I interviewed at some of these companies that liked the puzzles and so on. Then got to a company that actually seemed interested in stuff I've done before and a

I interviewed at some of these companies that liked the puzzles and so on. Then got to a company that actually seemed interested in stuff I've done before and asked enough details to know that I knew the stuff. I learned about what they did and seemed interested and got the job. Puzzles and tricks are like that are a crutch, because people don't know how to talk and find out about what the other person knows. Usually what happens if a company becomes successful is they codify whatever they did to get there in stone and that becomes "the golden process" by which everything must be one. If they hired people who knew how invert a binary tree or some stuff like that, they assume they become successful because of it. I would usually think they became successful in spite of it. At the end of the day there are people who will sit and drill interview questions for months and years and maybe that's what companies want, people who are desperate enough to do that work. Maybe that's what the tests really test for ...