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IBM's Asshole Test

johnpublic.mataroa.blog

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Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#61

Post by Symbiote »

chrchang523 wrote: post #45
cperciva wrote: post #31

When I interviewed at Google in 2006, one of the interviewers asked me to write code for solving a particular problem. I replied along the lines of "ok I need to think about this, it's not obvious how to solve it" and started thinking. Time ticked away. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. The interviewer started reminding me that he needed me to write some code and if there wasn't anything for him to copy dow…

To be fair, engineers didn't all have smartphones that could take great photos in 2006.

I did a Google interview around then, and the interviewer photographed my code with an ordinary digital camera.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#62

Post by Flankk »

tomatowurst wrote: post #50
cperciva wrote: post #31

When I interviewed at Google in 2006, one of the interviewers asked me to write code for solving a particular problem. I replied along the lines of "ok I need to think about this, it's not obvious how to solve it" and started thinking. Time ticked away. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. The interviewer started reminding me that he needed me to write some code and if there wasn't anything for him to copy dow…

The two aren't mutually exclusive, you could've easily started out with salary + stock options that would've put you in a better position to start a side gig. Then you might actually be driving a lambo now too ;)

Speaking from experience or from the ass? In my experience a startup is all consuming.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#63

Post by chrisseaton »

snissn wrote: post #55

"i suggest we have everyone read their own packet, then slide it to the person to the left. Then we can discuss everything once we circle around"

That takes exactly the same amount of time as everyone reading out their packet, which the story says didn't scale to the time allowed.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#64

Post by JJMcJ »

In Robert Heinlein's early juvenile novel Space Cadet, the applicants are given a device and a set of instructions. The instructions make no sense for the device in question.

Assuming this is based on something real life, I suppose it was the same underlying idea. Nobody could complete the instructions. They wanted to see what people did.

How do people react to frustration and bad orders?

There is plenty of frustration in software work, and a good %age of incomprehensible or incorrect specifications.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#65

Post by rzzzt »

tantalor wrote: post #7

> You see who turns into an asshole under pressure Does this work? How? Isn't that the interesting part here? The fact this test exists is uninteresting.

Being built mostly from oxygen and carbon, people should turn into a diamond under pressure.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#66

Post by f0e4c2f7 »

cperciva wrote: post #31

When I interviewed at Google in 2006, one of the interviewers asked me to write code for solving a particular problem. I replied along the lines of "ok I need to think about this, it's not obvious how to solve it" and started thinking. Time ticked away. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. The interviewer started reminding me that he needed me to write some code and if there wasn't anything for him to copy dow…

This story strikes me as pretty funny. As if he might say "damn, I was hoping you knew. We've been working on this one for weeks!"

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#67

Post by eej71 »

Decades ago, in the days before uber, my employer would fly in candidates from college campuses as part of an onsite interview. The candidate would fly in the night before and we relied on a taxi service to bring the candidate to the hotel. Then in the morning the same service would bring them to the onsite and of course bring them back to the airport at the end. It was a whole curated process.

Little did the candidate know - we knew the driver quite well and he knew many people in the firm. More than once there would be a candidate who thought they could be rude and disrespectful to the taxi driver because ... you know... its just an immigrant taxi driver with a distinctive accent. Oops! Cost them an offer. But just as well. Avoided some arrogant jerks in the process.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#68

Post by vmception »

Victerius wrote: post #25
neo_g wrote: post #13

This sounds so weird, people without any expertise in human psychology are in-charge of a behavior detection exercise. The worst part, those who got in were the new experts in 6-months.

Take this with a pinch of salt, but I read an anecdote on Reddit a long time ago about a corporation in New York (I think it was a bank) where an executive was looking for a new VP/Director/something. He found a potential candidate and invited him to a one-on-one lunch. When the candidate placed his order, the executive discreetly told the waiter to bring the wrong order for the candidate. The point was to see how th…

What was the desired outcome?

I hate dark patterns in dates, that was a date. Learn to communicate and choose that.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#69

Post by lkschubert8 »

cperciva wrote: post #31

When I interviewed at Google in 2006, one of the interviewers asked me to write code for solving a particular problem. I replied along the lines of "ok I need to think about this, it's not obvious how to solve it" and started thinking. Time ticked away. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. The interviewer started reminding me that he needed me to write some code and if there wasn't anything for him to copy dow…

Maybe it's just me, but the interviewer not knowing the solution is extremely off putting.
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