[neilv]

A difficulty with this kind of question is that the how-to-beat-the-coding-interview books and sites, which many students and professionals read, already prep them for how to answer.

People get step-by-step strategy for this kind of question, what the interviewer is looking for, and what notes to hit. And sometimes prep them for the exact question, so that they can have a prefab answer ready.

Then we might be selecting for more like what used to be MBA students, or at least people who know how to play along, and say the right corporate going-through-the-motions things.

Some organizations will want to select for test-prep specifically, as a good predictor for the kind of employee they want, but I like to think there's other organizations that decidedly don't want that.