Python Interview Questions

[Jean-Michel Pichavant]

Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:29:24 +0200, Jean-Michel Pichavant wrote:
>
>   
>> Why would you want to hire someone that knows something pointless as the
>> version where feature X has been introduced ? Just tell him that feature
>> X has been introducted in version Y, costless 2.5sec training. Don't you
>> want to hire someone that knows things you don't and benefit from each
>> others abilities, learning from each others, improving the company
>> global skill range ?
>>     
>
> The reason for the question is to get some idea of how well the candidate 
> actually knows Python. If you ask them questions that you don't know the 
> answer to, how will you tell if they're right?
>
> I certainly wouldn't disqualify a candidate if they didn't know what 
> version introduced (say) decorators. If they said "what's a decorator?" 
> or "version 10", that would be a hint that they don't actually know much 
> about Python. If they said "I don't know, I'm still stuck on Python 2.3", 
> they would get a point for honesty and lose a point for being way out of 
> date. If they said version 2.3 or 2.5 (it's actually 2.4), well, that's 
> close enough.
>
> Of course, an acceptable answer would be "buggered if I know, but if you 
> give me a minute, I'll google it for you".
>
>
>   
Must be a cultural thing. We don't question people experience that much 
here. They'll be challenged anyway during the trial period (6 months 
during which the contract can be cancelled anytime without any reason). 
Actually I think it would be considered quite rude to challenge someone 
with questions right after he told you he worked 5 years as technical 
leader on a software developped in python for instance.

I've never been asked nor did I asked to go into such technical details. 
Interviews are more about years of experience, projects, working with 
teams, carreer expectations, distance between home and workplace, 
willingness to work weekends when required.

I'm no saying one way is better than another. I'm making an observation 
on how different can be an interview from one location to another.

JM