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A Possibly Perfect Interview Question

April 25th, 2008

Jurgen has The Perfect Job Interview Question. It’s

When reviewing somebody else’s code, what is it that you usually find most disturbing?

This is a good question. If someone doesn’t review code, you’ll hear that. Jurgen goes on to discuss the syntax answers vs. the design/architecture answers.

He has a point. I would add some more questions, such as:

  • When was the last time you reviewed someone else’s code? I want to know how recent this experience is
  • When have you been prohibited from reviewing code? … What were the circumstances?
  • When did you fight to review code?
  • Have you ever reviewed unit tests and code? (a closed question to understand the context) What did you do? (a behavior-description question to understand what actions the candidate took or didn’t)

There may be even more questions to learn more about how a candidate is accustomed to working, and how well that experience might fit for you.

I don’t think this is the one and only perfect interview question, even for developers. But it’s a good start.

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Entry Filed under: interview question


3 Comments Add your own

  • 1. George Dinwiddie  |  April 25th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    I’ve used this question (or something very similar). Unfortunately, many developer candidates can’t give a good answer. I’ve gotten comments of “not enough comments” and blank looks.

    I take that as an indication that the companies for whom I was interviewing were not offering enough money to attract qualified candidates.

  • 2. HR World » Blog Arc&hellip  |  April 28th, 2008 at 7:02 am

    [...] Hiring Technical People discusses what could be the perfect interview question . . . check it out here. [...]

  • 3. The Perfect Job Interview&hellip  |  April 30th, 2008 at 1:02 am

    [...] (Via) [...]

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