&gt; Do you not find it strange, or at least confusing, that you&#x27;re arguing a point here that is predicated on studying for an interview, rather than the actual position?<p>No, I don&#x27;t find it strange that I want them to prepare for something they&#x27;re not going to use normally, but agree it might be confusing.<p>For the actual positions I&#x27;m hiring for, nobody in the world outside our teams understands the systems. The candidates are going to need to work hard to learn what&#x27;s going on when they start their new job. Some of it is going to be hard to do and not always a complete pleasure.  Essentially I see it as a personality test that selects for the kind of people that figure out how to overcome technical adversity.<p>Willingness to do the work to be prepared and eagerness to dive into technical arcana despite it being not very easy-- these things <i>are</i> very relevant to the positions I hire for at Microsoft.