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From: berggeo@nucsrl.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Cheating (Is it clearly definable?)
Message-ID: <3900003@nucsrl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 21-Apr-87 15:07:19 EST
Article-I.D.: nucsrl.3900003
Posted: Tue Apr 21 15:07:19 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Apr-87 03:46:41 EST
References: <6567@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Organization: Northwestern U, Evanston IL, USA
Lines: 45


In response <6816@alice.UUCP>, ark@alice.UUCP writes:
>In article <853@xanth.UUCP>, kent@xanth.UUCP writes:
>> I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone that these folks are all still
>> unemployed as programmers, years after graduation.  Job interviews for
>> programming jobs are usually done by experienced programmers, and a few well
>> chosen questions (I know, I've been the interviewer) can separate the chaff
>> in just a couple of minutes.  The ones who aren't caught that way and do get
>> jobs can't understand why other folks are promoted over them, get the bigger
>> bonuses and bigger raises.
>
>Yes indeedy.  Isn't it a shame that such questions are illegal?
>
>Let me be more specific.  Shortly after I started working at Bell Labs
>I got to start interviewing employment candidates.  Thus I got to read
>the guidlines for interviewers.  These guidelines listed a number of
>questions that it was illegal to ask an employment candidate:
>
>	questions about marital status
>
>	``where do you live?''
>
>	questions ``of a testing nature'' unless such questions have
>	been proven to be non-discriminatory.
>
>The third category, mandated by Affirmative Action, is the real zinger.
>It was the consensus of people I spoke to at that time that one simply
>could not ask questions of the form ``Can you solve this problem?''
>
>Since we haven't been hiring much lately, I haven't interviewed a
>candidate in some time.  However, I don't think this situation has changed.
>

  Are you sure that this is just not your firm's policy or the legal
department's interpretation of the law? I know for a fact that students
at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management here at Northwestern are
routinely asked to solve case-based problems as part of interviews by
prospective employers. It seems to be a favorite of consulting firms.

                                               George Berg

                                               EECS Department
                                               Northwestern University

                                               berggeo@nucsrl.UUCP