You're not testing for "basic math skills" here. What you're testing for is more like "immediately retrieves an irrelevant math fact after many years of having no need to think about it."
Look, if you think this sort of thing allows you to identify great candidates, good for you. But in my experience, not only is this kind of practice stupid on its face, but it leads to engineering orgs packed with people who are good at memorizing trivia but terrible at solving real problems.
Look, if you think this sort of thing allows you to identify great candidates, good for you. But in my experience, not only is this kind of practice stupid on its face, but it leads to engineering orgs packed with people who are good at memorizing trivia but terrible at solving real problems.