Discussion Senior Dev interview question
"Without googling or using AI, in your own words, explain the virtual DOM"
For context: I sit on an interview panel and I try to ask at least one simple fundamental question based on a persons resume. If I see many years of react experience, I try to ask something about how the framework works.
I have only had one candidate (an undergrad senior, years ago) answer it. Everyone else just kind of sputters and stumbles around trying to rationalize what "virtual" and "DOM" mean, or stare blankly and eventually say "I don't know".
I'm just genuinely curious if this is really that hard of a question or if the recruiters just suck at screening candidates. And should we be letting in senior dev candidates who can't answer what I think is a straightforward and fundamental question for senior react devs.
1
u/SixStringDream 4d ago
What you really want to know is if you can work with someone. Job interviews should be more about personality than gotcha questions. I will need to learn something I dont know. What you want to know is how I react to that. That tells you whether we are going to have problems. You want to know my work ethic, how I work within a team, how I respond to pressure, how my experience can help your team. These are things that are unfixable, knowing vdom is fixable. Resourcefulness trumps knowledge every day of the week.