English
Related papers

Related papers: Query-Based Selection of Optimal Candidates under …

200 papers

This paper answers a long-standing open question concerning the $1/e$-strategy for the problem of best choice. $N$ candidates for a job arrive at times independently uniformly distributed in $[0,1]$. The interviewer knows how each candidate…

Probability · Mathematics 2020-12-25 F. Thomas Bruss , L. C. G. Rogers

In the Sequential Selection Problem (SSP), immediate and irrevocable decisions need to be made as candidates randomly arrive for a job interview. Standard SSP variants, such as the well-known secretary problem, begin with an empty selection…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2019-11-11 Mathilde Fekom , Nicolas Vayatis , Argyris Kalogeratos

We study a twist on the classic secretary problem, which we term the secretary ranking problem: elements from an ordered set arrive in random order and instead of picking the maximum element, the algorithm is asked to assign a rank, or…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2018-11-16 Sepehr Assadi , Eric Balkanski , Renato Paes Leme

The classic Mallows model is a foundational tool for modeling user preferences. However, it has limitations in capturing real-world scenarios, where users often focus only on a limited set of preferred items and are indifferent to the rest.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-28 Shahrzad Haddadan , Sara Ahmadian

Motivated by online platforms such as job markets, we study an agent choosing from a list of candidates, each with a hidden quality that determines match value. The agent observes only a noisy ranking of the candidates plus a binary signal…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2026-02-26 Kate Donahue , Nicole Immorlica , Brendan Lucier

A version of the classical secretary problem is studied, in which one is interested in selecting one of the b best out of a group of n differently ranked persons who are presented one by one in a random order. It is assumed that b is a…

Probability · Mathematics 2010-09-06 Chris Dietz , Dinard van der Laan , Ad Ridder

Consider a hiring process with candidates coming from different universities. It is easy to order candidates with the same background, yet it can be challenging to compare them otherwise. The latter case requires additional costly…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-11-19 Ziyad Benomar , Evgenii Chzhen , Nicolas Schreuder , Vianney Perchet

We consider the problem of learning the true ordering of a set of alternatives from largely incomplete and noisy rankings. We introduce a natural generalization of both the classical Mallows model of ranking distributions and the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-06-29 Dimitris Fotakis , Alkis Kalavasis , Konstantinos Stavropoulos

Imagine a large firm with multiple departments that plans a large recruitment. Candidates arrive one-by-one, and for each candidate the firm decides, based on her data (CV, skills, experience, etc), whether to summon her for an interview.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2019-06-03 Alon Cohen , Avinatan Hassidim , Haim Kaplan , Yishay Mansour , Shay Moran

In the classical secretary problem, $n$ ranked items arrive one by one, and each item's rank relative to its predecessors is noted. The observer must select or reject each item as it arrives, with the object of selecting the item of highest…

Probability · Mathematics 2023-07-21 Ross G. Pinsky , Tomer Zilca

Query optimization is a critical task in database systems, focused on determining the most efficient way to execute a query from an enormous set of possible strategies. Traditional approaches rely on heuristic search methods and cost…

Databases · Computer Science 2025-03-11 Zhiming Yao , Haoyang Li , Jing Zhang , Cuiping Li , Hong Chen

We revisit the problem of selecting an item from $n$ choices that appear before us in random sequential order so as to minimize the expected rank of the item selected. In particular, we examine the stopping rule where we reject the first…

Probability · Mathematics 2015-12-10 Béla Bajnok , Svetoslav Semov

We study a sequential decision-making model where a set of items is repeatedly matched to the same set of agents over multiple rounds. The objective is to determine a sequence of matchings that either maximizes the utility of the least…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-10-07 Eugene Lim , Tzeh Yuan Neoh , Nicholas Teh

Candidate retrieval is a fundamental issue in recommendation system. Given user's recommendation request, relevant candidates need to be retrieved in realtime for subsequent ranking operations. Considering that the retrieval operation is…

Information Retrieval · Computer Science 2019-10-22 Zheng Liu , Yu Xing , Jianxun Lian , Defu Lian , Ziyao Li , Xing Xie

\textit{Mallows model} is a widely-used probabilistic framework for learning from ranking data, with applications ranging from recommendation systems and voting to aligning language models with human preferences~\cite{chen2024mallows,…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-07-14 Yeganeh Alimohammadi , Kiana Asgari

In the subject of optimal stopping, the classical secretary problem is concerned with optimally selecting the best of $n$ candidates when their relative ranks are observed sequentially. This problem has been extended to optimally selecting…

Probability · Mathematics 2017-12-06 Yi-Shen Lin , Shoou-Ren Hsiau , Yi-Ching Yao

Rankings are a type of preference elicitation that arise in experiments where assessors arrange items, for example, in decreasing order of utility. Orderings of n items labelled {1,...,n} denoted are permutations that reflect strict…

Methodology · Statistics 2024-03-20 Luiza S. C. Piancastelli , Nial Friel

We consider two variants of the secretary problem, the\emph{ Best-or-Worst} and the \emph{Postdoc} problems, which are closely related. First, we prove that both variants, in their standard form with binary payoff 1 or 0, share the same…

Probability · Mathematics 2017-06-23 L. Bayon , P. Fortuny Ayuso , J. M. Grau , A. M. Oller-Marcen , M. M. Ruiz

We study the problem of agent selection in causal strategic learning under multiple decision makers and address two key challenges that come with it. Firstly, while much of prior work focuses on studying a fixed pool of agents that remains…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2024-02-06 Kiet Q. H. Vo , Muneeb Aadil , Siu Lun Chau , Krikamol Muandet

We present a number of positive and negative results for variants of the matroid secretary problem. Most notably, we design a constant-factor competitive algorithm for the "random assignment" model where the weights are assigned randomly to…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2011-12-13 Shayan Oveis Gharan , Jan Vondrák