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> most interview procedures/ways in recent ~10+years do not check if interviewees can think Oh, I remember questions that were ostensibly designed to detect wh
by azangru 3y ago
> most interview procedures/ways in recent ~10+years do not check if interviewees can think
Oh, I remember questions that were ostensibly designed to detect whether an interviewee can think. "Why are manhole covers round?" "How to measure exactly 45 minutes by burning a rope that takes an hour to burn?", and others of that ilk. I believe I was presented with a question of that sort once during an interview very early in my career. I said that I don't do puzzles, and bade farewell to the interviewers.
- maximus-decimus 3y ago> Why are manhole covers round? Does it mean I'm an idiot if I have no idea why they would be round instead of rectangular?
- azangru 3y agoNo idea. I am as much of an idiot as you are. But questions of this kind were supposed to detect candidates who were able to think.
- jcd000 3y agoA round cover wont fall in, but a square or rectangular can.
- cityofdelusion 3y agoI find it more likely they are round because piping is round. I doubt they were engineered in any way and it was just a pragmatic solution to capping off a tee.
- ferbivore 3y agoThere's no actual reason. The test is to see if you can invent convincing-sounding rationalisations on the spot. Or, in practice, to see if you've read any books about interviewing.
- janetmissed 3y ago[dead]
- ponector 3y agoThe interviewer is an idiot. Manhole covers could have all different shapes: round, square, rectangular and other.
- _ea1k 3y agoI remember that era well. I hated the whole concept of using weird puzzles like that. It never seemed like a good filter.
- sensanaty 3y agoOne of the first job interviews I ever had, the interviewer asked me something like "If you were any animal, which animal would that be?". The nerves from doing the interview must've gotten to me, cause I blurted out something like "Uhhh... I guess an Alpha Lion?", I don't remember the justification I gave him for that one