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Recently organizations have begun using unorthodox interviewing techniques and non-traditional interview questions to hire applicants. The most notable example of this trend is the so-called "puzzle interview" which was popularized by Microsoft in the 1990s. Puzzle interviews either ask the applicant to solve puzzles (e.g., "Why are manhole covers round?") or unusual problems (e.g., "How would you weigh an airplane without a scale?"). The goals of the present study were a) to determine if a puzzle interview could be reliably administered and scored, b) to examine whether variation in puzzle interview performance was related to cognitive ability, and c) to explore the relationships between puzzle interview performance and applicant reaction measures. Seventy-six undergraduates participated in a videotaped puzzle interview and completed measures of cognitive ability and applicant reactions. Interview performance ratings by three independent raters yielded an acceptable level of inter-rater reliability. In addition, puzzle interview performance was significantly correlated with cognitive ability and applicant reaction measures of procedural justice and perceptions of performance. Implications for the use of puzzle interviews in industry and for future research are discussed.
The employment interview is one of the most popular selection and recruiting methods (Posthuma, Morgeson, & Campion, 2002). Employers use interviews for a variety of purposes, including initial screening of job applicants, measurement of job-related attributes, and assessment of person-organization fit. There is also considerable variability in how employers structure and administer interviews, what types of questions they ask, and how they score them. Decades of research on the validity of the employment interview show that it can be a useful tool in predicting future job performance, particularly if it is highly structured, designed to ask behavioral or situational questions about job-related characteristics, and scored using behaviorally anchored rating scales (Taylor & Small, 2002).
Recently, however, some organizations have begun using unorthodox interviewing techniques and non-traditional interview questions to hire applicants. The most notable example of this trend is the so-called "puzzle interview". The puzzle interview was popularized by Microsoft in the 1990s, and is now used in other organizations. According to Poundstone (2003):
Puzzle-laden job interviews have infiltrated the Fortune 500 and the rust belt; law firms, banks, consulting firms, and the insurance industry; airlines, media, advertising, and even the armed forces. Brainteaser...