[csydas]

it’s just a bit too much for the question i think and it asks for opinion on a subject in an already stressful situation where the candidate is very eager to please and also had their mind in the context of answer with well reasoned technical arguments. I can easily imagine and many times have seen interviewers try to propose an opinion question like this only to spend time explaining to the candidate why the candidates answer is wrong.

It probably seems like a trap to many candidates and often it is a trap whether the interviewer meant it to be or not.

This isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be opinion questions but I wouldn’t position it like the author did in. at least how it’s presented it seems like it’s a fairly “big” question in the interview which candidates will pick up on as being important and questions of opinion can be nerve wracking in such a situation.

I also think that what the author is trying to test can be handled better; i am pretty sure the question is a measure of does the candidate think through their positions and can they defend it professionally, but i think there are better approaches, for example picking a common task with many ways to accomplish the task and asking the candidate how they’d do it and why it’s useful for them to use that method. For me at least i understand their approach a bit more and i like to hear about how they handle such situations in the way that’s most comfortable for them. that the task is one with many possible ways to accomplish it helps take the burden off the candidate in many cases as likely they know there are many approaches and it usually gets candidates to open up and talk about their projects and workflows. I often learn new perspectives on such tasks and telling the candidate as such calms them down a lot also since i genuinely like to hear new approaches. if there are elements i don’t understand, it’s a great question “oh that’s a new approach for me. can you explain a bit more how this method is useful for you?” (not exact words) which usually is a great way to get candidates to talk more as they see i want to hear their thoughts, not a specific answer; they know their answer is one of many right ones so there less burden there too.

i think the authors question is good intentioned but poorly executed.