> Wasn't there also an issue with companies trying to interview people and asking them questions like that, not as a way to hire anyone but as a free way to get

> Wasn't there also an issue with companies trying to interview people and asking them questions like that, not as a way to hire anyone but as a free way to get smart people to solve some of their software problems? It's a struggle between fitting the interview to real-world situations vs making it seem like the candidate is doing work for the company. I feel like a good situation might be actual problems previously encountered with the technology being assessed during the interview that would've required you to have collaborated with someone who is also experienced in that technology to help you solve them. Maybe the best way to do this is when the situation is proposed to the candidate, make it clear that the answer is already known and put it in an envelope (physical or digital), which will be referred to when it's solved or the candidate hits a dead-end.