In the case of doctors, yes, I do. They demonstrate that they have a medical degree, have completed their residency, have passed their boards, and then provide

In the case of doctors, yes, I do. They demonstrate that they have a medical degree, have completed their residency, have passed their boards, and then provide proof of prior work experience. What they don't have to do is perform some esoteric and completely irrelevant surgical procedure on a gourd. The reason the practical among us are complaining about whiteboard questions is: 1. They are arcane and esoteric and do not reflect the day-to-day activities of the company. 2. Programming is an iterative process complete with tools, visual feedback, and documentation. A whiteboard question takes away all these things and puts the engineer in an unrealistic situation. Using you doctor example, it would be like asking a doctor to prove their medical skills by performing a microtia repair on a banana using a bra and a bouncy house. Fun, of course, but completely irrelevant. 3. They are the sign of an unskilled interviewer. Personally, I have no interest in practicing to master the impractical, irrelevant, and incompetent whiteboard question skill when I can simply go interview with a company who knows how to conduct an effective interview. Maybe the prestige of working at Google or Microsoft is worth it to people to slog their way through those kinds of interviews. Personally, I went through Microsoft's interview process and ended up working there for over a year. I've had better jobs and I still think their interview process is retarded. I certainly wouldn't put myself through it again.