

The Receptionist Test (The Interview before the Interview) - edw519
http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Receptionist-Test.aspx

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mdasen
Why does it seem like computer jobs require such a higher standard of
competence than other jobs? I've been on interviews for both computer and non-
computer jobs and most of the time, non-computer job interviews really don't
give the employer much to go on. Computer jobs always have questions about
algorithms, data structures, and shooting the breeze about some technologies.

Is it that there are lots of people who lie and say they're computer people
when they aren't (compared to the rates in other occupations)? Is it because
you can't fake computers like you can fake other jobs? Is it because computer
people are used to being mistreated and undervalued in a way that is
unacceptable for other people? I'm really curious if anyone has thoughts on
this.

~~~
edw519
FWIW, my personal experince...

I have interviewed over 2500 programmer applicants, all having passed a
"resume screening". I terminated 50% of the interviews before reaching the
coding test because I knew by then that it would be a waste of time. Of the
other 50%, 90% couldn't pass the simple coding test. I ended up hiring or
referring less than 100.

Anyone else have similar experience with these percentages?

~~~
dcminter
I rather like Joel Spolsky's observation that when one is hiring one is not
selecting from the population of programmers, but rather from the population
of programmers _without jobs_. A very different prospect.

~~~
aneesh
Not necessarily. Often the best candidates are the ones you have to tempt out
of their current position.

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justindz
I have a lifetime bid for a fraternity (I didn't join, probably won't) as a
result of a legitimate receptionist test. I was hanging out waiting for a
friend and some senior member started cursing at his laptop. He had apparently
lost an essay and I was able to rescue the contents, safely transfer it to
disk, help him back it up just in case and give him advice on avoiding the
problem in the future. Won me some points.

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fallentimes
Great idea. I read about this one firm that would occasionally spill drinks on
candidates to gage their character.

Also, I'm glad they didn't call this the "administrative assistant test".

~~~
DaniFong
My cofounder once was interviewing someone. An earthquake struck in the midst
of it. The candidate froze, bolted out the door, drove off, and was never
heard from again.

My cofounder now says that he wish there were an earthquake for every
interview...

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nazgulnarsil
stories like this piss me off when I'm unemployed.

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mvid
does anyone use floppies anymore?

~~~
eru
Receptionists do. ;)

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hbien
I worked at my college unjamming printers for two years. The interview was
pretty relaxed, they just made sure I could use Windows, Mac, and Linux (our
school used all three).

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jyothi
Looking at the comments seems like I am an exception. But I really appreciate
these tests especially if u are hiring at start-ups. One got to be hands on
and ready to fix anything and everything.

The biggest test is that of go-getter and not be finicky about the kind of
work you do.

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yters
And I always thought The Office was an exaggeration:
[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Anything-You-Can-Do-Lyle-
Can...](http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Anything-You-Can-Do-Lyle-Can-Do-
Better.aspx)

------
edw519
"High tech" version of Henry Ford's old test. He wouldn't hire anyone who put
salt on his food before tasting it.

~~~
hugh
Or wore a yarmaluke.

Seriously though, Ford's test sounds silly. I'm sure he had some kind of
justification for it, but I doubt it really did a good job of screening out
who would and wouldn't be a good employee.

~~~
gills
Dogma vs. Data!

Do you want to hire someone that does things 'because that's what they always
do', or because they collected data and acted appropriately?

I'm not saying salt is a good indicator - there are a million other ways you
could test it - but I think that's the gist of it.

~~~
m104
Isn't hiring based on a "salt test," uh, dogma?

~~~
gills
touche ;)

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cadalac
I think you could easily ask a few indirect IQ questions to see if the guy is
suitable for the job.

~~~
mileszs
Sounds like theoretical versus practical. In fact, the point of the story was
that many candidates could easily handle all interview questions, IQ-centric
or otherwise. This is a practical exam, of sorts. It will prove someone is
unworthy of the position (but will not necessarily prove someone _is_ worthy
of the position).

It's a weed-out class.

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bestes
It is a clever test, albeit a bit deceptive.

~~~
Chocobean
Am I the only one who is offended (but slightly amused) by this test? I would
never work for a place that would play games like this. Are they also going to
send undercover employees to talk to you about the company over lunch break as
your annual review?

What's wrong with presenting the problem in a straightforward manner and see
if the applicant can debug the steps, telling the interviewer what he's trying
and why at each step? For starters you'd get way more out of his think flow.
For "authenticity" you can add that this was a real problem that Cindy faced
the other day and you may ask her questions.

People tend to try what they know first (ie: pounding ctrl-p or ubuntu), and
if it happened to be the issue, they were merely lucky and may not be
competent at all either.

How hard is it to ask them "What else haven't you tried? What would you have
tried next if this didn't fix it? Why did you try those steps in that order?"

~~~
Dilpil
Perhaps, but this does have the benefit of not making the interviewees feel
pressured.

