Portal 2 is used to test job candidates

A fairly young company WibiData, specializing in data management systems, came up with a very interesting way to test candidates for interviews. They offer to go through special levels in the game Portal 2. According to gambling , the head of the company Christoph Biscilia admitted that he was inspired by the case when a young man using Portal 2 mod made a proposal to the girl. “The multilayer puzzles of Portal 2, I feel, train the same parts of the brain that work for programmers and testers,” explained Christoph.

On the company's website you can download the add-on for the game Portal 2 (it is written that you need a licensed version, but maybe it will work on a pirated one. I checked on a licensed one). Also there is a teaser roller


I decided to download and see what kind of levels there are, which, as stated in the video, are so complex that they melt the brain (“5 Brain melting new chambers”).

It all starts with the fact that you are taken up in an elevator to an office, which, as I understand it, is a copy of the real WibiData office (screenshots are clickable) You are greeted by the joyful voice of GlaDOS, which takes you for the director, but then realizes your mistake and tells you what Directors problem: he again forgot the PIN from the website. And you are invited to help him start the PIN reset system. All this is described in a funny letter that you are invited to read.





Then you can start the task. As already mentioned, the task consists of five levels, at the end of each level is a flash drive key. After collecting 5 flash drives and plugging them into special connectors (which for some reason more like a D-Sub or COM port), we will launch a reset system.


I went through a single and cooperative company of the original Portal 2 a couple of times, and the first two levels did not seem difficult to me at all. In my opinion, the most difficult thing was not to figure out how to pass the level, but to do everything quickly and clearly. The first two levels I went in 5-7 minutes. The third move didn’t work out, and I postponed the game until better times. But, as I understand from the teaser, at later levels, the passage time will be limited. And considering that they will have to be interviewed, where the situation is far from as relaxed as at home, the task will not be easy.

To summarize, I will say that in general I completely agree with their chapter about Portal 2 puzzles. The feelings are the same as when solving a logical or algorithmic problem. So this type of interview deserves the right to life.

PS It is also written on the company’s website that if you have a friend with whom you will pass the tests in cooperative mode and who will be hired, you will be paid 1,000 dollars at the end of your friend’s trial period (3 months).