The bear and the Midgets
December 13, 2007 - 3:10 PM
As part of our interviewing process a candidate must talk with some of the other developers here. We all get to ask them any questions we want and usually just try to concentrate on two things. 1) Do they have the programming smarts? 2) Are they a good fit personality wise?
Today we were interviewing a candidate we flew up from LA at a local Chinese restaurant. One of the developers asked this question.
"Imagine a fighting pit. The location of which is unimportant. The pit contains a bear and a dozen midgets. If an all out brawl were to break out between the two sides, who would win?"
The fact that the question is utterly ridiculous, which I happen to love, is beside the point. The point is is that you can not possibly answer the question without more information. You are forced to ask for more parameters. Like what kind of bear? Are the midgets armed? Are they Ninjidgets (Ninja Midgets)?
So anyone who just picks a side, "oh the bear", is following the path of least resistance and probably brain dead. Where as the person who says "Do the midgets have swords? What kind of swords are they?" is a person who can think analytically about a problem.
