[gameprogrammer] Re: Interview transcript and a lesson from it

In my opinion this kind of fishing interview is likely to give poor 
results.  Any kind of fishing question is vague by definition and lacks 
context.  For example, when he said "Object" I was thinking in the game 
programming sense such as players, enemies, map items.  I didn't 
consider chars or shorts.  Without much time to think and without 
reference material you will get a much weaker answer from the 
interviewee, even if they do know what you want.

Another mistake I made was to admit that I couldn't think of anything 
else when the guy was fishing.  An arrogant person will jump on the 
chance to tell you something they think you don't know.

If possible, I recommend trying to move the interview to a 'push' style 
where you tell them what you know.  As opposed to a 'pull' style where 
they try to get specific answers out of you.  So if you are in a 
situation where someone is trying to fish, a good answer might be 
"Without context I can't tell what you are looking for.  Here are some 
similar problems that I've solved in the past."  That gives you an 
opportunity to tell them how badass you are.


Jeremy Vanseader wrote:
> Hah! Well thanks for that Kevin. I'll add that bit to my own mental
> list of interview tips. A friend of mine recently had the same
> experience at a bank programming job. He couldn't figure out what
> answer they were fishing for.
> 
> I have to assume that was a made up case to test your usage of
> pointers. They can't possibly have 'enemies' that are <32 (64?) bits.
> Unless maybe the 'enemies' are Xs and the 'good guys' are the Os  ^_-
> 
> 


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