Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT)

[sathyashrayan]

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

[Aggelos]

On Mar 22, 2:57 pm, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv.

In two hours ??? Hahahah I would be f**ked... if that makes you feel
better...

[Moot]

On Mar 22, 10:57 am, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

With a time limit like that, something tells me that *finishing*
wasn't the point of this exercise.
They most likely were looking to see how you react under pressure and
time constraints.

[Ivan Marsh]

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:11:16 -0700, Aggelos wrote:

On Mar 22, 2:57 pm, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

>Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also have
the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv.

In two hours ??? Hahahah I would be f**ked... if that makes you feel
better...

I think it's more likely that they are f**ked... anyone that could do that
isn't going to be interested in working for a company that would expect
them to do that.

Sounds like they were trying to get some free consulting and disguised it
as an interview.

[BlenderStyle]

On Mar 22, 7:54 am, Ivan Marsh <[e-mail]:

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:11:16 -0700, Aggelos wrote:

On Mar 22, 2:57 pm, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also have
the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv.

In two hours ??? Hahahah I would be f**ked... if that makes you feel
better...

I think it's more likely that they are f**ked... anyone that could do that
isn't going to be interested in working for a company that would expect
them to do that.

Sounds like they were trying to get some free consulting and disguised it
as an interview.

Yeah, sounds like they wanted you to do some free work for them. You
could pull it off with CakePHP or some other rapid application
development framework, though, if you already knew how to do the csv
and pdf parts ahead of time. Creating software in a short amount of
time is just asking for bugs and problems.

[Ivan Marsh]

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:53:08 -0700, Moot wrote:

On Mar 22, 10:57 am, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

>Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also have
the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far have
20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

With a time limit like that, something tells me that *finishing* wasn't
the point of this exercise.
They most likely were looking to see how you react under pressure and
time constraints.

Kobayashi Maru? I sincerely doubt it... but it would be cool to think so.

[Toby A Inkster]

sathyashrayan wrote:

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv.

It's a bit of a tall order for two hours. I'm pretty sure I could manage
it, assuming I had access to the PHP manual, as I'm not au fait with the
PDF functions. It would probably end up as fairly sloppy code though, and
an unnormalised database table structure.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact
Geek of ~ HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python*/Apache/Linux

* = I'm getting there!

[Geoff Berrow]

Message-ID: <11**********************@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups .comfrom
sathyashrayan contained the following:

>
They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Easy.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=php+address+book

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

[Ivan Marsh]

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:20:11 +0000, Geoff Berrow wrote:

Message-ID: <11**********************@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups .comfrom
sathyashrayan contained the following:

>>
They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Easy.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=php+address+book

Nice!

[Aggelos]

On Mar 22, 6:20 pm, Geoff Berrow <[e-mail]:

Message-ID: <11**********************@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups .comfrom
sathyashrayan contained the following:

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Easy.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=php+address+book

HAhahaha ! The best answer

[Henk verhoeven]

Sounds to me like doable if you use a framework that supports all that.
What is it, are you trying to promote a framework that does this? Or an
RAD-tool?

Greetings,

Henk Verhoeven,
www.phpPeanuts.org.

Address book-alike:
http://examples.phppeanuts.org/examp...loyee&pntScd=d
(this application consist of 124 lines of code. csv is easy enough with
basic php. no pdf though. I would have told them they can either wait
for some future release that supports pdf reports or pay for the
privilige to decide that pfd reports should be added next week - and
that privilige will be a lot more expensive then two hours ;-) ).

sathyashrayan wrote:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

[David T. Ashley]

"Ivan Marsh" <an*****@you.nowwrote in message
news:pa****************************@you.now...

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:53:08 -0700, Moot wrote:

>On Mar 22, 10:57 am, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

>>Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also have
the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far have
20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

With a time limit like that, something tells me that *finishing* wasn't
the point of this exercise.
They most likely were looking to see how you react under pressure and
time constraints.

Kobayashi Maru? I sincerely doubt it... but it would be cool to think so.

First, I did get the Star Trek reference. : )

Second, it is not uncommon to test candidates in this way. I remember one
story I read in a book about an HR professional who nailed his window shut
and then asked interview candidates to open it (knowing in advance that it
couldn't be opened). He was interested in how they reacted.

I'm not sure how much useful information can be gathered using these
techniques ...

--
David T. Ashley (dt*@e3ft.com)
http://www.e3ft.com (Consulting Home Page)
http://www.dtashley.com (Personal Home Page)
http://gpl.e3ft.com (GPL Publications and Projects)

[Allodoxaphobia]

On 22 Mar 2007 15:13:23 -0700, Aggelos wrote:

On Mar 22, 6:20 pm, Geoff Berrow <[e-mail]:

>Message-ID: <11**********************@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups .comfrom
sathyashrayan contained the following:

>They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Easy.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=php+address+book

HAhahaha ! The best answer

Maybe even better: http://tinyurl.com/22c6t

[sathyashrayan]

On Mar 22, 7:57 pm, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Thanks for all your help. But please tell me where shall I start?

[Richard Formby]

sathyashrayan wrote

>They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the ...

> Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Thanks for all your help. But please tell me where shall I start?

What about a course in self-assertiveness. You know, how to talk to people,
with *authority*, especially your [future] boss:

<quote>

What, sir/madam, in two hours? Well with all due respect sir/madam, in that
time I, or anybody else for that matter, could possibly give you a rough
workout framework that we could then critique and extend but I, as a
professional, would never let such a thing loose in the wild without
extensive user testing. That might take days depending on how you are set up
with your user testing department. You do have a user testing department
don't you sir/madam? And surely your company must have similar criteria as
I do for the release of work to production status.

Lets, sir/madam, take a stab at it though. Let's sit down and make a start.
<moves around desk/>

Sir/madam, where are manuals, you know, the tools of trade that I expect to
use in my job? I didn't bring mine along with me, not knowing I was going to
have to perform this test for you. You *might* have suitably forewarned me
so I would be suitably prepared.

Oh, you don't have the manuals to hand sir/madam? You surely don't expect me
to do this out of my head (although I certainly could, but not with
certainty), without reference to the proper and authoritative manuals? I
might make a trivial mistake that ould sour the entire project. Shall we
wait until the manuals are to hand sir/madam?

Yes, these are the right the manuals. Now, where is the specification for
this admin panel you want? Oh, you don't have one? Not even a rough "back of
the envelope" idea? Well, let's just wait while you and your users get the
specification together. I could assist here as I am quite familiar with
drawing up such user specifications and am familiar with the mediation
required between the users, the management, and the software developers,
sir/madam.

Your users are at lunch? Oh well, I have no pressing engagements [as I am
out of work and looking for a job]. We can wait for them... Ah, here they
are. A bit groggy but largely serviceable.

The, Specs are fine now. Shall we, sir/madam, sketch out some Gantt charts
to approximate the anticipated schedule of coding, alpha and then beta
testing and then final production rollout, as a first draft of course.

You don't have Gantt chart software? Oh, well, surely we can get one of your
staff to to google up something quite quickly, I would presume. Projects
work better with a bit of Gantt charting, I use it all the time and it helps
admirably, don't you think sir/madam? Even the plumber I contracted to fix
the toilets used one. He aprececiated the few tips I gave him on their use
that he was unaware of.

<poises finger above keyboard>

Now sir/madam, when is the expected completion date of this project so we
can spread out the chart?

Oops. I see our two hours are up...

</quote>

Retires, never having to put finger to keyboard.

Never having to fire on a Klingon :-)

--
Richard.

[Jerry Stuckle]

Richard Formby wrote:

sathyashrayan wrote

>>They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the ...

>> Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

>Thanks for all your help. But please tell me where shall I start?

What about a course in self-assertiveness. You know, how to talk to people,
with *authority*, especially your [future] boss:

<quote>

<snip>

I thought he wanted the job. This will just ensure not only he doesn't
get the job, but he will never be considered for any position for this
company.

It's not a good idea to burn your bridges before you cross.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
js*******@attglobal.net
==================

[Jerry Stuckle]

sathyashrayan wrote:

On Mar 22, 7:57 pm, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

>Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

Thanks for all your help. But please tell me where shall I start?

I'm with the others. I could probably code something up in a couple of
hours, but it wouldn't be pretty, it wouldn't be the most efficient way
of doing things, and probably would no be without errors. But at the
end I would have something to show them.

IMHO they aren't as much interested in the results as your reaction and
progress on the package. They obviously are looking for someone with a
fair amount of experience who can delve right in. They're also looking
for someone who can work independently and doesn't need much direction.

And the key here is your question: "Where shall I start?". That in
itself is very telling. This makes it obvious that you don't have the
level of experience they are looking for. This isn't bad - everyone has
to start somewhere. It's just a matter than you and this job are
mismatched.

Don't feel bad, though. No, you didn't get the job. But make it a
learning experience. Look for a more entry-level job and get some
experience. Then you'll be ready for the jobs requiring more experience.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
js*******@attglobal.net
==================

[Sanders Kaufman]

BlenderStyle wrote:

On Mar 22, 7:54 am, Ivan Marsh <[e-mail]:

>On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:11:16 -0700, Aggelos wrote:

>I think it's more likely that they are f**ked... anyone that could do that
isn't going to be interested in working for a company that would expect
them to do that.

Sounds like they were trying to get some free consulting and disguised it
as an interview.

Yeah, sounds like they wanted you to do some free work for them. You
could pull it off with CakePHP or some other rapid application
development framework, though, if you already knew how to do the csv
and pdf parts ahead of time. Creating software in a short amount of
time is just asking for bugs and problems.

No - it was clearly an attempt to seperate the men from the boys.
Anyone who thinks that building such a basic little applet in an
hour or so is free consulting is clearly a neophyte developer -
not yet ready to go pro.

[Satya]

On Mar 22, 11:53 am, "Moot" <[e-mail]:

On Mar 22, 10:57 am, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:

Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3 hr
(Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

With a time limit like that, something tells me that *finishing*
wasn't the point of this exercise.
They most likely were looking to see how you react under pressure and
time constraints.

Moot is right.

[Ivan Marsh]

On Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:43:42 +0000, Sanders Kaufman wrote:

BlenderStyle wrote:

>On Mar 22, 7:54 am, Ivan Marsh <[e-mail]:

>>On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:11:16 -0700, Aggelos wrote:

>>I think it's more likely that they are f**ked... anyone that could do
that isn't going to be interested in working for a company that would
expect them to do that.

Sounds like they were trying to get some free consulting and disguised
it as an interview.

Yeah, sounds like they wanted you to do some free work for them. You
could pull it off with CakePHP or some other rapid application
development framework, though, if you already knew how to do the csv
and pdf parts ahead of time. Creating software in a short amount of
time is just asking for bugs and problems.

No - it was clearly an attempt to seperate the men from the boys. Anyone
who thinks that building such a basic little applet in an hour or so is
free consulting is clearly a neophyte developer - not yet ready to go
pro.

Ha-ha... you're funny.

Have you read Waiting for Godot?

[Ivan Marsh]

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:15:38 -0400, David T. Ashley wrote:

"Ivan Marsh" <an*****@you.nowwrote in message
news:pa****************************@you.now...

>On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:53:08 -0700, Moot wrote:

>>On Mar 22, 10:57 am, "sathyashrayan" <[e-mail]:
Went to an interview and got f**ked ... (OT):

They wanted me to do this in 2 hr. Create a address book, insert the
data in mysql. And create a admin panel where the user has the
privileges to add,edit,delete the record. A view panel where the data
are fetched and displayed with html tables. And the user will also
have the functionality to save the data with .pdf or .csv. I took 3
hr (Given me more time) and I could not get it done :( I have so far
have 20 php ebooks, but I could not make all those books in my faver.

Can any one tell me where to start? Start from which
application?
calender? Guest book? address book? Please help.

With a time limit like that, something tells me that *finishing*
wasn't the point of this exercise.
They most likely were looking to see how you react under pressure and
time constraints.

Kobayashi Maru? I sincerely doubt it... but it would be cool to think
so.

First, I did get the Star Trek reference. : )

Second, it is not uncommon to test candidates in this way. I remember
one story I read in a book about an HR professional who nailed his
window shut and then asked interview candidates to open it (knowing in
advance that it couldn't be opened). He was interested in how they
reacted.

I'm not sure how much useful information can be gathered using these
techniques ...

True. When I interview applicants I always ask them a question that "I
don't know" is the only reasonable answer to. I wouldn't go through the
trouble of such an elaborate set up though... I don't think it's a very
good idea to set a precedent of unreasonable expectations before the
applicant has been hired.

[Sanders Kaufman]

Ivan Marsh wrote:

On Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:43:42 +0000, Sanders Kaufman wrote:

>No - it was clearly an attempt to seperate the men from the boys. Anyone
who thinks that building such a basic little applet in an hour or so is
free consulting is clearly a neophyte developer - not yet ready to go
pro.

Ha-ha... you're funny.

I yam?

Have you read Waiting for Godot?

Yeah - it was funny.
Whu?