I just realized a major problem with me when I interview with any company:

Interviewer: How would you begin implementing a system that does xyz thing?

Me: I wouldn't because Google already has controlling market share and I wouldn't want to compete with that.

I just realized my answer could be to write a web service that points to the Google thing.

Yeah that's not a good answer bro. Facebook could have said the same thing about MySpace or Friendster

My biggest downfall is talking shit about the Microsoft stack.

@xroad yeah but Facebook had a unique idea within a unique market. I have no problem with a similar idea in a unique market. These interview questions don't ask that.

@kevbost aww but I like the Microsoft stack.

@projektaquarius That's nice.

@projektaquarius true but most ideas are derivative with some unique take on existing problems. I can understand saying no to a startup with ideas like that but at interview stages it's more about seeing how you would tackle specific problems

@xroad true. I think I am just a cynical asshole to a fault.

@kevbost I thought so.

@projektaquarius lol most of us are.

@projektaquarius "I'm just a cynical asshole to a fault"

In the words of Dr. Phil, how's that working for you?

@GinjaNinja not too bad if I'm honest. And for the most part these are my internal thoughts. In the immortal words of Jonathan Coulton "Code monkey not say it out loud. Code monkey not crazy just proud."

Surely the question is meant to test your approach to a development problem, not your commercial evaluation of the imaginary product.

Has that answer ever worked? What do they say 😀

I had a similar company interview. So you are competing against Sling and Hulu....Good Luck...next

@Jumpshot44 I dunno, but I know that at least one company didn't like my answer to "how would you sort this array?" Which was "with the one that is built into the library."

@projektaquarius The question is more about your problem solving skills (why I would be hiring you as a programmer), and less about your knowledge about a framework.

And anyway, based on your attitude from your previous comments, as well as your original post, I wouldn't want to hire you to begin with! You're an abrasive ass and I don't want that on my team.

@GinjaNinja abrasive is debatable. But I am admittedly an ass. But at the same time, toy problems with copy and paste regurgitation type answers are not going to tell you about my problem solving skills. They're going to tell you about my ability to memorize Wikipedia articles. I have had several interviews where I have Googled the question and found the question verbatim on a list of questions on how to hire "good" programmers. It's actually become a red flag to me at this point.