I recall Mike Acton basically saying in an interview that if an applicant claimed expert knowledge of C or C++, the gloves came off during the interview--Acton is one of (possibly the?) head tech bros as Insomniac Games, and has done a lot of work dealing with such arcane things as using the Cell SPUs optimally. I would not want to take on that challenge in an interview unwittingly.
Hahaha yeah. Been there, suffered that (though not from Acton). I appeared for an interview at Gameview Studios once right after College. Claimed my knowledge of C++. The interviewer burned me... badly. And now that I am aware of the mysteries of C++, i'd hardly say i am more than familiar with the basic syntax of that language.
I've always thought that if I created something that other people could apply skills or talent on (a game, a language, an API), that it wouldn't mean I'd be a master at using it, and that it wouldn't be far fetched to think someone could master using it even I could master building, fixing, or enhancing it.
I've been interviewed by Google and they definitely do as part of the screening process before even the first phone interview. They acknowledge the limitations of that kind of rating upfront and give examples of what each number would represent.
I interviewed at Google maybe six months ago and recall having to rate my skills on things on that scale. I think it was just on an online form, though, before the initial phone screen.
That form is filled in by engineers before they give interviews, to help HR get good coverage when setting up a series of interviews. It's not used for anything else.
