Is there a correlation between buzz words and ability?

Question

We've just been through a hiring cycle and one thing that struck me was the fact that interviewees that threw every buzz word on the planet at us tended to rate the lowest.

We gave them each a simple design problem and asked them how they would approach it.

The people that sketched a simple process flow on the board were generally the ones that impressed.

The ones that leant back and then said something like "This look like a typical xxx pattern. It's an interesting paradigm and probably requires a phase-shift in your current methodology" didn't generally impress.

Answer 1

I'd agree with what you seem to be suggesting: there is a correlation, and it's quite a strong correlation, and it's definitely a negative correlation (more buzzwords -> less ability).

Answer 2

Every specialized field has its argot and it's important to be able to use it properly. What comes with this is the ability to, however shallowly, appear to be an expert by simply bandying about the terminology. However, it usually takes only a little exchange to ascertain whether the person is cognizant of the field whose terminology they're using or not.

Answer 3

I've found buzzwords to be a good indication of what areas a candidate is interested in learning and not what they are completely and utterly technically proficient. That said, there are a number of people if you just say "speak to me like a developer" who totally change their approach. I think after a while they deal with so many HR, recruiters, managers, and such who haven't a clue except for those buzzwords that through the interview grind they learn to spout them out.

Answer 4

Buzz words suck. When I interview the first think I have them do is define and explain every piece of "tech" they have listed.

Then I point out the CSS 1 / 2 and HTML / XHTML are not programming languages. For that matter neither is jQuery.

Answer 5

Yes, in most cases anyone that has spent any time working on something will have some details/stories to tell about actually doing the work. Generally the buzzwords to not apply to doing the actual work so the more of the conversation that is consumed by buzzwordification the less the person has to say about doing actual work, and unless they just interview poorly, that usually means the less experience they have doing actual work.