I feels like opening your mouth so someone can check your teeth.
IQ test for SW Eng interview?
21–30 of 41 posts
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#22Iq tests are absolutely junk science, they might as well take skull measurements. There is an intelligence spectrum but we can't reliably measure it for every aspect of intelligence.
Not true. And for several reasons.
There's a reason the US Army won't take recruits with an IQ under 87. At that point they can no longer keep in mind simple instructions and are not worth the training.
Ask any soon-to-be parent if they want a low or high IQ child.
Now, IQ doesn't accurately predict productivity. That's conscientiousness and it's highly predictive and stable over time.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#23I'm torn. On one hand, we know that without "metrics" recruiters and clueless people resort to other even more idiotic measurements. How white your skin is, how tall you are, how nice smile you have, how firm your handshake is, how fat you are, what university you went to, ... On the other hand, iq tests are fucking demeaning. It's "we need testing!" but you are too lazy to come up with a useful test. Personally, I blame software developers' lack of interest in unionizing. It's the main reason we have to put up with this shit.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#24How to interview software engineers:
- LeetCode (and other tests)
- Homework assignments
- Looking at pedigree (university)
- Looking at experience (where you've been working)
- Looking at portfolio (open source contribution)
- Using gut feeling
Each has its drawbacks. So what is the fairest way to interview software engineers? I guess, we should let software engineers pick their poison and start from there.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#25No post body was provided.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#26IQ tests have been shown to have predict performance in a wide range of jobs. There is a 2004 paper "General Mental Ability in the World of Work: Occupational Attainment and Job Performance" http://wminsk-shared-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/Schmidt_Hunter_20... .
Maybe you should fund a study about the success of companies that hire software engineers via IQ tests versus companies that don't test candidates via IQ test? Cause that would be a lot more relevant than your paper...
That wouldn't happen because IQ tests for employment are illegal due to Griggs v Ohio
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
That seems both obvious and irrelevant to hiring. In today's market you are less picking the best available person and trying to increase the number of people available for the position who are willing to take it. You never want to create a filter so small that no one can pass through it.
Increasing the number of people available for a position doesn't help you hire a better candidate if you aren't able to effectively screen out candidates. I don't see why an IQ test creates a filter so small no one can pass through it. It's just one more data point.
It filters out people who wouldn't take it to begin with. I know I wouldn't continue with the process at a place that puts stock in one.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#28It's super common in Europe to give employees a personality test and a not-quite-iq-but-does-correlate-test.
It's basically a stand-in for asking brain teasers.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#29It's just a test. As far as I know IQ science, is good science. It does measure something real.
Engineering does require a decent IQ, if you don't have that, you're unlikely to thrive as an engineer.
Unlikely doesn't mean you can't.
Re: IQ test for SW Eng interview?
#30How to interview software engineers: - LeetCode (and other tests) - Homework assignments - Looking at pedigree (university) - Looking at experience (where you've been working) - Looking at portfolio (open source contribution) - Using gut feeling Each has its drawbacks. So what is the fairest way to interview software engineers? I guess, we should let software engineers pick their poison and start from there.
Of all these I think homework or portfolio is the most reasonable. I've almost never used leetcode style coding in my actual job, pedigree isn't indicative of much in my experience (all the best hackers I've known in 10 years and two continents are from eastern European state universities), and gut feeling is a coinflip.