I gave my first job interview today...

[Kuciwalker]

Scientists are even worse. (I'm looking at you, KH!)

[Spec]

Originally posted by Asher


What kind of job do you interview for?

Everything. Customer service, accounting, sales rep, general worker...

I hired 2 employment agencies to do the screening and first interviews. Whats great about them is that if the employee is not up to our standards, we have a 3 month garantee and a free replacement. Saves me a lot of time.

Spec.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Pekka
Well, if you're applying for a position where you need to know something about programming, and you have no idea what inheritance is.. I mean, that's just going to end the chances, there's no two ways about it.

...which reminds me. If you still want some kind of tech job in North America send me a line. I think you'd be a brilliant consultant. I'll even do the tech interview with you, so long as you don't tell them I know you.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Scientists are even worse. (I'm looking at you, KH!)

I think KH knows far more about programming than this guy did. I also think he's smart enough to intuitively figure out what "inheritance" means in an object-oriented programming context.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Engineers are usually smart people with extensive skills in their domain. In my experience they're also usually terrible programmers.

What if their degree is in "Computer Science and Engineering"?

[Spec]

I'd be affraid of having Pekka in my office all the time.



Should be quite entertaning though.

And going ''WTF Pekka?'' all day too...It would lose all meaning...

Spec.

[Asher]

Originally posted by aneeshm


What if their degree is in "Computer Science and Engineering"?

Sounds like a mail order degree. From India.

[Pekka]

Asher, don't mind if I 'll keep that in the back of my head. After I've graduated (soon), I'll be checking out my options. I'm definitely shopping. And I'm definitely looking to get to the other side of the Atlantic.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by aneeshm
What if their degree is in "Computer Science and Engineering"?

I've never heard of one phrased quite that way.

My roomate is an Electrical and Computer Engineering major. At MIT CS and EE are lumped together IIRC. But I don't think there's a CS + "generic engineering" (is there such a thing) degree anywhere.

[Kuciwalker]

ECE majors at my school take a couple semesters of programming and a semester or two of CS, so they probably come out decent.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Asher

Engineering degrees are prized over here, but an electrical engineer applying for a software consulting job is just wrong. When he has no software experience.

Of course. I thought you meant an engineer and a science degree holder from the same discipline.

Originally posted by Asher

It's like a Philosophy major applying for a job as a skyscraper designer.

I really don't understand what you have against philosophy. My own informal studies of philosophical thought, both Indian and Western, have helped me think more clearly and coherently. From what I have been able to gather, philosophy teaches you how to think well, if you learn it the right way.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Pekka
Asher, don't mind if I 'll keep that in the back of my head. After I've graduated (soon), I'll be checking out my options. I'm definitely shopping. And I'm definitely looking to get to the other side of the Atlantic.

You wouldn't be our first import. We just hired a guy from Germany and another guy is coming over from Norway next month.

[Asher]

Originally posted by aneeshm
I really don't understand what you have against philosophy. My own informal studies of philosophical thought, both Indian and Western, have helped me think more clearly and coherently. From what I have been able to gather, philosophy teaches you how to think well, if you learn it the right way.

It's fine to learn it informally, but philosophy taught academically by people like Agathon is a huge joke.

Philosophy is part of everyday life, not something to be lectured and quized on.

[Pekka]

But you guys know about your field in your respective locations, I mean we have different schools that gives you software engineers. So, you can expect what you get, unless the individual is talented and the school is just wrong for him.

For example, I know people, who seriously are 'software engineers' even, and have difficulties grasping what is inheritance, generics, and basically what is object oriented programming. So the big picture is definitely lacking, and they 'know the loops and variables'. Cool stuff.

[Solver]

Turned out he didn't know jack **** though, so that was an entertaining 50 minutes. Started out with simple basic stuff:

Q: "Can you explain inheritance from a programming perspective?"

A: "Uh........um....I thought this interview would be about Java, not C++."

Uhmm... after such an answer you keep going for 50 minutes? Must truly be a sadist at heart .