How much help should I give during technical interviews?
- by kojiro
I'm asked to perform or sit in during many technical interviews. We ask logic questions and simple programming problems that the interviewee is expected to be able to solve on paper. (I would rather they have access to a keyboard, but that is a problem for another time.) Sometimes I sense that people do know how to approach a problem, but they are hung up by nervousness or some second-guessing of the question (they aren't intended to be trick questions).
I've never heard my boss give any help or hints. He just thanks the interviewee for the response (no matter how good or bad it is) and moves on to the next question or problem. But I know something about the rabbit hole that defeat and nerves can lead you down, and how it disables your mind, and I can't help wondering if providing a little help now and then would ultimately help us end up with more capable programmers instead of more failed interviews.
Should I provide hints and assistance for befuddled interviewees (and if so, how far should I go while still being fair to the more prepared candidates)?
