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Ask HN: IQ Tests for Job Interviews?

9 points by 49531 ↗ HN
I am a software engineer with about 5 years of experience doing mostly JavaScript fullstack. I've now had 2 of what I would call IQ tests, basic pattern recognition kinds of things. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this even legal?

It feels incredibly invasive and I cannot see how it has any relevance to the jobs I am applying for.

For context I am a US citizen working in the US.

8 comments

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jjgreen
Very useful metric, whenever you're asked to do one you know your potential employer is an idiot, so walk away.
evoneutron
That's basically what every white-boarding coding exercise is - pattern recognition based on computer science trivia. It's not illegal - every tech company does it.
fucking_tragedy
Strict IQ tests will select for a certain subset of the population, that's usually divided by socio-economic lines which highly correlate with race. That's not to say that certain races have intelligence correlations, but that IQ tests test for knowledge that is diffused along socio-economic lines.

You can look at white boarding as proxy IQ tests or aptitude tests, the latter of which are customized for the role in question. I'm on the fence when it comes to deciding which bucket white boarding falls into.

usgroup
I think that it’s illegal in the US if it is specifically an IQ test. Otherwise, if it’s basically an IQ test but not called an IQ test then it’s not illegal. Eg a logic type test or a mental maths test.

IQ is very interesting on the first order and very flawed on the second order, and makes for a super interesting read. Read these for contrast:

Bell Curve

Mismeasure of man

Or if you’re lazy find each author speak about it on YouTube.

The central issue with testing like this is that:

1. It works to some extent especially if you don’t know anything else about a candidate.

2. It’s misused as a synonym for general intelligence.

3. The false negative rate is high. I.e. scoring less than some other candidate means nothing a very large portion of the time.

4. Results are often strongly correlated to notional race.

5. An actual IQ test (eg WAIS IV) is hard to administer. All other tests claim legitimacy by being merely correlated to them.

kypro
I was interested in finding out my personality type last weekend. I suspected for a while I was INTP, and the test confirmed this. I did a little Googling interested in which groups have the highest intelligence and are most successful, etc. Apparently INTP's have the highest IQs of all personality types yet for some reason we seem to be the bottom earners. I can only speak for myself, but I know my introverted, aloof demeanour isn't well suited for most work places, certainly not for leadership roles.

Perhaps someone with a high IQ is more able to solve a given task on their own, but often it's more important you can work well with others and communicate clearly. I know personally I'd swap my 130~ IQ for 100 if I had good communication skills any day.

bjourne
It is not an IQ test but a subordination test. The point of the test is to test if you are willing to jump through arbitrary hoops in order to serve your employer. I.e refusing to submit to their test but instead referring to a verified score of 130 on WAIS will put your application, not on the top, but on the bottom of the pile.