How to pass an interview: tricky questions and tasks when hiring in large companies and their solutions. Interview at Google
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As can be seen from the above note, personnel service Google has a fair sense of humor - and shows it in interview questions when selecting candidates for “highly intelligent” positions. The answers to them are ambiguous and may vary, without necessarily repeating the opinion of the editors of Vesti.Ekonomika. The demand for originality, productivity and speed of thinking is understandable if we're talking about about innovative developments and the planetary scale of their use. Meanwhile, these questions are addressed mainly to such abilities as Calculations and Abstract Logic (to use the terminology of our laboratory’s intelligent diagnostic methods). The real business environment places demands, among other things, on the development of Memory, Erudition, Vocabulary, Information Processing and Spatial Thinking - of course, in varying degrees, however, in our Business IQ test they can be analyzed within one respondent profile, and its tasks echo the Google methodology, being a reflection of modern organizational reality. Editorial website |
If in Russia the majority of job seekers would like to work at Gazprom, then in the world for several years Google has been leading such a rating. The selection of new employees for an innovative company is quite strict; They prepare for the interview several months in advance, as if it were a very difficult exam.
Here are some facts. Google prefers to recruit employees from graduates of eight private American universities (Ivy League): Brown University, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University.
Company representatives do not hide the fact that the grades received during training are important to them, even if the applicant is already over thirty. And one last thing: Google is looking for people who want to change the world.
Below are 15 questions you might be asked if you were interviewed at Google's office.
1. How many golf balls can fit on a school bus?
This is one of the questions that companies ask to see how the applicant is looking for a solution to a problem. One applicant had a good answer: "I pictured a standard school bus that is 8 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 20 feet long: these are approximate dimensions based on my observations while stuck in traffic for long periods behind a school bus. That means 960 cubic feet, 1,728 cubic inches to a cubic foot, which means about 1.6 million cubic inches. I calculated that the volume of the golf ball is about 2.5 cubic inches (4/3 * pi * 0.85), since the radius of the ball is 0.85 inches Dividing 1.6 million by 2.5 cubic inches equals 660,000 golf balls. However, with bus seats and other things taking up space, and the spherical shape of the ball, I assumed there would be quite a lot in between. free space. And I rounded the value to 500 thousand balls."
2. How much money would it cost you to clean all the windows in Seattle?
Position: Product Manager
This is one of those questions where you need to call on your ingenuity to help and give the simplest answer. We would answer: “$10 per window.”
3. In a country where people only want boy children, every family continues to have children until a boy is born. If they have a girl, they have another child. If it's a boy, they stop. What is the ratio of boys to girls in such a country?
Position: Product Manager
The answer to this question caused lively discussions, as a result we came to the following solution. Imagine that there are 10 families with 10 children: 5 girls, 5 boys (10 in total). Next, 5 couples who have girls will give birth to five more children. Half (2.5) will be girls, half (2.5) will be boys. We add 2.5 boys to the 5 already born and 2.5 girls to the existing 5 (a total of 15 children, of which 7.5 are boys and 7.5 are girls). Now 2.5 couples with girls need to give birth to 2.5 children. Half (1.25) will be boys and half (1.25) will be girls. We add 1.25 boys to the already existing 7.5 and 1.25 girls to those 7.5. (There are 17.5 children in total, of which 8.75 are boys and 8.75 are girls.) And so on, adhering to the 50/50 principle.
4. How many piano tuners are there in the world?
Position: Product Manager
We would answer: "As many as the market requires. Let's say a piano needs to be tuned once a week and it takes one hour, and the tuner works 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. That would mean 40 pianos require weekly tuning. Our answer: one for every 40 pianos."
5. Why is the manhole cover round?
Position: software developer
Answer. So that it cannot fall inside the hatch when installing or dismantling it (the rectangular cover easily fits into the hatch body diagonally).
6. Develop an evacuation plan for San Francisco.
Position: Product Manager
Answer. Again, they look at how the applicant approaches solving the problem. We would begin our answer with the question: “What disaster is planned for today?”
7. How many times a day do the clock hands coincide in the same position?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. 22 times. From WikiAnswers: 00:00, 1:05, 2:11, 3:16, 4:22, 5:27, 6:33, 7:38, 8:44, 9:49, 10:55, 12:00 , 13:05, 14:11, 15:16, 16:22, 17:27, 18:33,19:38, 20:44, 21:49, 22:55
8. Explain the meaning of the expression Dead beef (literally: dead meat)
Position: software developer
Answer. DEADBEEF is a hexadecimal value that was used for debugging in the days of large mainframes because this marker was very easy to find in hexadecimal dumps. Most people with computer education should have seen this at least in assembly language classes, which is why Google expects the software developer to know about it. 0xDEADBEAF (dead beef) was used by IBM RS/6000, Mac OS on 32-bit PowerPC and Commodore Amiga systems as a magic value for debugging. On Sun Microsystem's Solaris, this meant free kernel memory. On OpenVMS running on Alpha processors, DEAD_BEEF can be seen by pressing CTRL-T.
9. The man drove his car towards the hotel, but failed. What's happened?
Position: software developer
Answer. He got stuck on the curb. (Unpleasant, right?)
10. You need to check whether your friend Bob has your phone number recorded correctly or not. But you can't ask him about it directly. You need to write a question on a piece of paper and give it to Eve, who will take it to Bob, and then bring back his answer. What should you write on a piece of paper (no direct question) so that Bob can understand the message and Eve cannot find out your phone number?
Position: software developer
Answer. Since you're just testing, ask him to call at a certain time. If he doesn't do this, it means he doesn't have your number. Too easy? Another possible answer: “In this case, you need to use a checksum. Have Bob add up all the numbers in your number and write the result on the sheet, then give it back to you.”
11. You are the captain of a pirate ship, and your crew is going to vote on how to divide the stolen gold. If less than half of the pirates agree with you, you will die. How do you divide the gold so that you get a good share of the loot, but still stay alive?
Position: technical manager
Answer. It is necessary to divide the loot equally among 51% of the entire team.
12. You have 8 balls of the same size. 7 of them are the same weight, and one weighs a little more than the rest. Find the ball that is heavier than the others using a balance scale and only two weighings?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. Take 6 of the 8 balls and place 3 on each side of the scale. If the heavy ball is not in this group of balls, you have 2 more to put on the scale and solve the problem. If the heavy ball is in the first group of 6 balls, take the 3 that were outweighed during the first weigh-in. Of these three, put two on the scales. If one outweighs, then you have found it. If they weigh the same, then your ball is the one you put aside.
13. You have 2 eggs and access to a 100-story building. Eggs can be either very strong or very fragile, which means that they can break if dropped from the first floor, or not break even if they are thrown from the 100th floor. Both eggs are exactly the same. You need to find out which floor of this building will be the highest in order to preserve the integrity of the eggs when falling from it. Question: How many attempts do you have to make to find out the highest floor? And you can only break two eggs.
Position: Product Manager
Answer: Largest quantity attempts – 14 times. Instead of breaking down floors 10 at a time, you start at floor 14, then go up another 13 floors, then 12, then 11, then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, until you reach you'll get to 99. If the egg broke on the 100th floor, there would be 12 attempts (or 11 if you assume the egg breaks on the 100th floor). Suppose, for example, that we found out that the 49th floor is the highest floor where the egg did not break, then our attempts are: 14th, 27th, 39th, 50th (the egg broke on the 50th floor ) plus 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 floors - a total of 14 attempts.
14. Explain what a database is in three sentences so your 8-year-old nephew can understand
Position: Product Manager
Answer. The main purpose of this question is to assess the applicant's ability to explain a complex idea in simple words. Here's our attempt: "A database is a machine that remembers a large number of information about various things. People use it to recall this information when they need to. Let's go play."
15. You were shrunk to the size of a nickel and your mass was proportionally reduced to match your density. You are thrown into an empty blender glass. The knives will start moving after 60 seconds. What to do?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. This question assesses the applicant's creativity. We would try to break the electric motor.
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As can be seen from the above note, Google's HR department has a fair sense of humor - and shows it in interview questions when selecting candidates for "highly intelligent" positions. The answers to them are ambiguous and may vary, without necessarily repeating the opinion of the editors of Vesti.Ekonomika. The demand for originality, productivity and speed of thinking is understandable when it comes to innovative developments and the planetary scale of their use. Meanwhile, these questions are addressed mainly to such abilities as Calculations and Abstract Logic (to use the terminology of our laboratory’s intelligent diagnostic methods). The real business environment places demands, among other things, on the development of Memory, Erudition, Vocabulary, Information Processing and Spatial Thinking - of course, to varying degrees, but in our Business IQ test they can be analyzed within one respondent profile, and his tasks echo the Google methodology, being a reflection of modern organizational reality. Editorial website |
If in Russia the majority of job seekers would like to work at Gazprom, then in the world for several years Google has been leading such a rating. The selection of new employees for an innovative company is quite strict; They prepare for the interview several months in advance, as if it were a very difficult exam.
Here are some facts. Google prefers to recruit employees from graduates of eight private American universities (Ivy League): Brown University, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University.
Company representatives do not hide the fact that the grades received during training are important to them, even if the applicant is already over thirty. And one last thing: Google is looking for people who want to change the world.
Below are 15 questions you might be asked if you were interviewed at Google's office.
1. How many golf balls can fit on a school bus?
This is one of the questions that companies ask to see how the applicant is looking for a solution to a problem. One applicant had a good answer: "I pictured a standard school bus that is 8 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 20 feet long: these are approximate dimensions based on my observations while stuck in traffic for long periods behind a school bus. That means 960 cubic feet, 1,728 cubic inches to a cubic foot, which means about 1.6 million cubic inches. I calculated that the volume of the golf ball is about 2.5 cubic inches (4/3 * pi * 0.85), since the radius of the ball is 0.85 inches Dividing 1.6 million by 2.5 cubic inches equals 660,000 golf balls. However, with bus seats and other things taking up space, and the spherical shape of the ball, I assumed there would be quite a lot in between. free space. And I rounded the value to 500 thousand balls."
2. How much money would it cost you to clean all the windows in Seattle?
Position: Product Manager
This is one of those questions where you need to call on your ingenuity to help and give the simplest answer. We would answer: “$10 per window.”
3. In a country where people only want boy children, every family continues to have children until a boy is born. If they have a girl, they have another child. If it's a boy, they stop. What is the ratio of boys to girls in such a country?
Position: Product Manager
The answer to this question caused lively discussions, as a result we came to the following solution. Imagine that there are 10 families with 10 children: 5 girls, 5 boys (10 in total). Next, 5 couples who have girls will give birth to five more children. Half (2.5) will be girls, half (2.5) will be boys. We add 2.5 boys to the 5 already born and 2.5 girls to the existing 5 (a total of 15 children, of which 7.5 are boys and 7.5 are girls). Now 2.5 couples with girls need to give birth to 2.5 children. Half (1.25) will be boys and half (1.25) will be girls. We add 1.25 boys to the already existing 7.5 and 1.25 girls to those 7.5. (There are 17.5 children in total, of which 8.75 are boys and 8.75 are girls.) And so on, adhering to the 50/50 principle.
4. How many piano tuners are there in the world?
Position: Product Manager
We would answer: "As many as the market requires. Let's say a piano needs to be tuned once a week and it takes one hour, and the tuner works 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. That would mean 40 pianos require weekly tuning. Our answer: one for every 40 pianos."
5. Why is the manhole cover round?
Position: software developer
Answer. So that it cannot fall inside the hatch when installing or dismantling it (the rectangular cover easily fits into the hatch body diagonally).
6. Develop an evacuation plan for San Francisco.
Position: Product Manager
Answer. Again, they look at how the applicant approaches solving the problem. We would begin our answer with the question: “What disaster is planned for today?”
7. How many times a day do the clock hands coincide in the same position?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. 22 times. From WikiAnswers: 00:00, 1:05, 2:11, 3:16, 4:22, 5:27, 6:33, 7:38, 8:44, 9:49, 10:55, 12:00 , 13:05, 14:11, 15:16, 16:22, 17:27, 18:33,19:38, 20:44, 21:49, 22:55
8. Explain the meaning of the expression Dead beef (literally: dead meat)
Position: software developer
Answer. DEADBEEF is a hexadecimal value that was used for debugging in the days of large mainframes because this marker was very easy to find in hexadecimal dumps. Most people with a computer background should have seen this at least in assembly language classes, which is why Google expects a software developer to know about it. 0xDEADBEAF (dead beef) was used by IBM RS/6000, Mac OS on 32-bit PowerPC and Commodore Amiga systems as a magic value for debugging. On Sun Microsystem's Solaris, this meant free kernel memory. On OpenVMS running on Alpha processors, DEAD_BEEF can be seen by pressing CTRL-T.
9. The man drove his car towards the hotel, but failed. What's happened?
Position: software developer
Answer. He got stuck on the curb. (Unpleasant, right?)
10. You need to check whether your friend Bob has your phone number recorded correctly or not. But you can't ask him about it directly. You need to write a question on a piece of paper and give it to Eve, who will take it to Bob, and then bring back his answer. What should you write on a piece of paper (no direct question) so that Bob can understand the message and Eve cannot find out your phone number?
Position: software developer
Answer. Since you're just testing, ask him to call at a certain time. If he doesn't do this, it means he doesn't have your number. Too easy? Another possible answer: “In this case, you need to use a checksum. Have Bob add up all the numbers in your number and write the result on the sheet, then give it back to you.”
11. You are the captain of a pirate ship, and your crew is going to vote on how to divide the stolen gold. If less than half of the pirates agree with you, you will die. How do you divide the gold so that you get a good share of the loot, but still stay alive?
Position: technical manager
Answer. It is necessary to divide the loot equally among 51% of the entire team.
12. You have 8 balls of the same size. 7 of them are the same weight, and one weighs a little more than the rest. Find the ball that is heavier than the others using a balance scale and only two weighings?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. Take 6 of the 8 balls and place 3 on each side of the scale. If the heavy ball is not in this group of balls, you have 2 more to put on the scale and solve the problem. If the heavy ball is in the first group of 6 balls, take the 3 that were outweighed during the first weigh-in. Of these three, put two on the scales. If one outweighs, then you have found it. If they weigh the same, then your ball is the one you put aside.
13. You have 2 eggs and access to a 100-story building. Eggs can be either very strong or very fragile, which means that they can break if dropped from the first floor, or not break even if they are thrown from the 100th floor. Both eggs are exactly the same. You need to find out which floor of this building will be the highest in order to preserve the integrity of the eggs when falling from it. Question: How many attempts do you have to make to find out the highest floor? And you can only break two eggs.
Position: Product Manager
Answer: The largest number of attempts is 14 times. Instead of breaking down floors 10 at a time, you start at floor 14, then go up another 13 floors, then 12, then 11, then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, until you reach you'll get to 99. If the egg broke on the 100th floor, there would be 12 attempts (or 11 if you assume the egg breaks on the 100th floor). Suppose, for example, that we found out that the 49th floor is the highest floor where the egg did not break, then our attempts are: 14th, 27th, 39th, 50th (the egg broke on the 50th floor ) plus 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 floors - a total of 14 attempts.
14. Explain what a database is in three sentences so your 8-year-old nephew can understand
Position: Product Manager
Answer. The main purpose of this question is to assess the applicant's ability to explain a complex idea in simple terms. Here's our attempt: "A database is a machine that remembers a lot of information about different things. People use it to remember that information whenever they need to. Let's go play."
15. You were shrunk to the size of a nickel and your mass was proportionally reduced to match your density. You are thrown into an empty blender glass. The knives will start moving after 60 seconds. What to do?
Position: Product Manager
Answer. This question assesses the applicant's creativity. We would try to break the electric motor.
Google has become famous not only for its achievements, but also for the fact that job interviews there are conducted differently from everyone else. You may be given a meeting place in a cafe around the corner or via Skype, and the questions will be such that they will make any smart guy sweat.
Billiard balls
There are 8 billiard balls. One of them is a little heavier than the others. In what minimum number of weighings on a lever scale without weights can this ball be found?
2 weigh-ins. You need to divide all the balls into three parts: 3 balls in two parts and 2 balls in the third part. First, weigh the first two parts of 3 balls each. If one of the parts turns out to be heavier, then weigh any 2 balls from it together. Either one of them will be the desired ball, or not weighted, if they turn out to be equal. If the weights of the parts are equal, at the first weighing the heavier ball will be in the third part of the two balls.
Dead Man in the Desert
Found in the desert dead man with a match in his hands, no traces. Why did he die and under what circumstances?
This question tests how well you can reconstruct events and compare facts. A man died from a fall from a plane that began to lose altitude, and a crash was inevitable. There was not enough one parachute for all the passengers, and they drew lots. He got a short match and was forced to jump without a parachute.
4 liters of water
Measure out exactly 4 liters if you have a 3 liter jar, a 5 liter jar and unlimited access to water.
Take a 5-liter jar of water and fill a 3-liter jar with water from that jar, then pour the 3-liter jar out. Pour the remaining two liters from the 5-liter jar into a 3-liter jar. Again, fill a full 5-liter jar of water and add water (1 liter) from it into a 3-liter jar.
Thus, there will be 4 liters left in a 5-liter jar.
Bear
You have built a house with all sides facing south. Suddenly you saw a bear. What colour is he?
White. Only at the North Pole can all four walls face south.
Pills
The doctor gave the patient 4 tablets - 2 tablets each different types, which cannot be distinguished by external signs. The tablets should be taken in 2 doses: 1 tablet of each type in the morning and the same in the evening. If the dosage is violated or the pills are not taken, the patient will die. It so happened that the tablets were mixed. How to undergo treatment and survive?
Regardless of which company you apply for, you will still have to undergo interviews and appear for an interview. If you are offered a position by Google, then you will need to prepare for the interview in advance and consider various questions and answers to them. An interview at Google is a procedure that has already acquired many legends.
Google is a company that recruits talented, creative employees to its staff. Therefore, the applicant must have the following abilities:
- have a certain level of knowledge in programming;
- be able to solve problems and solve riddles of any complexity (without this it will be very difficult to pass an interview at Google);
- he must also be a quick learner;
- A Google applicant must be humble, analyze his mistakes and learn from them on his own. The main thing is that you strive for self-development and demonstrate this during the interview.
When applying for a job at a Google organization, you should not show what is already in your goal. Therefore, to pass a Google interview, answer questions confidently but modestly.
How does it work to get hired at Google?
To pass an interview at Google, you will have to endure several interview stages. If you wish to become a manager in this organization, then the interview can last up to six levels. The interview may take place in real life, or using special applications from Google. The interview is usually divided into two main parts:
- interview at Google with standard questions. These include: professionalism, work experience, education and age;
- then an interview will take place with the solution of situational riddles or practical problems.
Especially if you want to interview at Google for a technical position, you need to analyze the information online and prepare at least rough answers to difficult questions. During interviews at Google, there are many questions used, they can be found on the World Wide Web, as well as possible answers to them. But it’s better to come up with your own version, but only a creative one.
What questions will you be asked during an interview at Google?
During your employment at Google, you will be asked not only various questions, but also tasks. Some people have encountered such riddles as:
- "Create a plan fast movement in NYC". It is worth preparing that you will be asked such questions. They are needed to understand how you behave in critical situations. It is best if you answer these types of questions casually.
- There are also such riddles: “How many badminton shuttlecocks can you put on a bus?” Using this question, Google will determine how you find a way out of difficult situations. Here you need to not only say a certain number as an answer, but also state your entire train of thought.
- Sometimes when applying for a job at Google they ask simple riddles. With some riddles, managers will be able to determine how easily you can explain difficult tasks in your own words.
14 Google riddles with answers (video)
Google has prepared a huge number of such tasks for you, so prepare not for trivial questions, but for extraordinary ones. Try to be humble, creative, intelligent, and demonstrate your entire knowledge base when answering questions that will be asked. Feel like you're not at an interview, but already at work!
We invite you to rack your brains to test your ability for logical and non-standard thinking.
According to rumors, applicants who come to be hired at Google are asked to solve two riddles about prisoners.
Blue and red hats
One hundred prisoners are lined up in a column and everyone is wearing a hat: red or blue colors. The number of blue and red caps is unknown. Each prisoner sees only the hat of the person standing in front of him. Starting from the end of the column, the warden asks each person the color of his cap, and if the prisoner is right, then he is released, and if not, he is executed. In this case, each subsequent prisoner hears the answer of the previous one, but does not know whether it turned out to be correct or not.
What do prisoners need to agree on before the trial so that as many people as possible are released?
100 people and 1 light bulb
100 people from the previous problem went to prison again.
All of them are kept in isolated cells, without the ability to communicate with each other. Every day, the warden selects a random prisoner and places him in a punishment cell for a while. It only has a light bulb and a switch. Each prisoner who finds himself in this punishment cell can turn on or off the light bulb.
As soon as one of the prisoners says that all 100 of them have been in the punishment cell at least once, they will be released; but if he turns out to be wrong, then everyone will be executed. Before this test, the prisoners are given one night to negotiate and decide on a strategy.
What do prisoners need to come up with in order to be released, provided that no light from the punishment cell is visible from other cells?
Solving the first riddle
99 people, and if you're lucky, all 100 can be saved in the following way. The first prisoner, risking his life, names the color of the person in front. Thus, the second person has information about what kind of cap he has on his head. But he must help the next one! Therefore, before the test, prisoners must agree on how they will encrypt information about the color if the person in front has a different color. For example, if the color of my hat is red, and the next one in the column is also red, then I say: “Red.” If the color of the next person's hat is blue, then you can say: "Red color" or "Red hat." Having heard the additional word, the one standing in front will understand what color he will need to name.
Solving the second riddle
Prisoners must choose one person to be their accountant and adhere to the following rules:
those who enter the punishment cell for the first time must turn on the light if it is off or do not touch the switch if the light is on;
those who enter the punishment cell for the second time do not touch the switch at all;
if the accountant gets into the cell and sees that the light is on, he turns it off and makes +1;
if the accountant gets into the cell and the lights are off, he doesn’t touch anything.
Once the scorekeeper has counted to 99, he can tell the guards that all the prisoners have been in the cell.
