OPTIMAL SELECTION STRATEGY FOR THE GROUP INTERVIEW PROBLEM

We propose a more generalized version of the secretary problem, called the group interview problem, in which each group contains several alt ernatives and each group of alternatives is presented and evaluated se quentially over time. Using the assumptions corresponding to the class ical secretary problem, we derive an optimal selection strategy which maximizes the probability of winning or selecting the single best choi ce in a given sequence of groups. We further address the problem of ch oosing at the beginning of the evaluation process a sequence of groups to maximize the winning probability. Because of formidable computatio nal requirements to obtain an optimal solution to this sequencing prob lem, we then develop a heuristic algorithm based on several properties inherent in an optimal selection strategy. The heuristic procedure is evaluated experimentally using Monte Carlo simulation and is shown to be effective in obtaining near-optimal (within 5 percent) solutions.