>That still doesn't help the candidates who just don't see the trick.
This may be true, but at the same time candidates who DO see the trick get positive points. Because a lot of these puzzle questions simply require you to think outside the box, if you're forgive the use of that phrase, and honestly if you have hard programming problems to solve that is a killer skill.
I have (once) had the problem where my mind locked up on a puzzle question in an interview. (Disclaimer: Usually I'm really good at them, but then I usually get most of the IQ questions right too...) But I got the job anyway.
The point is that HOW you use these questions is at least as important as the content of the questions. If you ARE willing to work with the candidate on finding the answer, and you make it clear that it's not a make-or-break question, then I think it CAN be (at least) a positive filter for awesomeness.
Yes, sometimes you could let someone fall through the cracks that way. Nothing about the interview process is perfect, though, and if what you really need is someone who is awesome, then letting someone get away who IS awesome is much better than serially hiring people who AREN'T awesome hoping that you find one eventually.
That said, and as others have pointed out in comments: 99% of the projects I hear about on HN would NOT require awesome. They just require competence. And solving IQ puzzles isn't how you detect competence.
This may be true, but at the same time candidates who DO see the trick get positive points. Because a lot of these puzzle questions simply require you to think outside the box, if you're forgive the use of that phrase, and honestly if you have hard programming problems to solve that is a killer skill.
I have (once) had the problem where my mind locked up on a puzzle question in an interview. (Disclaimer: Usually I'm really good at them, but then I usually get most of the IQ questions right too...) But I got the job anyway.
The point is that HOW you use these questions is at least as important as the content of the questions. If you ARE willing to work with the candidate on finding the answer, and you make it clear that it's not a make-or-break question, then I think it CAN be (at least) a positive filter for awesomeness.
Yes, sometimes you could let someone fall through the cracks that way. Nothing about the interview process is perfect, though, and if what you really need is someone who is awesome, then letting someone get away who IS awesome is much better than serially hiring people who AREN'T awesome hoping that you find one eventually.
That said, and as others have pointed out in comments: 99% of the projects I hear about on HN would NOT require awesome. They just require competence. And solving IQ puzzles isn't how you detect competence.