Comment by sp332
11 years ago
Was it really because he couldn't do the problem, or was it that he didn't handle himself well in the interview? At two different interviews I was given logic puzzles just so they could watch how I went about trying to solve them.
> At two different interviews I was given logic puzzles just so they could watch how I went about trying to solve them.
That's usually what they say, but I've found that if you don't solve the puzzles, you don't get hired ever.
That experience doesn't mean that's just what they're saying. It could mean in those cases the person a) didn't solve them problem, and b) didn't demonstrate an approach to solving they problem they were looking for.
OR c) didn't solve the problem fast enough
I did solve both puzzles, but I was told by the second company that they were quite surprised.
This just gets back to the question of whether you are hiring based on interview skills or coding skills. If someone has shipped code that shows high coding skills, why would you reject them based on interview skills, if it's a coding job?
You could still interview an experienced person. On the technical side, you could see if they're familiar with your specific stack, and know how to handle version control etc. Aside from all that, you can make sure they share the team's goals, are willing to use version control the way the rest of the team does, stuff that's not about skill.
a little bit more info
https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608698037100244992 https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608687283869503488
> https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608687283869503488
That is the killer right there. The 23 year old recruiter responds to your rejection with: "The interviewer thinks you'll be better if you get another 6 months experience. Keep practicing! We'll loop back around to you next year!"
Thanks, I've been doing this for 15 years. I'm sure another 6 months is all I need to meet your delusional standards of ineffable ability.