NYCPHP Meetup

[CED]

I recently sat down with a candidate for a Software Management/Architect
position here is what I presented:

 Software Architecture
  a.. Name 3 design patterns.

  b..
  c..
  d..
  e.. Which of the following general statements about a class are true?

  f.. Select Answer:

  g.. 1. A class represents a concept in an application domain

  h.. 2. A class defines a new data type

  i.. 3. A class contains data and operations

  j.. 4. All of the above

  k.. 5. None of the Above

  l.. What is the average anticipated load per processor (2GHz) that a web
application server can support? (in concurrency)

  m.. Name 3 Scopes.

  n..
  o..
  p..
  q.. Name 3 Aggregate SQL functions

  r..
  s..
  t..
  u.. Name 3 Network Layer protocols

  v..
  w..
  x..
  y.. Name 3 Transport Layer protocols

  z..
  aa..
  ab..
  ac.. Language agnostically describe how you would do the following:

  ad.. Switch the assignments of variable A and variable B.

  ae.. Reverse the string “apple” into “elppa”.

  af..
  ag.. Describe to your best ability the following:

  ah.. Polymorphism

  ai.. Clustering

  aj.. Persistence

  ak..
  al.. Using language agnostic regular expressions how would you do the
following:

  am.. Find “apple” in “Christine’s Apple pie”

  an.. Replace the 2nd “p” with “g” and change “Planned” to “Plotted” in
“Peter Piper Planned Poorly”

Now I thought that these questions were certainly challenging yet basic
enough for an expert software architect, however, and much to my surprise
the candidate wasn't really even interested in looking at it, in fact he
refused to answer any of it. Other than being surprised, and needless to say
concerned, It made me re-visit our many emails a few weeks ago about
interviewing... and here was my conclusion:

1) If you're given an exam, just try your best, but don't refuse, after all,
are you or are you not confident in your abilities
2) When administering an exam, be sure to have informed the candidate before
hand, it gives them the opportunity to prepare
3) In the end, trust your gut. We have all been at various places of talent
throughout our respective careers, you know when someone isn't completely
up-to-speed, and when someone is simply bashful about their skills.

Thoughts?