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How could i rate myself for expertise in a programming knowledge?

Answer 1

+9 A:

Interviewers are not looking for a numeric value to plug into some magic formula for their hiring machine...

Instead this type of question is a way of asserting the interviewee's general confidence, his/her honesty, his/her awareness of the domain in question and even his/her fondness for the underlying language/technology.

A short response similar to the one provided in the question is probably a good starting point for good (and hopefully honest) response.

Although some of the interviewers, in particular these for a first round / pre-qualifying type of interview, may not be well versed in any particular technology, they generally understand the difficulty of attaining "Expert" level in very many different disciplines. So while one may think of boosting one's self-assessed "rating", he/she may soon be seen as overly confident, with too many high ratings in too many disciplines; this is of course particularly true of younger, junior candidates (who even if gifted, would not have had the time to because so well versed in so many areas).

As pointed by Adeel, another risk with one's self evaluating towards the expert range is to prompt the interviewer to follow up with trick questions aimed at confirming the claim. By over-rating oneself, one doesn't only risk being seen as dishonest, but also as effectively unaware of the complexity and depth of the underlying domain.

mjv 2010-02-22 06:37:38

i think another purpose of asking this is once you told that you are 8 out of 10 in java, than they will question and try to validate your claim. if you say 9, they will ask difficult question to validate this:)

Adeel 2010-02-22 06:42:30

@Adeel: Good point, higher self evaluation ratings call for trick questions, in a attempt to catch the candidate in a "lie" (well, in a difficult situation, which is yet another "test": "Hum... I caught him/her in being overly cocky, let see how [gracefully, smartly, confidently] he/she handles this.

mjv 2010-02-22 06:47:44

@mjv: "A short response similar to the one provided in the question is probably a good starting point for good (and hopefully honest) response." This is what i am going to do next time whenever interviewer ask me the proficiency. Thanks mjv..

Shashi Bhushan 2010-03-01 05:18:38

+1. Definitely. Honesty is the best policy. If you're great at Java, but know there are corners of the API you've never used, you should just say that. It's a meaningful response. Employers are usually just trying to see if you're a good fit for the role, not usually just to see if you're honest (although the latter can be a small part of it). Giving a slightly longer, frank response addresses both of the employer's needs.

quixoto 2010-07-26 22:18:50

Answer 2

+1 A:

File handling is a must, sockets are very niche (haven't touched them since my uni days). Knowing the API is important, without that knowledge you'll just keep reinventing the wheel, which is time-consuming and error prone.

CurtainDog 2010-02-22 06:47:28

Answer 3

+2 A:

I agree with @mjv's answer. Additionally I use a question like this all the time. I don't care about the number I care about your reasons behind the number and your ability to be self critical and be honest. It is a vagues scale anyway so I'm not too worried if someone is off by a one. Don't go too low either! Looks like you are low balling then.

I have also been asked the question before. One time I think I said a 7 and the interviewer didn't do a good job following up on that. They asked me questions that seemed to be more at a 3 level. That, among other things, made me decide I did not want that job. So the question works both ways.

Mike Two 2010-02-22 06:49:57

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