[inertiatic]

Most people care for algorithms in some capacity in their day jobs.

Some might be able to exclusively tackle tasks that don't require algorithmic knowledge, but this severely limits their options on what tasks they can pick up in a team.

I haven't worked with an incompetent developer that was an algorithm wiz. And I haven't encountered a developer who's skills I would envy that wouldn't have known a lot about algorithms.

Is using a whiteboard the best way to hire or even the best way to test these? I don't believe so.

But to go the extra step and claim just because perhaps in your line of work you don't use something daily it's useless? That's asinine. To make an obvious exaggeration: a pilot doesn't handle emergency landings on a daily basis, perhaps ever in their career, but if I was hiring a pilot to fly my plane you damn well know I'd try to find out whether that's a skill they possess.