Re: Developer::Perl::Find

[Anonymous Monk]

then we have a Perl skills test where we stick the candidate in a room with a locked-down laptop and a browser-based test.

Does your staff normally work on locked down laptops? IMHO, this is a good way to find candidates who are good at working on locked down laptops, and ones who are good at passing tests.

Personally this would turn me off as a candidate. My creativity is one of my biggest assets. If I see a problem, and I know that I've seen the solution on Perl Monks, are you going to require that I have memorized the solution or allow me access to the resource?

Currently this is akin to my current employment situation. My boss gives me assignments by saying "Solve this problem this way". That makes solving it much harder than if I had freedom to choose the best solution. But I guess that's why I end up spending 1/3 of my time fixing the tests he breaks.

[dimar]

Does your staff normally work on locked down laptops? IMHO, this is a good way to find candidates who are good at working on locked down laptops, and ones who are good at passing tests.

Good point, although there is always some tension between "testing methodology" and "real-world relevance" in any scenario where it is (percieved as) necessary to 'weed out' losers from winners. One way to look at it: people implement tests for various reasons, sometimes the reason is "because that's the way we've always done it, and its worked well enough so far".

Considering that history creates its own 'momentum' that might also be why a particular shop uses perl only, and why a particular boss might say "solve the problem this way" ... there is always more than one way to skin a cat, but being flexible might enable you to skin it in ways that won't freak out your boss, or require someone to totally redo their testing methodology.