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Pre-Employment Skill Set and Aptitude Tests?
stumbler asks: "I just had a lengthy conversation with my boss and co-workers about the value of giving skill set tests (programming ability) and aptitude tests (like reasoning or logical ability) to technical employees before they are hired. (We currently have no such tests.) For those that work in companies that require pre-employment tests, have you seen an impact in the quality of technical employees hired?"
They hired me. Which means the skill set tests don't have value! Any standard test can be gamed.
Interview problem solving often has something in common with Adventure style games: Guessing what the author was thinking is more effective then solving the problem.
When was the last time you solved a real-world problem in a few minutes with someone looking over your shoulder who already knew the "correct" answer?
There is no reliable algorithm or heuristic for hiring the best people, but some companies are comforted by introducing pseudo-rigor into the process.
"Give them a wrong address for the company. Nothing too misleading , such as a different town, just be a few streets out."
It cuts both ways though. If I was applying to a company that hired people incapable of giving the correct address, I'd think twice. Likewise, if a company deliberately misled me as part of the interview process, it would be harder to believe anything else they said.
And the most you've done is prescreened people who can use Mapquest. Whoop-DEE-doo.
"For fun, give them some paperwork to fill out at the end of the interview and say "I just have to duck out and check on something - back in a tick". Leave and time how long it takes for them to wander out of the office in search of someone... 15 minutes to half an hour's a pretty good baseline."
Most of the interviews I've been to have had a specified time limit (or have been happy to tell me when asked). A lot of people don't have time to waste on interviews: they're either taking time away from their current job, or have the day off. Why waste their time "for fun"? Wasting 15-30 minutes of interview time is stupid when you could be doing something productive (like talking to them).