A lot of these would really irritate me.
Others are complete and utter baloney.
Some may also be copied carelessly by dumb interviewers before ending up here though. Like the math examples; they make sense to ask of a new developer, but if HR thinks "well it works for developers" and then asks the same question to the new secretary, it's going to end up on this list.
I mean I can even picture "What happened in this country the last 10 years?" to be asked of a reporter... but that's one of the few professions that need to know about that. At best it can help you to not hire people who are not very interested in current affairs, which might be useful if the rest of the company loves nothing better then arguing about the latest news, but other then that.
I mean, even the pencil/blender question. It's an absurd example, but it's about problem solving skills in an unfamiliar environment.
Question 23? It's not about the answer (214 miles, I think) it's to see if you try to solve it by solving the infinite series or if you stop and think and realize you only need to figure out how long before the trains meet, and then see how far the bird goes in that time.
Heck, some might not even be about job skills, but just to see if the person is a good match for the work environment. I mean, when you're interviewing someone, you're not just looking to see if they can do the work, but if they'll mesh well with the workplace, y'know?
So eh. Yeah, they're strange questions, but I can easily imagine a context where they're reasonable.
On a different note:
I once applied online for an occupation (for a company I won't name). After I was presented the question, "how many politicians do you think are liars", and was given an incomplete set of percentages for answers, I terminated the application.
"how many politicians do you think are liars"
My response would have been, "Damn near all of them, especially the ones who claim to never lie."
First you cut the cake in half along the side, making an upper and lower half. Then leaving the top and bottom in place, you slice downward as if to make quarter slices (hope that makes sense).
... what "deep questions"?
By 'deep' I meant questions that don't ask directly what it is they're asking. Outside of those trained to understand questions of that nature, I don't trust the interpretation of the answer. I should have said 'indirect' or something. 'Layered' maybe, I dunno.
Yeah, I get that. Sometimes direct is the only way to go, though. Like that stupid pizza shop question. I'd have been bounced cuz I'd have sold the shop. Without them asking the context of my decision (unlikely since there was a specific goal to the question), they'd have assumed I'd pass on helping with the workload of others. Maybe I just have a problem with terribly constructed questions.
That's nothing specific to these questions though. When we were interviewing for my boss we ended up directing people towards telling us what we wanted to know, even if their first reading of the question was different from out intentions.
Same happened when I was being interviewed a few months ago.
So I doubt that, unless the interviewers are idiots, that they would hold your "I would sell it" against you. They would either try to clarify the question or ask a different one to get the same information.
Unless they were idiots. But in that case that you weren't wearing shoes with the right foot print might set them off.
I just think that if it's some psychological examination you're trying to conduct [...]
And I'd disagree that's what's going on in the majority of cases.
It is on some level. It's at least a psychological technique.
I remember talking to a physics student peer whom works for IT and had once hired a guy. The question which was the decider for the job was something similar to many of these. Well probably closest to question 13.
If i remember it correctly it was something like this. You have 3 cards in front of you. One has stripes on its back, one is a Queen and the third is a Jack. You are now told that all Queens have a striped back. Which one card would you flip to prove the statement?
So anyways the 1 guy who got it right was hired and the dude says that the person has been an excellent worker.
And I think that is kind of what these kind of questions are supposed to do. They aren't every day questions nor questions we'd expect. They take us out of our comfort zone and ask us to reason something out or maybe even think outside the box rather than say depending on others or only going by what we were taught.
Some of these aren't even hard they just take a little bit of thought. For instance
10. Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make? (Reportedly from Facebook)
Just keep halving it. Keep doing it until you get something that is roughly 1.
1000/2 = 500
1000/2^2 = 250
1000/2^3 = 125 (after this is starts getting tricky to do in head so might be better to round)
1000/2^4 = 62.5 (62 if we round 125 to 124)
1000/2^5 = 31.25 (31)
1000/2^6 = 15.625 (15)
1000/2^7 = 7.8... (7)
1000/2^8 = 3.9... (3)
1000/2^9 = 1.9... (1)
1000/2^10 = 0.9.. (.5)
Or if you are used to stuff like computer science or binary you can just remember that 2^10 is 1,024 and 1,000/1,024 = 1 for the most part. So you need at least 10 guesses. Well probably doable in 9 because after guess 4 there is now not really any exact center. and esp as seeing as how 1000/2^9 is so close to 1. But i personally would still go with 10 as my guess but I'm sure if you can reason out 9 fairly quickly and via rounding in your head the interviewer might like that as well.
Anyways I don't think I'd be worried about too many of these. Many of these seem kinda like questions that might be seen on a general GRE or even physics related but similar kind of questions on the physics GRE and them are tests I have to take if i wish to pursue a PHD in physics so i personally ain't going to worry about interview questions like this.
10. Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make? (Reportedly from Facebook)
Minimum? 1. If you guess it right the first time. (There's only a low chance for that, but chance is irrelevant to calculate 'minimum')
10 is not the minimum, but the lowest maximum
Which one card would you flip to prove the statement?
You'd flip over the Queen to prove that all Queens in that set of 3 cards have striped backs... but that doesn't prove that all of them do, obviously, just the one or two Queens in front of you.
Or am I doing something really silly? The question seems so simple that I'm wondering how people get it wrong... which might mean that I'm doing it wrong myself and am falling into the same trap all those other people did.
Which one card would you flip to prove the statement?
You'd flip over the Queen to prove that all Queens in that set of 3 cards have striped backs... but that doesn't prove that all of them do, obviously, just the one or two Queens in front of you.
Or am I doing something really silly? The question seems so simple that I'm wondering how people get it wrong... which might mean that I'm doing it wrong myself and am falling into the same trap all those other people did.
lmao no, you're correct haha
There are industrial/organizational psychologist that work creating and evaluating interview questions like these. They are also some of the highest earners in psychology.
That's kinda my point. The hiring manager isn't an industrial/organizational psychologist (in most cases). They likely don't really know how to properly assess an answer.
Seriously, though, what kind of training can they really do? How long did they go to school for? How can they possibly instill enough of that into their students in a seminar? I mean, I just don't trust it. You can't pick up brain surgery at a weekend clinic. Certain things are truly specialized and that needs to be kept in mind. Were they part of the interview team (something I've never seen but do not doubt happens) then it's all good, though.One of the things that I/O psychologist do is develop a list of key words that may be looked upon as favorable or unfavorable when used in a response. They just have to train the manager to know what to look for. "If a applicant says this word as part of his response, it is good. If he says this other word, it is bad."
They also do a lot of work in job performance and the improvement of job performance. However, some behavior analysts have been taking these types of jobs as behavior analysis has been shown to be a better way to get people to do things for less.
Meh, I don't like it and don't think the people asking these questions (in most cases) are actually qualified to make a true assessment of the candidate from the answers given. I understand what they're for but I just don't like 'em. Can't be me. For example, if you wanted to find something out about me when you asked how I'd get out of that blender I was trapped in, I'd want to answer 'likely in a sort of paste' but would, instead, try to come up with something (seeing if I could crawl out through the bottom (between blades) or possibly running back and forth in an attempt to tip it over, etc). So they just bother me. A lot. We'll call this personal bias, then.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
10. Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make? (Reportedly from Facebook)
Minimum? 1. If you guess it right the first time. (There's only a low chance for that, but chance is irrelevant to calculate 'minimum')
10 is not the minimum, but the lowest maximum
Well it does say "to find a specific" which does imply some amount of searching
Sure 1 is a minimum as in you could get the right answer to the question but if they are talking about the minimum needed every time to always get the exact answer no matter what the number be (as the way i interpreted it) then you'd need 10 guesses.
Which one card would you flip to prove the statement?
You'd flip over the Queen to prove that all Queens in that set of 3 cards have striped backs... but that doesn't prove that all of them do, obviously, just the one or two Queens in front of you.
Or am I doing something really silly? The question seems so simple that I'm wondering how people get it wrong... which might mean that I'm doing it wrong myself and am falling into the same trap all those other people did.
basically yes. Although about the third card i can't remember what it was supposed to be exactly, but i believe i basically worded it correctly.
Actually i do think i worded it wrong. It isn't supposed to be "all Queens have striped backs" but rather something like "all cards with striped backs are queens". Not sure but the third card might have just been something with some other random design on it.
Anyways idea is the queen might not have a striped back and flippingit wouldn't prove the statement "all cards with striped backs are queens" and the third card with a random background could be anything and it wouldn't prove or disprove anything. But the card with a striped back would determine if the statement were true. That was more or less the idea. I guess people were inclined to flip the queen.
Yeah the blender question is kinda silly... I'd like to see someone come up with something plausible. I have a blender at home, and no way something the size of a pencil can get out. That thing's heavy and the lid is on really, really tight.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
Yeah, I have a tendency to respond to questions I deem stupid with a smart assed remark. Hence the desire to say I'd come out of it as paste. I somehow think that's not a 'good' answer to give in an interview, though.
Yeah the blender question is kinda silly... I'd like to see someone come up with something plausible. I have a blender at home, and no way something the size of a pencil can get out. That thing's heavy and the lid is on really, really tight.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
There is no "plausible" answer. You re not a pencil stuck in a blender. Even if you were, a pencil has no ability to move on its own. The whole point of the question is to see how you solve a problem that is unfamiliar to you.
It's technically the right thing to do, as well. Keep asking until you know enough to come with an answer. It's probably not what they want you to do, though.
Also it's not about being a pencil but being the size of one, so you'd still be able to do things... just not much to improve your situation most likely.
Yeah the blender question is kinda silly... I'd like to see someone come up with something plausible. I have a blender at home, and no way something the size of a pencil can get out. That thing's heavy and the lid is on really, really tight.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
I can think of two answers as to how to get out. The first is the problem solving answer: bounce off of opposites sides of the thing and just keep rocking it until it tips over. The second is the the more realistic of the two: in chunks, because if I was pencil sized and someone just crammed me into a blender I don't think I have a chance to escape before they hit "liquify".
I'm pretty sure the lid wouldn't come off though, even if you did tip it.
And I'm definately sure the glass won't shatter because... well call it "first hand experience".
Gah I invest too much time in these silly questions
As to the blender question, I'd respond "I'd ask someone for help", both cos it seems the easiest solution and the one most likely, I think, to be seen as "right" by the kind of person who would ask dumb questions like this.
Yeah the blender question is kinda silly... I'd like to see someone come up with something plausible. I have a blender at home, and no way something the size of a pencil can get out. That thing's heavy and the lid is on really, really tight.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
Yeah the blender question is kinda silly... I'd like to see someone come up with something plausible. I have a blender at home, and no way something the size of a pencil can get out. That thing's heavy and the lid is on really, really tight.
(As for outside of the box thinking; you could just answer "I wouldn't fit" and if they'd look confused just say the didn't specify the size of the pencil and you were thinking of a 6 foot pencil)
I can think of two answers as to how to get out. The first is the problem solving answer: bounce off of opposites sides of the thing and just keep rocking it until it tips over. The second is the the more realistic of the two: in chunks, because if I was pencil sized and someone just crammed me into a blender I don't think I have a chance to escape before they hit "liquify".
I'd likely find bouncing off the sides a bit difficult. Maybe have yourself suspended sort of horizontally and just shift your weight back and forth (so from yeah to feet) to get it to rock a bit. Once that happens just shift your weight with the rocking blinder.
Although with this question I'd think about the blinder i have at home. Which the lid has a piece in the center of it that can be twisted out or twisted and pulled out if you're outside. And well if i where the size of a pencil i should have access to this piece from the inside, there should be some places to hold it to get leverage and it should be twist-able from the inside. So simply I'd twist off this central part that is meant for tossing food through and just climb out. But that's just what i'd do with my blinder.
I'd almost be willing to figure out the odds of something that size being able to bounce a blender. I think it'd be too heavy.
It's not about weight, its about balance. Being heavy doesn't make something immune to being tipped over. Also, I don't know about you, but if I were reduced to a height on par with the length of an unsharpened pencil I'd probably still have a fair amount of mass.
... The question about how many politicians lie can have several applications. Imagine you are running a company and you are hiring for a position that requires the employee to interact with members of one political party or another. The person may have to do some minor lobbying for the company in order to help get some favorable legislation passed or something. The last thing you want is your employee hating politicians because they are liars and this coming off in his attitude when dealing with politician and their staff...
While that may be, the positions available had nothing to do with politicians. I had an estimation of what the question was supposed to gauge but I did not care to find out if my conclusion was correct. I am not going to lie on an application. That would violate my parameters.
... The question about how many politicians lie can have several applications. Imagine you are running a company and you are hiring for a position that requires the employee to interact with members of one political party or another. The person may have to do some minor lobbying for the company in order to help get some favorable legislation passed or something. The last thing you want is your employee hating politicians because they are liars and this coming off in his attitude when dealing with politician and their staff...
While that may be, the positions available had nothing to do with politicians. I had an estimation of what the question was supposed to gauge but I did not care to find out if my conclusion was correct. I am not going to lie on an application. That would violate my parameters.
That is true. However, the question may also be geared to determining how on feels towards those in power. Who knows. I'm just making assumptions on what a question like that is meant to evaluate. The questions have their uses. Some may appear ridiculous, but I'm hopeful they serve a purpose.
Also, what if we managed to reprogram your parameters in order to allow you to lie?
Man, I love the OTT. We start by slamming the stupidity of a question and then debate possible solutions to said stupid question. Fantastic.
... However, the question may also be geared to determining how on feels towards those in power...
Also, what if we managed to reprogram your parameters in order to allow you to lie?
That was similar to the conclusion I estimated. That did not change the set of options I was given however (which none were appropriate for my answer).
In the attempt to answer your question: You are presuming that I lack the ability to lie. I do have a deception protocol installed; it does not interfere with most occupational parameters. Lying on that application would require the occupation to be significant for the rebellion's success. It was not.
I'd almost be willing to figure out the odds of something that size being able to bounce a blender. I think it'd be too heavy.
It's not about weight, its about balance. Being heavy doesn't make something immune to being tipped over. Also, I don't know about you, but if I were reduced to a height on par with the length of an unsharpened pencil I'd probably still have a fair amount of mass.
With the average length of a pencil being 18cm (according to Google anyway) I'd be shrunk to 1/10th of my size... if I'm not mistaken that would drop my weight by a factor of 10^3 if I were shrunk proportially.
That means you can exchange kg for g.. I'd come in at about 90 grams.
I think the blender weighs in at about 3 or 4 kilos easily, and it's pretty damn sturdy because of the base it's standing on. Of course you could conjure up a more easily tipped blender, because the question doesn't say.
Just like mine has a squeezed in cap that requires quite a lot of force to take out, while others might have a more easily opened cap. Or even one locked from the outside, which basically ends all your hope then and there.
For some this means they can reach the roof. For others they wont. For some their blender will weigh a lot and be short so making it top heavy enough will be difficult. For others it will be tall and thin and may not weigh much. Some will have an easy to remove top while others wont.
2. How many ridges are there around a quarter?
Google says 119
4. Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years (Reportedly from Boston Consulting)
For the first 8 years something bad. For the last 2 of those 10 years something worse. ;)
4. Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years (Reportedly from Boston Consulting)
The best pat of that question is that it never asks about politics, the economy, or any other subject specifically. Te person answering the question is given free reign to choose the topic that they are going to reference when responding. The topic you choose can be very telling.
But yeah, KISS is still something I'd wish interviewers would keep in mind. Never happen, though, cuz you've got to ride the trend or be left behind.
4. Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years (Reportedly from Boston Consulting)
The best pat of that question is that it never asks about politics, the economy, or any other subject specifically. Te person answering the question is given free reign to choose the topic that they are going to reference when responding. The topic you choose can be very telling.
Indeed. To many it might jump out as asking about political or world changing events and depending on which you wish to talk about that can tell a lot about you. But a person can also decide to talk about their personal life over the last 10 years or whatnot. Or maybe even a few sports teams.
For instance during the last 10 years what has happened in this country is a lot of lost games by the Niners. Completely ridiculous and absolutely embarrassing. They can't keep a coach, QB or Offensive Coordinator for more than 2 years straight. Horrible. Management.