[antoinevg]

The problem is that here you are optimising your test for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutzpah.

Which is great and all, but it it's not a quality which correlates particularly well with the stated problem you are hiring for.

Now if you were hiring for the marketing department…

Repeat after me:

A good hiring process is one that will not be affected by the luck of the draw nor the personality of the candidate.

I've been doing this for a quarter of a century and I will tell you right now that the best engineers of my generation would indeed thank you for your time, never come back and quietly advise the extensive network of young people they mentor to avoid your company like the plague.

[jenscow]

Yes, I'm starting to realise that finding a candidate who's able to problem-solve something basic really is "luck of the draw".

[antoinevg]

I feel like you misunderstand me entirely.

You're going to have a really hard time finding good hires if you restrict yourself to the pool of people who can "problem-solve something basic" according to your definition of "something basic".

Maybe ask: "How can this person help the team ship working software that solves the problem of our customer?"

It's less adversarial and opens your recruitment up to that pool of folk who have literally decades experience answering that question.

[jenscow]

It's more like: There are so many candidates with impostor syndrome. I don't want to hire another turkey.

So, I will come up with a little problem which is something related to the work they'd be doing - like, a real thing they would have done if they where hired a month ago. (hmm, I wonder how they would have fixed jira-123)

I'm not looking for "the answer" - I'm actually hoping they don't know it (if they do, great: here's another...), but.. do they have what it takes to solve a problem? How much hand-holding would they need? Am I able to have a technical discussion with them? Even, where are they on the passive<->arrogant scale?

This, among other questions, will answer "How can this person help the team ship working software that solves the problem of our customer?"

Job history and qualifications don't tell me this.

If a candidate feels they're too important or experienced to do this, then by all means walk away.