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Microsoft and Google do not collectively hire that many people and are not who I am talking about. “Brain-teaser” type questions are explicitly not work-sample

Microsoft and Google do not collectively hire that many people and are not who I am talking about. “Brain-teaser” type questions are explicitly not work-sample tests and, yes, have no correlation with job performance.

jonathankoren 8y ago
The number of people that they collectively hire is irrelevant. They have an outsized influence on interview practices industry wide.
Consultant32452 8y ago
IQ does correlate with work performance, and SAT tests are IQ tests. Brain teasers are an attempt at seeing how well/quickly your brain works to solve problems, is a rudimentary IQ test. The problem is that requiring IQ tests for employment introduces liability that employers do not want.
- jonathankoren 8y ago
  No. None of this is true. Neither IQ nor SAT scores correlate with job performance. SAT scores were requested at Google for years. Explicit aptitude tests have been used in the past, and continue to be used. They are quite legal, as long as they are used for their intend use. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theemploymentbeat/2014/03/07/employers-who-use-sats-as-a-hiring-metric-be-prepared/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/theemploymentbeat/2014/03/07/em... https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/screeningbymeansofpreemploymenttesting.aspx https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/too...
  - Consultant32452 8y ago
    IQ is the best predictor of worker performance: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-iq-strongly-influences-your-success-at-work-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-iq-strongly-influen... SAT is an IQ test: https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/the-sat-is-a-good-intelligence-test https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-...
    - jonathankoren 8y ago
      Allow me to provide a link from the NY Times article your shared. The TL;DNR: Nuh-uh! https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/sats-are-not-iq-tests https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-... In the future, you really shouldn't link to dueling articles in an opinion section. It makes this all too easy.
      - Consultant32452 8y ago
        One of those opinions is from a professor of psychology, the other sells test prep services for a living.
- mancerayder 8y ago
  SATs are IQ tests? A large portion is math, and the other written language, both taught disciplines. You obviously haven't taken a real IQ test, which is more abstract and has a large portion of spatial geometry type questions.
  - C1sc0cat 8y ago
    And isn't one large chunk of the SAT a written language test - that's gong to suck for dyslexic / neurodiverse candidates.
  - coredog64 8y ago
    At one point, MENSA would accept a high SAT score as a reasonable proxy for a high IQ.
  - Consultant32452 8y ago
    https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/the-sat-is-a-good-intelligence-test https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-...

jonathankoren 8y ago

The number of people that they collectively hire is irrelevant. They have an outsized influence on interview practices industry wide.

Consultant32452 8y ago

IQ does correlate with work performance, and SAT tests are IQ tests. Brain teasers are an attempt at seeing how well/quickly your brain works to solve problems, is a rudimentary IQ test. The problem is that requiring IQ tests for employment introduces liability that employers do not want.

jonathankoren 8y ago
No. None of this is true. Neither IQ nor SAT scores correlate with job performance. SAT scores were requested at Google for years. Explicit aptitude tests have been used in the past, and continue to be used. They are quite legal, as long as they are used for their intend use. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theemploymentbeat/2014/03/07/employers-who-use-sats-as-a-hiring-metric-be-prepared/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/theemploymentbeat/2014/03/07/em... https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/screeningbymeansofpreemploymenttesting.aspx https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/too...
- Consultant32452 8y ago
  IQ is the best predictor of worker performance: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-iq-strongly-influences-your-success-at-work-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-iq-strongly-influen... SAT is an IQ test: https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/the-sat-is-a-good-intelligence-test https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-...
  - jonathankoren 8y ago
    Allow me to provide a link from the NY Times article your shared. The TL;DNR: Nuh-uh! https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/sats-are-not-iq-tests https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-... In the future, you really shouldn't link to dueling articles in an opinion section. It makes this all too easy.
    - Consultant32452 8y ago
      One of those opinions is from a professor of psychology, the other sells test prep services for a living.
mancerayder 8y ago
SATs are IQ tests? A large portion is math, and the other written language, both taught disciplines. You obviously haven't taken a real IQ test, which is more abstract and has a large portion of spatial geometry type questions.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  And isn't one large chunk of the SAT a written language test - that's gong to suck for dyslexic / neurodiverse candidates.
- coredog64 8y ago
  At one point, MENSA would accept a high SAT score as a reasonable proxy for a high IQ.
- Consultant32452 8y ago
  https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-sats-matter/the-sat-is-a-good-intelligence-test https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/04/why-should-...