To quote Parkinson:

  When all candidates alike have to write Greek or Latin
  verse, it is relatively easy to decide which verse is the 
  best. Men thus selected on their classical performance were 
  then sent forth to govern India. Those with lower marks 
  were retained to govern England.

The current "system" for getting hired might be arbitary and unrelated to programming ability, but it does at least present a consistent and knowable environment in which candidates have to operate. So you have to question the judgement of someone who makes basic errors like this.