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IQ is a measure of mental flexibility independent of context. Being able to solve tricky algorithm problems is a measure of mental flexibility in the context of programming. The two are strongly correlated. Of course, the test is confounded by a baseline of programming and CS knowledge.

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This is absolutely not true. I have seen amazing scientists and engineers get turned down by FAANG companies because they did not happen to study particular algorithms that were featured in that day's set of questions, and mediocre engineers fly through because they put in more time studying, or perhaps got lucky with the subset of technical questions that were asked.

Yes, such tests are subject to a certain amount of gaming and prior knowledge. But that doesn't invalidate the fact that they are correlated with raw intelligence.

I agree with the comment you were replying to. There will always be outliers, but testing prowess in technical problem solving and grit correlates well enough with the job of a software engineer.

The "amazing scientist" maybe was not a good culture fit, or, yes, the interview was botched.

Good candidates are so good that they often enough compensate for bad interviews. Sure it means we sometimes don't hire the best, but that's better IME than sometimes hiring a not so good candiate.

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