

So, tell me.  Have you ever worked with any design patterns? - nobbynutz
http://nostacktrace.com/dev/2010/2/26/the-worst-interview-question-ever.html

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twir
In my opinion, the author is just taking a basic interview question way to
seriously. Granted, it's a silly question to ask somebody who has 15+ years
experience.

But consider trying to hire people out of college (for a startup perhaps.) As
these people don't generally have oodles of experience, you're left with
having to ask them some questions about their basic knowledge instead of their
experience.

Sheesh, Norman, just lighten up. ;-)

------
humbledrone
I consider that to be a perfectly legitimate question. The author of the
article might be surprised about how many people will flat out derail when
asked such a simple question. Given that he was talking to an HR
representative, such low-ball questions are to be expected; they are just
screening for train wrecks before the real interview. Yeah, it is kind of a
bummer to talk to a non-technical HR person, but is it really that bad? Does
the author not realize what the job market is like right now? There were
probably hundreds of applicants for the position, and there needs to be some
kind of high-pass filter to choose which candidates are valuable enough for
the real technical people to spend time interviewing.

FTA: "I was speechless. I was literally unable to find the words to respond
[...]".

Here's my suggestion: drop the arrogance, and either answer the question, or
respectfully explain that the interview is over because the position is not
what you expected.

~~~
awa
I agree, A common line of questioning

Q: Have you ever worked with any design patterns

A: Yes

Q: Name a couple

A: Singleton, Decorator

Q: So, can you explain what's the decorator pattern and when it can be useful

A:...

Of course, the HR person was probably reading from a script, and he probably
just had to humor him for a few more mins to get the next interview.

