How would you recommend an interviewer figure out if a candidate has a strong background in data structures and algorithms?
Compare this for example to the NFL combine. Or the amount of time and money put into farm systems, feeder teams, and scouting reports. Why not pay the candidates to solve an engineering problem and judge the output? I don't have the answer, but I'm fairly certain that there has to be a better way than stress traps and good-ole-boy networks.
I work very hard to tailor my interview questions to the actual background of each particular applicant so that they can in efffect ask their own questions and demonstrate ability (ala "oh that's interesting how did you solve that problem, and what if you did this instead how would that work in the design, here's a whiteboard show me, etc). It is very hard and I regret very much the "good hires" I have probably let go because they couldn't engage well with me or talk about their own experience well. This obviously takes time and effort so I depend on recruitment/referrals properly to weed out wastes of time.
Is anybody working on this problem? It seems clear google isn't and HR innovation is extremely profitable.
Google spends a large amount of time, energy, and money trying to figure out the best ways to hire candidates that are "fit", and tries numerous things (simultaneously, in fact) past "asking stress problems". The fact that most people go through the current interview process (which, btw, has visibly changed in the 6.5 years i've been there) does not mean they don't experiment, or use alternative methods. It's simply the most common.
What can you tell me about how the process in your experience has changed in the last six years? Experiments, even social ones, have little value unless their results are shared! ;-)
I'm always looking to improve my HR skills. Hiring is so hard. It's my opinion that one of the reasons it is so hard is (primarily?) because of all the subterfuge/deception involved by both parties of the transaction. I wonder whether the experience of successful dating services have any insights to offer? Seems like a similar problem but without the messiness of physical attraction to get in the way.
There are literally millions of resumes being submitted every year, and the cost of a false positive is high (saying "yes" to a bad hire is generally much worse than saying NO to a fantastic hire).