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It's funny, at this point in my career I'd value a person who said, "This feels like a dynamic programming/max-flow-min-cut/linear programming problem. I'd fo
by mturmon 12y ago
It's funny, at this point in my career I'd value a person who said,
"This feels like a dynamic programming/max-flow-min-cut/linear programming problem. I'd formalize it, look it up in a textbook, like Chvatal, or on Wikipedia, and find the precise problem class. Then I'd look for an appropriate code. Or, maybe go back to the problem origin and see if the actual problem maps in to one of the more general classes I just looked up."
Perhaps much more realistic an answer than some poking around on the whiteboard by someone who may have studied this in school anyway. Having a feeling for problems that should already be well-studied/solved can be more valuable than bumbling on to the solution after a few minutes.
- tptacek 12y agoThere is a way to turn knapsack algorithms into a good candidate qualifier --- if solving knapsack problems is related in some reasonably direct way to the role you're hiring for --- just create a work-sample test based on solving knapsack problems. Allow the candidate to work on the problem on their own time in their own home or office or whatever. There. Now, instead of asking for CS theory from candidates in the most hostile imaginable setting (that's what a job interview is: hostile) and telling yourself a cute little story about how you're determining how candidates handle interesting problems that require them to consult the literature: you actually allow the candidate to demonstrate how they would do that.