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Comments
Why not just run it locally? Less points of failure anyway. What u gonna do if that website goes down or you lose internet connection during the interview
http://sqlfiddle.com/
You're welcome.
Just don't, its hard enough for some people to be in an interview as is, it's awkward for both parties. You really shouldn't put them on the spot.
That's exactly what an interview is about, performing under pressure. In this case, if basic SQL is a requirement of the job and they cannot perform it, it should be noted for consideration.
It's about performing under pressure in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar situation. The last two factors may or may not be applicable to the job.
If he's proposing sample problems to solve, I would venture to guess that basic SQL is at minimum a rudimental byproduct of the job.
While a candidate may not be able to solve it, if it's simple SQL, it can be taught to the right person and may not be necessary. I'd be more curious about how one would go about tackling the problem versus actually completing it if they didn't have knowledge of it. So I was indirectly leading towards that it's not a disqualifier for some positions, but should still be taken into the decision with the other candidates' attributes.
Well yea, but also no.. You're basing the interview on problem solving not on the actual person.
Sure person A might be able to solve the issue, however you need to learn about them, just because they can answer a few questions on the spot doesn't mean they'll fit the role.
On the other hand person B may be qualified and fit the role perfectly but didn't solve XYZ correctly, it doesn't mean they'll fail in the future.
It's just a stupid way to start or end an interview.
On the other hand Person C may have an amazing personality and really talk a great game, and be able to do none of the work :P
You still have to ask technical questions and make sure they understand the tasks in an interview.
Technical questions are fine, getting them to sit there and essentially take an exam is pointless.
I dont agree with the "exam" in the interview. Im posting as someone who has done interviews for developer jobs and as the interviewers perspective. Firstly i disagree with the "exams" but there are good points about the candidate that some technical problems/questions reveal.
Simply asking "Can you do X/Y/Z" is stupid, it almost gives you 0 information these days. Specially if the role is time sensitive, this is hardly worth asking. Candidate will likely Lie, and it is near impossible to actually tell if they are honest or not. Unless you are better than them at the said task/field/technology, then maybe you could ask something more specific or ask them to write/explain something in sudo code so you can see his thinking (but this requires you to be quite competent and understand the language/technology as well or more than the candidate, this also assumes you are open minded enough to accept an answer you arnt familiar with and most people arnt that open minded). And if you are infact better than them at the task, then i sure hope you have a good reason to not do it your self.
Giving a simple task that you can asses visually is a good way to test the candidate if its not an area you are good at. I mean, what else are you going to do, google for interview questions and ask them and nod at their response pretending that you understand what they said, or give a disapproving look because their answer is not word by word what was said in google?
Obviously there are 2 sides for this, whether i like it or not, test/exam like questions are a good idea sometimes depending on the situation. But when the interview starts becoming a chore or university assignment/exam, you should realize that you are doing it wrong.
In this case .. OP is looking for random questions on the internet that probably aren't even all that relevant to the job..
Therefore, I can only assume OP is going to hire the person who gets the most questions right.
If you do time-constrained exams during an interview, you will get applicants who can meet the bare minimum under pressure based on rehearsed knowledge.
What you won't get are the engineers who take the time that is needed to solve the problem correctly, nor the engineers who are capable of assessing immediate gains vs. long-term losses.
Be careful what you
wishinterview for.In other words, "disasters". The problem needs to solved to a reasonable degree of completion ASAP, not "correctly" in the distant future.
Long-term losses come from failing to make enough immediate gains, not from making so many immediate gains that some important "long-term vision" is lost sight of.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will clarify my stance.
It is a remote interview for our satellite office.
The SQL part is going to be just a few tables and test basic understanding and knowledge.
I will be notifying the candidates in advance that they will be given a terminal to solve a few queries.
I had sqlfiddle in mind and use it extensively for training, however was looking at other alternatives.
As a few of you pointed out that a candidate can simply Google solutions I want this to be a live test and try to eliminate fakers.
There will be standard questions and answers after this test with the candidates and it will be an equal weight on all sections of the interview.
Thanks again.