Ya. Went for a job interview and they give me some What's number fit's in the blank. What good it that to anyone.
I can never get them things lol. To me They just look like numbers who cares. I've written 2 real time RTS multiplayer game in my time. So how could they even comprehend any thing from a dumb ass number thingy.
The guy next to me put 23 I left it blank.
"They just look like numbers who cares" - It's a test, and you failed that part of it by not knowing the answer or not attempting it. Why even bother going to the interview if that's your attitude?
Its a pattern recognition test. A lot of HR departments use these not just in Software development. My wife even had to do one for a temp call centre job when she was still a student.
They are referred to as psychometric tests.
The reason they use them is usually to compare candidates against each other regardless of their prior education or experience.
I've written 2 real time RTS multiplayer game in my time. So how could they even comprehend any thing from a dumb ass number thingy.
And thats the whole point you've written two RTSs because you were in a position that made you want or need to write two whole RTSs another candidate may not have written two RTSs but, how does the recruiter know that if the other candidate were in a position to write two RTS games by themselves weather or not that they would be able to do it better than you can. Instead they give you both a test and the person(s) who score above a certain threshold are deemed to have a higher mental apptitude and sent through to the next interview round where they'll look at your previous stuff.
If you're interviewing at the kind of place that does group interviews and asks silly logic puzzles as a gating mechanism, you're generally in one of two positions:Ya. Went for a job interview and they give me some What's number fit's in the blank...
The guy next to me put 23 I left it blank.
Plenty of companies have inane and/or ridiculous interviewing processes. it's just something one has to deal with, and how you deal with it basically comes down to how badly you need a job.
^^ This so much.
I've had companies send me pre-interview coding exams that take multiple hours.
When I was unemployed and immediately needed a job, I jumped through all the hoops necessary.
When I was employed and just checking out the job market, I can reply that I'm currently employed as a game programmer and have plenty of game credits, they can accept that I can program or not as they wish.
For the response of "take this test and shove it", I've had companies write back that I've been dropped from the pool, and I've had companies write back that they can respect that I value my time and they want me for an interview.
Finding the number which fills the blank is a legit test. I am still very surprised by the sheer amount of people who cannot figure out those things intuitively, yet are given high school and perhaps even high-profile university degrees by sheer memory recall.
I'll also have to defend you OP, some of those sequences are hard! Most are not.
Also:
Why even bother going to the interview if that's your attitude?
Possibly because OP didn't approach the interview with that attitude from start. I've personally experienced this a few times. Sometimes the questions are so dumb the only explanation is they're truly testing your patience, sometimes they just think they are doing the right thing.
Anyway OP, get your shit together. You will have to go through this for a while and don't worry, it gets worse.
Finding the number which fills the blank is a legit test. I am still very surprised by the sheer amount of people who cannot figure out those things intuitively, yet are given high school and perhaps even high-profile university degrees by sheer memory recall.
Hiring people is hard, and tests like these make it easier to thin the pool. If HR is doing their job well then companies are designing tests in a way that will help filter out the kind of people who are unlikely to fit within the company culture. The truth is, once you've weeded out the people who are simply unable to actually get the job done, those who don't have useful experience and skills, then the remainder of the pool is pretty much interchangeable.
In most cases the odds of one applicant actually doing all that much better than another in the long run aren't all that great. However, "Drawing straws" is generally not a great way to build company morale among new hires, and so we go to various lengths to come up with hoops for each other to jump through so that when someone gets a job they can have that 'special feeling' that they 'beat everyone else', and that they should therefore focus on doing their job well to make sure they keep impressing the bosses.
I've had companies send me pre-interview coding exams that take multiple hours.
I always thought this was standard. Certainly every job in gamedev for which I've ever landed an interview required a pre-interview coding test that took multiple hours, some timed and some not.
