This is probably more in general than specific to any one company, as many companies do the same exact process. They get you in a room with a white board or a pen and paper and there you go, they ask you questions. In all my years of programming, I never do this on an actual job. I write programs. It's interesting how a process can allow people that are good at memorizing to succeed, but hard core coders can fail. I know it's my own limitations, but I haven't worked anywhere yet where I haven't been one of the top programmers (usually the top), but I cannot get through these types of interviews and I've been on a few. In college I bombed tests, because my memory sucks for this stuff, but all the guys getting A's came to me for their programming help. I've written and sold more programs that anyone I know that also always holds a full time job. So I cram before these interviews, relearn all the stuff I haven't touched since college just to answer the questions. Stuff that I only learn when I have an application that needs it. I pick up and am able to apply new technology very quickly, but I also brain dump just as quickly when I haven't used it in a while. So I see guys that cannot code, but can memorize getting through this process with flying colors, and I can never get to that level, even though I know I would shine at any coding they gave me. Only once have I been on an interview where it was really geared towards who can actually code. They put all the candidates in a room, split us into teams, and gave us a project. It was actually fun, took two days, but they watched and were able to see the guys that could apply the knowledge rather than just regurgitate it. Yeah, it was in a language I had never used before, but again I pick up things quickly and haven't missed a deadline yet. Just frustration with the process.