4 ms·

If you wanted ideal data, you'd want an employer to hire large numbers of people for a single role, hire them as randomly as possible, and be willing to train t

If you wanted ideal data, you'd want an employer to hire large numbers of people for a single role, hire them as randomly as possible, and be willing to train them. You could then see what sort of candidate was successful there. There are a handful of militaries that effectively do that, but it's pretty much impossible for a normal employer.

sxp 3y ago
When I was at Google, I remember hearing that this experiment was done on interns once. It wasn’t completely random, but they let in people who failed the standard Google interview to validate the effectiveness of that interview. Since interns were hired for a limited time, there was a lower cost to a false positive hire compared to an FTE.
- testfoobar 3y ago
  What were the results?
somenameforme 3y ago
Which militaries? I'm just genuinely curious. To my knowledge, most militaries in the world use IQ tests to determine placement qualification which is more or less completely antithetical to this concept. It'd be interesting to compare and contrast how it works out.
- swexbe 3y ago
  A high IQ won't help you pilot a fighter jet on it's own.
  - wnkrshm 3y ago
    That's why you need a Bachelor's degree to be eligible for training, at least in the US Air Force. Edit: They need people who have proven they can study and understand material.
  - TexanFeller 3y ago
    High IQ is supposed to correlate with things like good reaction time and achievement in certain sports as well so it's easy to imagine good fighter pilots might have higher than average IQ. Makes sense as IQ is a good proxy for how quickly your brain functions in general.
- nitwit005 3y ago
  The US military, at least, is closer to a traditional academics test than an IQ test these days: https://www.officialasvab.com/applicants/sample-questions/ https://www.officialasvab.com/applicants/sample-questions/ Part of what they want to predict is your ability to complete the training programs.

sxp 3y ago

When I was at Google, I remember hearing that this experiment was done on interns once. It wasn’t completely random, but they let in people who failed the standard Google interview to validate the effectiveness of that interview. Since interns were hired for a limited time, there was a lower cost to a false positive hire compared to an FTE.

testfoobar 3y ago
What were the results?

somenameforme 3y ago

Which militaries? I'm just genuinely curious. To my knowledge, most militaries in the world use IQ tests to determine placement qualification which is more or less completely antithetical to this concept. It'd be interesting to compare and contrast how it works out.

swexbe 3y ago
A high IQ won't help you pilot a fighter jet on it's own.
- wnkrshm 3y ago
  That's why you need a Bachelor's degree to be eligible for training, at least in the US Air Force. Edit: They need people who have proven they can study and understand material.
- TexanFeller 3y ago
  High IQ is supposed to correlate with things like good reaction time and achievement in certain sports as well so it's easy to imagine good fighter pilots might have higher than average IQ. Makes sense as IQ is a good proxy for how quickly your brain functions in general.
nitwit005 3y ago
The US military, at least, is closer to a traditional academics test than an IQ test these days: https://www.officialasvab.com/applicants/sample-questions/ https://www.officialasvab.com/applicants/sample-questions/ Part of what they want to predict is your ability to complete the training programs.