Programmers and Puzzles [Comic]

Puzzling Interviews

After the first interview round with Sophia, Roland moved on to the next level. His meeting with Mel seems promising. Usually at this stage, some puzzles are presented to the interviewee. Let's see, if he gets hired...

Programmers and Interviews

Many programmers feel that puzzles don't reveal their real capabilities. As a matter of fact, in this Reddit thread programmers discuss how some interviews are becoming more and more "ridiculous," and only serve other interests. Here's what one respondent said:

"I find there are a few different things that can be happening here:

1. Interviewers are trying to show you how smart they are (yep, it happens)
2. They are looking for someone that fails more questions so they can lowball the salary.
3. Someone is threatened by you and thinks you could take their job.

Also, companies are looking for more of a culture fit these days. The era of the stinky programmer that doesn't get along with anybody is over. I worked at a company that wouldn't hire people that show up in suits because 'We want people to be individuals' (which is bulkshit [sic], what if that individual wanted to wear a damn suit??)"

According to David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails, he doesn't hire programmers based on puzzles, API quizzes, match riddles, or other parlor tricks. His experience has taught him that the only reliable gauge for the future programmer is looking at real code they've written.

What were your most memorable interview puzzles and riddles? Share them in a comment!