[tpm] Job interview question

[Evan Leibovitch]

phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org wrote:

>I recall the description of an interview where the candidates were given a puzzle to solve - removing a ball from a container with a couple of sticks. In fact, it was impossible to remove the ball but the interviewers wanted to see how long the interviewee would persist and whether they would lose their temper.
>
>In my opinion, this sort of thing is too clever by half.
>  
>
Agreed. But from the employer's perspective, the job interview is a 
relatively short period of time with which to evaluate someone's 
temperament, ability to work with others, and stress handling. By the 
time a company has made the hire -- even with a probationary period -- 
the employer has invested time and money so it wants to make the right 
choice. Unlike resumes, references and certifications, this is the one 
evaluation that the interviewer gets to conduct first-hand rather than 
taking someone else's word. It's by far the hardest part of the 
evaluation to fake or prepare for.

Peter's right in that the value of these tests may as often be the 
evaluation of one's reaction to the test rather than performance in the 
test itself. An employer looking for discipline, especially in a 
non-management position, _wants_ to see if the seemingly-dumb request is 
met with challenge or ridicule.

This works both ways, since the candidate also has limited time to 
evaluate whether the company is worth working for.
The values of the employer and the true nature of the job, determined 
through the choice of interview questions, are also harder to fake than 
the job posting. One can argue that you'd never want to work in a place 
that would conduct such a test, so such an exercise reveals important 
things to the candidate as well as employer.

- Evan

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