I absolutely agree about frameworks and a programmer's ability to learn new things. Right on!
Now, a few concerns from someone who has interviewed programmers for years...
First off, showing some nerves is good. They're one of the ways we know you don't think you're the Second Coming. Any interviewer with any experience at all knows that you're nervous because of the interview. We're used to a bit of sweating, shaking, and stuttering. We expect that you won't be as quick on the draw as usual. You can rest assured that we're not going to turn you down just because you're nervous...
In fact, it's quite the opposite! The worst thing you can do is act like you're not nervous at all. It just tells us you're either an egotist or a cyberman, and we're not looking to hire either.
Now, I will say, you should definitely be yourself, as you suggested. We can usually tell when you're delivering a script. We want to know you, especially since it's you we'll be working with. (And, again, we know your nerves are part of the interview, not a personality flaw.)
Lastly, hate to break it to you, but the pop-quiz isn't going anywhere, nor should it. We have to know that you're not just blowing smoke, and that you have a rational grasp of fundamental programming concepts. You'd be amazed how many people apply for jobs and don't know the basics. We do take your nerves into account, and we are not strangers to seeing people lock up. It's not sadism, it's just a necessary part of ensuring you know what you say you know. Learn to live with it.
I appreciate your response from this perspective, but I disagree with a lot of things. Lol!
The pop-quiz style interview is a similar phenomenon as a trick I use to cure hiccups. If someone is hiccuping, you ask them very directly and seriously, "When is the last time you saw a rabbit?" Nine times out of ten the person will freeze and say, "Uhhhh... [pause]"
Just the very notion of putting them on the spot and giving them pressure to respond immediately makes their hiccups cured.
If I were in the situation as an interviewer doing that to someone, I would personally feel quite sadistic, and it really doesn't apply to the real world.
Some of the most successful interviews I've had are very conversational style. You open a dialogue about an issue that you solved, and go into detail about your solutions. You should get a pretty good understanding of their capabilities, by A the terminology they used, B what steps they went through to come up with a solution.
I've also had a couple interviews that gave me tests using tools like brainbench.com.
I'll put it to you this way, when I got the pop-quiz I completely bombed it, verses when I took the test on brainbench.com with similar concepts days later, and scored 65% higher than other applicants. I actually got a response back from the one I bombed, but I didn't like the vibe from the interviewer and didn't pursue it further.
As far as the nervous thing goes, I could see that. For me personally though, when I get super nervous I lose control of my face muscles and start twitching. Then I'm primarily thinking about if they are noticing I'm twitching, and completely lose track of what we were talking about. Like anything though practice makes perfect, and now I feel a lot more comfortable meeting face to face. In my experience the more real you are, the better people respond. They want to know who they are going to form a working relationship with, and that's hard to see with a big bag of nerves.
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I absolutely agree about frameworks and a programmer's ability to learn new things. Right on!
Now, a few concerns from someone who has interviewed programmers for years...
First off, showing some nerves is good. They're one of the ways we know you don't think you're the Second Coming. Any interviewer with any experience at all knows that you're nervous because of the interview. We're used to a bit of sweating, shaking, and stuttering. We expect that you won't be as quick on the draw as usual. You can rest assured that we're not going to turn you down just because you're nervous...
In fact, it's quite the opposite! The worst thing you can do is act like you're not nervous at all. It just tells us you're either an egotist or a cyberman, and we're not looking to hire either.
Now, I will say, you should definitely be yourself, as you suggested. We can usually tell when you're delivering a script. We want to know you, especially since it's you we'll be working with. (And, again, we know your nerves are part of the interview, not a personality flaw.)
Lastly, hate to break it to you, but the pop-quiz isn't going anywhere, nor should it. We have to know that you're not just blowing smoke, and that you have a rational grasp of fundamental programming concepts. You'd be amazed how many people apply for jobs and don't know the basics. We do take your nerves into account, and we are not strangers to seeing people lock up. It's not sadism, it's just a necessary part of ensuring you know what you say you know. Learn to live with it.
I appreciate your response from this perspective, but I disagree with a lot of things. Lol!
The pop-quiz style interview is a similar phenomenon as a trick I use to cure hiccups. If someone is hiccuping, you ask them very directly and seriously, "When is the last time you saw a rabbit?" Nine times out of ten the person will freeze and say, "Uhhhh... [pause]"
Just the very notion of putting them on the spot and giving them pressure to respond immediately makes their hiccups cured.
If I were in the situation as an interviewer doing that to someone, I would personally feel quite sadistic, and it really doesn't apply to the real world.
Some of the most successful interviews I've had are very conversational style. You open a dialogue about an issue that you solved, and go into detail about your solutions. You should get a pretty good understanding of their capabilities, by A the terminology they used, B what steps they went through to come up with a solution.
I've also had a couple interviews that gave me tests using tools like brainbench.com.
I'll put it to you this way, when I got the pop-quiz I completely bombed it, verses when I took the test on brainbench.com with similar concepts days later, and scored 65% higher than other applicants. I actually got a response back from the one I bombed, but I didn't like the vibe from the interviewer and didn't pursue it further.
As far as the nervous thing goes, I could see that. For me personally though, when I get super nervous I lose control of my face muscles and start twitching. Then I'm primarily thinking about if they are noticing I'm twitching, and completely lose track of what we were talking about. Like anything though practice makes perfect, and now I feel a lot more comfortable meeting face to face. In my experience the more real you are, the better people respond. They want to know who they are going to form a working relationship with, and that's hard to see with a big bag of nerves.