Comments on: Why logic puzzles make good interview questions http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/ Musings on technology, development, and the world in general Fri, 25 May 2012 18:09:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Dr Chrsitopher http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10182 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:34:29 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10182 Nothing you say will convince me. A test can only measure what its questions measure. So-called ‘logical puzzles’ only measure one or a few specific types of logic, and all of the same certain flavour it seems. Some people do these puzzles for fun but are not computer programmers but will have an advantage due to familiarity. As an educational expert, my experience tells me that a test can only measure as much as it measures. Sometimes it measures less, as some people react negatively to such tests, but it never measures more. If you want to really assess logical thinking, and its various sub-skills, then you have to employ a good psychologist to administer a well tried and tested measure (though never infallible) to get a fairly robust measure. The amateurish tests given by IT companies seem to lack robustness to me. Also, they assess a person’s motivation when put on the spot in an unfamiliar setting. You may think this is important, but I wager the specific scenario given is rarely(!) if ever going to arise in the work place (unles you are writing software for Mensa). To recruit the most suitable candidates you need the most suitable test – to recruit a computer programmer, get them programming a computer! Personally, I get turned-off by companies who recruit by these methods as they come across as rather ‘academic’, air-headed and theoretic and lacking in pragmatism. Computer programming does have a theoretic beauty in its own right, which I am sure we all appreciate, but for me there has to be some connection to reality for me to be engaged.

]]> By: Zafar http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10181 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:48:20 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10181 hi

]]> By: Scott http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10125 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 03:18:48 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10125 I hate logic tests. I recently had one for a “Software Support” opening of all things (no programming – just support at a small company [less than 20 people!]) and I was put into a room with 5 other candidates (none of us knew we were “interviewing” at the same time).

Anyways, we were all given 50 questions and 10 minutes to complete as many questions as possible. You weren’t marked down if you skipped a question, but you lost a point if you answered something incorrectly. So theoretically, if you answered 25 questions right and got 25 wrong, your score would be zero.

Problem was, you only had 10 minutes and the test was a mix of math, pattern, visual and word brain teasers. I tried doing all of them in a row, not skipping anything (I thought that would show I wasn’t looking for only the easy questions).

At the end of 10 minutes I felt confident in my 21 or so questions I answered, having only skipped one. I was told I wouldn’t be brought in for a 2nd interview (the real face to face interview) because I only scored 18. A 20 was needed to get to the next interview. >:(

So me answering questions correctly every 33.333 seconds was not good enough to do phone/email support…but if I could have answered one every 30 seconds, I was worth their time.

Screw that.

Probably better off anyhow – the software to be supported was banking software written in COBOL over 25 years ago.

]]> By: deepak http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10122 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:43:01 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10122 thank u man

]]> By: bccmath http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10109 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:12:09 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10109 Its a different story when someone completes a task on paper because that just tells you they can’t reason like a programmer does. although, i really dont think that a person should be judged just on solving a puzzle, when the programmer doesnt have any type of background on how to evaluate a person.

]]> By: Dr CAS http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10106 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:51:20 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10106 You have provided a theoretical argument attempting to prove a solution to a practical problem (selecting the most suitable candidates) and yet you provide not one shred of EMPIRICAL evidence to support your hypothesis. I think perhaps that too many computer programmers confuse logic with reality. You give a logical explanation as to why logical problems work, but logic is always based on assumptions. Where are you statistics based on trials with control groups demonstrating that the method of posing such logic problems actually does select the best candidates? Your theory so far remains no more valid than stuff and nonsense.

]]> By: Bbubanesh Deorari http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10089 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:31:44 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-10089 though i really appreciate the whole logical conversation….but i don’t think it would too much benificial for those who could’t analyse the whole text over the logicalogy… plz be precise and to the point…

]]> By: LogicHelper http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9902 Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:19:25 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9902 For those who are great at solving logic problem, how did you develop that part of your brain. Think back to the time when you first get started. Even with solutions provided, it can be challenging for some folks.

]]> By: Conspiracist http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9837 Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:11:21 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9837 Perhaps the interviewer picked up on some clues that your brain was actually working to solve the problem while the others were faking it and/or just reciting the answer.

As a beginning programmer, I can see more value in these types of logic questions in an interview than “describe a time you did x or y” as such tall tales are not verifiable and can be embellished rather easily by the interviewee.

]]> By: pimp118 http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9829 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:11:05 +0000 http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/#comment-9829 Yeah I agree with Matt S…. I had exactly this question in an interview at JP Morgan. During the interview I was really happy to find the optimal solution in less than two minutes, but when I discussed afterwards with the other candidates I realized that I was the only one that didn’t know all these questions in advance. In fact, I m pretty sure that although I am the only one that actually solved the problem, I probably looked like the dumpest while spending two minutes instead of 30 secondes….

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