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do they roll up their sleeves and get to work, or do they stammer and freeze up under the pressure? Which, BTW, correlates more with whether they had seen that

do they roll up their sleeves and get to work, or do they stammer and freeze up under the pressure? Which, BTW, correlates more with whether they had seen that particular problem or not before (i.e. had subjected themselves to the tedious and soul-crushing task of prepping for interviews like this) than with any "intrinsic" problem-solving ability.

bunderbunder 14y ago
Perhaps. Though in my experience it seems to correlate better with whether someone enjoys a good brain-bender or not. Frankly, I'd prefer not to hire the kind of person who spends time doing cram sessions on compendiums of interview questions. If I get the impression that they're mostly operating on that particular kind of book smarts rather than working knowledge, then they're probably going to lose out to someone who didn't give me that impression. And yeah, I am starting to think that problem-solving ability is at least somewhat intrinsic, to the extent that it has more to do with a person's temperament than anything else. It's certainly not the kind of thing I've ever seen much success in training someone to do. It seems to be the difference between initially reacting with, "Hmm, that's funny, I wonder why that happened," and "Ughh no no how do I make it stop!?" If it were workable, I think a stellar interview question might be, "Do you find jigsaw puzzles more enjoyable with or without a picture?"
- toomuchcoffee 14y ago
  Why would that be such a great interview question? Because it's impossible to determine a correct answer?
  - bunderbunder 14y ago
    Because the answer might give some insight into a person's personality. Which is a the main thing a good interview is supposed to try and probe. If you make it that far then they should already have good reason to believe you've got the necessary skills. So, in a sense, you're right. It's a good question because their is no correct answer. An interviewer who's asking many questions that have correct answers is an interviewer who didn't exercise due diligence during the pre-interview process.

bunderbunder 14y ago

Perhaps. Though in my experience it seems to correlate better with whether someone enjoys a good brain-bender or not. Frankly, I'd prefer not to hire the kind of person who spends time doing cram sessions on compendiums of interview questions. If I get the impression that they're mostly operating on that particular kind of book smarts rather than working knowledge, then they're probably going to lose out to someone who didn't give me that impression. And yeah, I am starting to think that problem-solving ability is at least somewhat intrinsic, to the extent that it has more to do with a person's temperament than anything else. It's certainly not the kind of thing I've ever seen much success in training someone to do. It seems to be the difference between initially reacting with, "Hmm, that's funny, I wonder why that happened," and "Ughh no no how do I make it stop!?" If it were workable, I think a stellar interview question might be, "Do you find jigsaw puzzles more enjoyable with or without a picture?"

toomuchcoffee 14y ago
Why would that be such a great interview question? Because it's impossible to determine a correct answer?
- bunderbunder 14y ago
  Because the answer might give some insight into a person's personality. Which is a the main thing a good interview is supposed to try and probe. If you make it that far then they should already have good reason to believe you've got the necessary skills. So, in a sense, you're right. It's a good question because their is no correct answer. An interviewer who's asking many questions that have correct answers is an interviewer who didn't exercise due diligence during the pre-interview process.