it reminded me of many interview panels that I have been part of ........
It is always so easy to be on the other side of the table ....you can ask anything and pass off with it.......and that is the imagination with which many an interviewee walk in ....... (BTW - I usually interview people with 8+ yrs of experience only)
Just like Pari resorted to asking a potential employee (I prefer referring them so till I do not reject them officially post an interview :)) if he could test a marker ....... I have used many similar simple examples like a coffee vending machine; swipe in/out machines; login on a home page; etc
People are usually caught by surprise coz they come prepared for heavy questions with equally weighty answers :)
Where does it helps me ?
- To identify a genuine testers and ensure not a checker is hired
- Identify the concepts of the person
- Identify the gaps that he brings to table as a heavy weight in his thought process
Few easy areas (read traps) where people get confused and easily get caught are -
- Metrics and Measures - What are they collecting and reason to have them ?
- Software Testability and Usability
- Test Scenario and Test cases
- Test Oracle and Test Heuristic
- Why Automation ? - When and where to use it ? What is the thumb rule to decide on automation ?
- What are they doing now in their current job profile and why are they doing so ? Why did they not use an 'XYZ' approach ?
- Reliability of their test cases
Long and short of it .......we seriously lack thinking testers amongst the community .......... there are also people who have achieved a lot but will still struggle when subjected to such questions ....
The testing community needs a lot of change in thought process and we need to be the change .....