do you fail at FizzBuzz? simple prog test

[Mensanator]

On May 13, 3:57 pm, John Machin <sjmac... at lexicon.net> wrote:
> Matthew Woodcraft wrote:
> > Gabriel Genellina <gagsl-... at yahoo.com.ar> wrote:
> >> I would like to write a similar problem without this non-programming  
> >> distracting issues (that is, a problem simple enough to be answered in a  
> >> few minutes, that requires only programming skills to be solved, and  
> >> leaving out any domain-specific knowledge).
>
> > Another reason not to like the FizzBuzz example is that it's quite
> > closely balanced between two reasonable approaches (whether to just
> > special-case multiples of 15 and say 'FizzBuzz', or whether to somehow
> > add the Fizz and the Buzz together in that case). The interviewee might
> > reasonably guess that this distinction is what's being tested, and get
> > unnecessarily stressed about it.
>
> For such a trivial problem, fifteen minutes is more than enough to
> present alternative answers. Perhaps the intention is to weed out those
> who do become unnecessarily stressed in such circumstances. Employers
> like to play tricks to see how interviewees respond e.g. hand over two
> pages of a listing of code in language X, announce that there are 10
> syntax errors, and ask the interviewee to find and circle all the syntax
> errors. Correct answer: 11 circles.

They get away with that?

The one time I was asked to compose a (hardware) test was
because some interviewee threated to sue claiming
discrimination. So I was asked to make an absolutely
trick-free test.

Such as what's the voltage at point A?

    +5v
     |
    220 ohm
     |
     +-- A
     |
    330 ohm
     |
   ground

Would you be surprised at how many applicants couldn't
figure that out because they forgot to bring their
calculator?

Sure, I had a page from a schematic, but only to ask
how one of the shown T-flip-flops worked.

One female interviewee took one glance at the schematic
and said, "Oh, it's a parity generator."

She got hired.

I'm surprised anyone has to resort to tricks.