It&#x27;s incredibly difficult to measure technical competency quickly.  If you don&#x27;t spend a lot of time writing string functions then don&#x27;t ask about them in interviews.<p>The problem is very few things are short term tasks in isolation. So, someone that takes a while to solve 6h problems can be really efficient in the long term.  Worse, short term problems need to fit the same type as what your actually doing.<p>PS: As soon as someone says &quot;i don&#x27;t know&quot; you need to stop and realize they would spend a few minutes on google.  Spending more time on the topic at this point is pointless.