Hacker News Reader

A question like ‘In Java what is the difference between finally, final and finalize’ will tell you very little about the candidate. Plenty of terrible programmers could answer that without problem and what’s worse, a talented but inexperienced developer might stumble. In short these type of quick fire questions add little value to the overall process.

This cannot be stressed enough, mastery of the nuances of a language does not make a person creative or a skilled problem solver which are far more important than if someone uses final, finally or finalize. The last of which I don't believe I have ever used in Java myself.

I personally ask people one simple question and that is what is the thing that you are most proud of that you have created. Then I ask what challenges and difficult problems did you encounter. I do this because it can fill an entire interview with organic conversation, I can see peoples passion instantly, people become less nervous when they don't fell they are being tested and I can steer that conversation into technical discussion to get a feel for their depth of technical understanding.

View on HN