  • Get these slides:

– http://menlo.com/lisa06/htgr/

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So what does “ls -X” do anyway?