I'm not saying that this particular puzzle is great or that this is the best way of finding candidates. It is just one puzzle and one way of getting attention of some smart people. Google also uses similar tactics: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/news/2004-10-13/google/Billboar...
Don't judge tens of thousands of talented engineers based on one lame puzzle.
For some good puzzles, check out http://www.interngame.com/
The annual Microsoft Intern Game is run by a group of extremely talented puzzle designers and game organizers. The microsofties who run this game do it in their spare time for fun and it is like another full-time job.
Each summer, nearly 100 interns compete for nothing more than bragging rights. I played in the "Firelake Resorts" game which involved about 30 puzzles spread out over 30+ hours and 300 driving miles.
In the same weekend, we...
- played Lemmings with human actors
- solved a puzzle to "iodine", then had to recall we had a first aid kit with iodine in it. Pouring it on the puzzle revealed GPS coordinates of the next puzzle
- solved a rebus while playing a hacked open source version of DDR that printed parts of the rebus
- extract instructions from a mall map which led us to navigate a metal ball through a cube maze, which spelled the instructions to MELT that metal ball revealing the next puzzle
- perform arithmetic while riding go karts
- assembled crazy wooden things to spell our words as flag signals
- were in a seminary at 2 AM when we were listening to a puzzle full of backwards music and uncovered the demonic plot. freaked us out good.
- much more
Everyone had a blast. Some smart people like puzzles. That's why they do these things...
I'm not saying that this particular puzzle is great or that this is the best way of finding candidates. It is just one puzzle and one way of getting attention of some smart people. Google also uses similar tactics: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/news/2004-10-13/google/Billboar... Don't judge tens of thousands of talented engineers based on one lame puzzle.
For some good puzzles, check out http://www.interngame.com/ The annual Microsoft Intern Game is run by a group of extremely talented puzzle designers and game organizers. The microsofties who run this game do it in their spare time for fun and it is like another full-time job.
Each summer, nearly 100 interns compete for nothing more than bragging rights. I played in the "Firelake Resorts" game which involved about 30 puzzles spread out over 30+ hours and 300 driving miles.
In the same weekend, we...
- played Lemmings with human actors
- solved a puzzle to "iodine", then had to recall we had a first aid kit with iodine in it. Pouring it on the puzzle revealed GPS coordinates of the next puzzle
- solved a rebus while playing a hacked open source version of DDR that printed parts of the rebus
- extract instructions from a mall map which led us to navigate a metal ball through a cube maze, which spelled the instructions to MELT that metal ball revealing the next puzzle
- perform arithmetic while riding go karts
- assembled crazy wooden things to spell our words as flag signals
- were in a seminary at 2 AM when we were listening to a puzzle full of backwards music and uncovered the demonic plot. freaked us out good.
- much more
Everyone had a blast. Some smart people like puzzles. That's why they do these things...
There are also Seattle area games for full-time employees and at Google: http://googlified.com/googol-puzzle-hunt/