Sarah Borders

Many years ago, a former colleague of mine was up for a promotion in IT support. Part of the interview process included a timed practical assessment where candidates were asked to repair a computer with several functional issues not related to its hardware. After some basic troubleshooting, she decided the only way to complete the task in the allotted time was to re-image the machine. The test was meant to be impossible in the allotted time; it was supposed to show that the candidate could keep calm under pressure and knew how to assess the situation by running though all the possible fixes from the most common to the least common. The proctors had to suspend assessments while the fixed computer was broken again. My colleague got the promotion. She told me this story, and I said, "So you Kobayashi Maru'd the assessment." When she looked at me quizzically, I knew she wasn't a Trekkie, so I explained the story. If you're not a fan of Star Trek or unfamiliar with t