Converting ints to strings isn't a 'skill'. It's a simple task to see if they are well versed enough in Go to get started.

And no the question isn't 'convert a number to a string', it's a small function tasked with doing something along those lines.

I don't get why you feel that's insulting. If I were applying for a job speaking French, was asked to translate a simple sentence, and couldn't...I wouldn't expect to be hired. I don't see this much differently.

> And of all the languages I use for daily work I could not 100% tell you what that function is exactly called.

And see, that would be fine. In this example, if one would say 'oh it's in strconv let me look that up' or 'oh can I look up the string formatting symbols' this would be perfectly acceptable, to me.

Writing things like string(i) or i + "x", not so much.

It's insulting because you automatically assume the candidate is a fraud. What if the candidate asked to see your financial bookkeeping to make sure that you always pay salary on time? Would that be cool with you? They just want to make sure that your company isn't a fraud and does actually pay their staff... right?

If you were applying to be a doctor would the interviewer giving you an orange and a dull knife and asking you to cutout a seed without spilling any juice on the table be helpful as a hiring filter? Because that is what you are doing.

Just hire a few people part time and the one(s) that can deliver offer full time roles.

This analogy doesn't hold water.

It's more like hiring for a podiatrist, the candidate claiming to be a podiatrist for 5 years, then not being able to answer what to do for a sprained ankle... because they can just google it.

It's more like asking them to list all the chemical components of some pain meds that they might prescribe for a sprained ankle.

Also would you really ask a doctor such a (as I already said) insultingly trivial question during an interview?