"Such as "On a scale of 1-10, 1 being novice, 10 being creator of said technology, how would you rate yourself?" Then based on this answer I'll ask a question at that level. I find that most people screened don't actually know the basic fundamentals of the technologies they list."
See, and I hate questions like that.
If you're going to ask candidates to rate themselves in a technology, don't ask for a number. What I think a 7 is might be different from what you think it is. Just ask the candidate how comfortable they feel in a language. Words work better than numbers.
Also, you should know that many candidates are really scared by someone asking them to rate themselves on a scale from 1 to 10. You're kicking off an interview with a degree of intimidation that's probably unnecessary.
You're right though that many people don't know the fundamentals of the technologies they list. This doesn't mean that they're bad engineers; there's just a lot of confusion around at what point you should list a technology on your resume.
Remember that a lot of companies aren't particularly looking for competency in a particular language. Thus, drilling into the specifics of a technology doesn't assess much for them.
See, and I hate questions like that.
If you're going to ask candidates to rate themselves in a technology, don't ask for a number. What I think a 7 is might be different from what you think it is. Just ask the candidate how comfortable they feel in a language. Words work better than numbers.
Also, you should know that many candidates are really scared by someone asking them to rate themselves on a scale from 1 to 10. You're kicking off an interview with a degree of intimidation that's probably unnecessary.
You're right though that many people don't know the fundamentals of the technologies they list. This doesn't mean that they're bad engineers; there's just a lot of confusion around at what point you should list a technology on your resume.
Remember that a lot of companies aren't particularly looking for competency in a particular language. Thus, drilling into the specifics of a technology doesn't assess much for them.