So basically, an IQ test. Well yes. And that is what the current crop of "programming puzzle" interviews essentially are; the next iteration of attempting to m

So basically, an IQ test. Well yes. And that is what the current crop of "programming puzzle" interviews essentially are; the next iteration of attempting to measure people on a cardinal scale instead of an ordinal scale. The key to remember is that evaluating on a cardinal scale is much more efficient than evaluating on an ordinal scale, so companies will do everything they can to transform the "secretary problem" into one where they measure absolute metrics instead of relative metrics. Now, whether those metrics align with business value is a separate issue. All evidence suggests that they are largely independent of business value.