Need a interview question...

[hellswraith]

We are interviewing potential .Net developers, and we need to give a practical question so we can ensure they do have the knowledge to do .Net development. Now, I can probably come up with a thousand different ones, but I was wondering if there is anyone out there that has some pre made up that only take about 30-45 minutes to code up, yet provides a good example that they know .Net and SQL Server.

I am not looking to hire a miracle coder, just someone that can do the work and can fit into the team. I figured I would throw some OO stuff into it as well.


Anyone have a good example from your company?

[Pirate]

You could ask him to do something like this :

Create a class that inherits a base class and override some methods . Then create some properties that expose private variables . It sounds easy but it's really the core of OOP . Plus some theoretical questions like what are the differences between instance and static members , classes and structures , value types and reference types ..you know

[crptcblade]

See how fast they can get me a "masseuse".

[wossname]

Here's a good one:

Make them devise a dialog form that returns an instance of Class X rather than the normal DialogResult. The form constructor must accept an argument of type X so it can be edited and returned. If no editing takes place then the original object should remain unchanged.

This is harder than it sounds and will really separate the ducks from the geese. Give them an hour for it though, a fighting chance .

It'll demonstrate:
0. Inheritance
1. Polymorphism (overloading / shadowing Form Constructor and ShowDialog members)
2. Serialization (to make a copy of the argument object)

If you need an example answer then I have got one.

[hellswraith]

Good ideas. I like the devious nature of yours wossname. I may go somewhere along those lines. After reading your question, it took me about 10 seconds to figure out how to do it, so I guess it isn't so bad.

[pax]

Originally posted by hellswraith
Good ideas. I like the devious nature of yours wossname. I may go somewhere along those lines. After reading your question, it took me about 10 seconds to figure out how to do it, so I guess it isn't so bad.

LOL . That's not fair...I've seen some of wossname's posts about that dialog, and he spent a h**l of a lot of time making that.

And there you go, spinning your brain for 10 secs.

[hellswraith]

Originally posted by pax
LOL . That's not fair...I've seen some of wossname's posts about that dialog, and he spent a h**l of a lot of time making that.

And there you go, spinning your brain for 10 secs.

I did it in my head only, not the actual process of coding. It might be harder than it seems at first.

Some day I will do this as an exercise for myself.

[VBCrazyCoder]

We are interviewing potential .Net developers

My company is actuall finding it hard to even get resumes in for a .NET developer. Did you find the same thing Hellswraith?

Oh, and for your question, what about doing something that you currently need done - so the effort is put to good use

[hellswraith]

Originally posted by VBCrazyCoder
My company is actuall finding it hard to even get resumes in for a .NET developer. Did you find the same thing Hellswraith?

Oh, and for your question, what about doing something that you currently need done - so the effort is put to good use

Yes, it is pretty hard to find a .Net developer that actually knows what they are doing without having to pay a fortune. (this makes my job security outlook very good).

Where are you located at? I am in the Portland OR / Vancouver WA region.

[nemaroller]

How much does it pay and when can I start?

I might be in for a move...

Anyway, to your question...

It's hard to test someone at an interview, because everyone has certain strengths and weaknesses.

Since you're looking for someone that knows how to wire up to SQL connections, commands and such, I would recommend that you simply ask them to write up a simple routine that connects to a stored procedure and returns the results in a datagrid or (if you're into asp.net also, an asp.net repeater!)

I would be wary of anyone that simply drags and drops a sqlconnection and sqldatareader onto the form, and does a simple databind, so perhaps you could also hint that explicit coding is better.

[wossname]

Originally posted by pax
LOL . That's not fair...I've seen some of wossname's posts about that dialog, and he spent a h**l of a lot of time making that.

And there you go, spinning your brain for 10 secs.

Cheers mate

It was a simple flaw in my own concept of how .net handles references that threw me off the trail. Months after leaving VB6 behind, I'm still finding it tough to shake of the last of my bad coding habits

[wossname]

Originally posted by hellswraith
Yes, it is pretty hard to find a .Net developer that actually knows what they are doing without having to pay a fortune.

My empoyers originally took me on as a digital archive manager and I started automating some of the process using my VB skills. Then I persuaded them to get VS.net Pro (sweeeeet!) and I'm doing a large project now. When I was a member of the Job Club there were absolutely no vacancies for coders in Derby at all. Not one. So I had to lower my sights and with a bit of cunningly placed politics, here I am back at the sharp end.

[VBCrazyCoder]

Where are you located at?

We are in CT.

How much does it pay and when can I start?

Nem, I would hire alot of the people that participate in this forum - what better way to see who knows what by their participation in the forums!

Anyway, we might have to go with a recruiter - but we didn't want to pay the extra 20% or whatever for that. But I just thought that it was odd that we would have a hard time filling the position, especially when the unemployment rate for programmers has never been higher. But I guess .NET is still a new technology...