Honestly, I am not convinced if this sort of question verifies anything but someone's ability to come up with plausible-sounding BS in a hurry. Which is an useful ability for some positions, I suppose, but still
This said, I'd go to the border of the blender, and lie flat against it. If there is nothing else in the blender, there are no currents of material that can hurt me: the only danger is the wind, but that should push me outwards.
But if I wanted to get hired at Google, I think that the best thing to do is to have a decent portfolio of completed software projects — possibly, useful ones which people are using right now — and, why not, an academic paper or two (but that's not nearly as important).
edited 16th Feb '12 6:10:36 AM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.Yeah, the blender question has a number of answers, and some of them are pretty strange.
As an example of answers that didn't work for this question, an interviewee tried saying, "I would take the change out of my pocket and throw it into the blender motor and jam it." The interviewer, who is using a laptop and likely using Google to verify certain details, responds, "The inside of a blender is sealed. If you could throw pocket change into the mechanism, then your smoothie would leak into it."
The interviewee tries again with this answer, "Right...um...I would take off my belt and shirt, then. I'd tear the shirt into strips to make a rope, with the belt, too, maybe. Then I'd tie my shoes to the end of the rope and use it like a lasso...." He then says, "I don't mean a lasso. What are those things Argentinean cowboys throw? It's like a weight at the end of a rope." Of course, the interviewer doesn't answer that. The interviewee, getting a bad feeling, decides to complete his answer anyway. "I'd throw the weights over the top of the blender jar. Then I'd climb out."
The interviewer responds, "The 'weights' are just your shoes. How would they support your body's weight? You weigh more than your shoes do." The poor interviewee doesn't have an answer to that. The interviewer then goes over some interesting points in the answer. He wasn't sure if the guy's shirt - shrunken with the rest of him - could be made into a rope would be made long enough to reach over the lip of a blender. Once he got to the top of the jar - if he got there - how would he get down again? Could he realistically make a rope in sixty seconds? Naturally, the word "realistic" sounds rather odd when being applied to this question.
My point is, I get the impression that Google people can tell very well when you're giving them bull$#1+ in an interview.
An answer I thought up for the blender question goes like this: I would charge and ram into one side of the jar, and make it fall over onto its side, at which point I would run out of the blender. Remember, the question said that my density remains the same, despite my being shrunk to the height of a nickel. If I could knock over a blender with little effort at my normal height, then I should be able to knock it over, even if I'm inside it and at the height of a nickel. Frankly, I don't know if the interviewers would accept my answer, but hey, at least I thought it up!
edited 16th Feb '12 8:08:33 AM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Is the goal here to get out of the blender, or to simply survive the blender being turned on for a period? I feel like the latter is easier.
I think that's confusing density with mass? The force you would create by doing that would be based on your mass, wouldn't it? Also, I would expect most blenders to be significantly bottom-heavy to accommodate for the fact that you fill it with junk.
Why is it "of course" the interviewer doesn't answer? Is telling someone vocabulary really considered beyond the amount of help an interviewer is supposed to give you?
I suppose "I wouldn't do anything; the shrinking process would likely reduce my available brain matter in such a way that I don't think I'd even be mentally capable of remembering a solution I already came up with" is a bad answer?
edited 16th Feb '12 8:20:54 AM by SomeName
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.In aswer: I'd be in half a mind to climb out and half a mind to knock it over. Two halves make a whole, so I'd go out through the hole.
Okay-kokey, I've got a question I'd like to ask Google...
You are a platoon commander. You were on a routine patrol when you started taking effective enemy fire from a heavy weapon positioned in a nearby building.
Your platoon sergeant was hit and killed in the first salvo. Two other men are wounded, including your platoon signaller. The round that gave him a sucking chest wound also went through the radio, meaning that the only comms available are your personal radios.
Your platoon is now taking cover in a drainage ditch. There is open ground between you and the building from which you are taking fire. There is a two-storey building next door to that building to your right. There is an enclosure with a low mudbrick wall behind the ditch to your left.
A few of your men are new recruits and are starting to panic.
What do you do?
edited 16th Feb '12 8:22:21 AM by InverurieJones
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'
The first thing I would do is ask some clarifying questions.
- How many soldiers does the platoon consist of?
- What weapons and medical supplies, if any, do I have?
- Does the mud brick enclosure have any openings?
Then, I would do this: order the panicking new recruits and some veteren soldiers to take the wounded soldiers to the mud brick enclosure, tend to the wounded, and provide cover fire for the rest of my squad as we execute an interest maneuver. This manuever consists of my squad moving in a scattered formation. This will force the heavy weapon to choose differently positioned soldiers to shoot at. I would stay behind cover in the ditch and maintain contact with my personal radio. A number of my soldiers should get to the 2-storey building and end up above the HW. Once they inform me that they're in position, I would order them to drop grenades and explosives on the HW, resulting in its destruction!
Am I wrong here?
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Well, okay. Maybe the interviewer simply didn't know the answer to that vocabulary question, and that's why he didn't say anything!
The funny thing about the blender question is that there are at least eight possible answers.
- Lie down, below the blades.
- Stand to the side of the blades.
- Climb atop the blades and position your centre of gravity over the axis. Hold tight. The net centrifugal force will be near zero, allowing you to hold on.
- Climb out of the jar.
- Use your phone to call or text for help.
- Rip or unravel your clothes to make a "rope" and use it to climb out of the jar.
- Use your clothes and personal effects to jam the blades or motor somehow.
- Jump out of the jar. This one is considered the best answer!
It's a really good idea to clarify a number of unsaid points with the interviewer before you attempt to answer a question/riddle.
- Who or what has thrown you into the blender, and for what reason? A hostile force could easily ruin your efforts to escape. The official answer is "Don't worry about hostile beings".
- Will liquid be added to the blender? The official answer is "No liquid will be added".
- Is there a top on it? The official answer is "There's no lid".
- How long will the blades be spinning? The official answer is "Figure the blades will keep spinning until you're dead".
Once you clarify these points, it will become clear that a number of the answers will not be acceptable!
However, it's not enough to just give the basic idea to the interviewer! Oh, no! You also need to back it up with a coherent argument!
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Asking questions is a given ("does the blender have a top" was one of the first things that came to mind), but I had assumed that you didn't know the answers since you were relaying the questions.
Asking questions is also a good way to stall as long as they sound reasonable enough that they don't make it obvious you're stalling.
Have I mentioned lately that I hate job interviews? I hate job interviews.
edited 16th Feb '12 1:07:53 PM by SomeName
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.Oh, sorry! I should have mentioned that this Google book not only has questions to challenge you (more likely drive you insane), but there are answers and explanations at the back!
I have to say that I'm not particularly fond of interviews myself. Don't get me wrong, there are some brain-teaser questions that I do like, but there's also some that I really hate!
Here's some more riddles:
- 10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66. What number comes next in the series?
- When there's a wind blowing, does a round-trip by plane take more time, less time, or the same time?
- SSS, SCC, C, SC. What comes next in the series?
- You and your neighbour are holding yard sales on the same day. Both of you plan to sell the exact same item. You plan to put your item on sale for $100. The neighbour has informed you that he's going to put his on sale for $40. The items are in identical condition. What do you do, assuming you're not on especially friendly terms with this neighbour?
- You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin increasing the speed slowly. What will happen first: will the glass slide off, will it tip over, or will the water splash out?
Reading the suggested answers has not given me a lot of faith that the original question is not stupid.
Some of the answers don't solve the problem. Some don't elaborate sufficiently to be considered an answer. The 'best' answer requires an understanding of Shrinking People Physics, which (a) exploits the fact that the interviewee doesn't have access to the information that they would if they were actually in the situation and (b) requires that certain things (such as, to revisit this, the brain) are arbitrarily not impacted by the shrinking process.
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.I would be pretty light for my size right? I would just climb the glass sides. Our shoes are made of rubber so traction would be decent and the fact the sides are slopped means it should be doable. The lid is another problem, but I assume the goal would be to survive, not escape
This way of interviewing is so flawed, it's funny.
Please.Inverurie: Presuming that the mud-brick enclosure is still within the field of fire, and that we can't get to it from the ditch without being exposed, I'd take advantage of the fact that drainage ditches don't just start and stop abruptly in the middle of nowhere. I'd take my platoon one way or the other down the ditch out of the field of fire. The fact that we're here right now doesn't mean we have to stay here.
edited 20th Feb '12 8:56:53 PM by Madrugada
Anyway, other questions. I'd hate to get the pattern recognition ones in an interview. I usually solve those by staring at them for a random amount of time before either giving up or being struck by sudden inspiration.
For the others:
2. I'm going to ignore physical issues related to jet propulsion for now, since I don't really understand those. Assuming the wind is not perpendicular to the flight path (in which case I'd say the same amount of time), it would depend on the plane's ability (either physically or by protocol) ability to vary its speed relative to the wind speed.
4. Depends on your desire to sell the item and the likelihood of more than one person who wants the item showing up. With a long enough period of time, assuming your price is actually reasonable, you might not need to take any action; someone could just buy yours after your neighbor's is gone.
5. Depends on how much water is in the glass and what the shape/mass distribution of the glass is. I'd guess the precedence goes something like: Almost full glasses spill first, top heavy but not almost full glasses tip first, and bottom heavy glasses without too much water slide (though they might tip as they're sliding off the record if they're top-heavy enough).
Who doesn't know how to force line breaks on TV Tropes? This guy! {Fixed that for you. —Madrugada}
edited 20th Feb '12 9:50:30 PM by Madrugada
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.Personally, I think the blender question uses the Pint-Sized Powerhouse trope. Do you think Google has been looking at TV Tropes?
I'm glad to see that you're attempting to answer these questions. I believe in being prepared in case I run into questions like these in interview, and I think you should be prepared, too!
The question about you and your neighbour competing in yard sales will actually be asked at Wall Street. First, assume that your time is valuable. You don't want to run an indefinite series of yard sales. You are trying to price items so that the probability of their being sold is high. You are trying to get rid of almost everything by the end of the day. Assume that the previous points apply to your neighbour. You are worried that only one person out there will pay $100 and that he'll buy from your neighbour instead of you.
One solution would be to take your neighbour aside and point out to him that this item in mint condition sells for $100, he could find out on eBay and he would throw money away by offering it for $40. Maybe you'll get lucky, and he'll raise his price, maybe to $100. Unfortunately, this solution has a flaw. The big spender out there would find two identical items on sale for $100. He could choose either one, and the other wouldn't be sold.
As a bit of Irony, you might be better off if the neighbour lowered his price. If he gave it away to the first person who showed up, then you would have nothing to worry about. You want the neighbour's item off the market one way or the other.
You could make an offer to the neighbour to not market his item. Of course, you don't know if he's going to accept. He might become offended and try to extort an unreasonable price.
Here's a better answer: buy the neighbour's item. Why? Well, he'll be happy to sell his item immediately. He will not be likely to be offended or raise the price. You could haggle, and maybe get it for less than $40. What does this accomplish? You are trying to sell your item at $100, and compensate for the time you invested in selling it and factoring in the chance that it won't sell. Anything diminishing the chance of selling your item costs you a significant fraction of that $100. The neighbour's price is comparable to the economic damage he's doing to you. If you buy his item, you get the right to keep it off the market, when that suits your purposes, and the right to sell it at any price the market will bear. Anything you get from selling the second item is pure gravy.
The best plan is to hide one item until the first one sells. Then put the second item on sale at a reduced price, according to how late in the day it is.
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Buy his at $40, then put it next to yours and sell both at $100. Net gain of $60.
Fresh-eyed movie blog
Wow, you not only gave an answer that's almost the same as the one given in the book, but you managed to keep it brief and to the point!
Yeah, I wonder if Google interviews would allow you to go into long-winded answers!
The question to the wind affecting the round trip of an airplane is pretty long-winded, but here goes: Most people say that the wind effects even out. A headwind will slow you one way; then it becomes a tailwind on the return and allows you to make up time. This is correct, as far as it goes. The question is, is the round-trip time exactly the same?
As an example, a plane travels from San Francisco to Washington and back at 600 miles an hour. Coincidentally, a freak of global warming has generated a steady 600 mph jet stream blowing from San Francisco to Washington. This is great for the eastward trip. The hyperhurricane tailwind doubles the plane's ground speed and allows it to arrive in Washington in half the usual time. It's the return trip that's a killer. The plane has 600 mph headwind. No matter how much the pilot guns the engines, it can't overcome that. Even if the plane got in the air, its ground speed would be zero. The plane will never make it back to San Francisco. The "return trip" is of infinite duration, and so is the round-trip.
This example is an extreme case that helps you to understand the problem. On a 5-hour flight, a tailwind can save you (at the very most) 5 hours. A headwind can cost you an enternity. This basic principle is true no matter how fast or slow the wind is. A 300 mph wind would cut 1.67 hours off a 5-hour flight one way, but add 5 hours the other way. A constant wind always increases the round-trip time.
To complete your answer, you might also talk about a crosswind. As an example, the wind is blowing from the north, at a ninety-degree angle to the route from San Francisco to Washington. If you ignore the wind and steer the usual course, the wind would push the plane south throughout the trip. It would end up somewhere south of Washington. To correct for the sideways wind, you need to chart a course slightly north of Washington, into the wind. This means that some of the plane's velocity fights the wind, leaving a reduced component for eastward travel. The trip takes a little longer. On the return, you've got the same crosswind and have to correct the same way. Both trips take longer.
Generally speaking, you wouldn't expect the wind to be blowing exactly in the direction of travel, nor exactly at 90 degrees to it. The direction would be somewhere in between. You can break the wind's velocity down into headwind-tailwind and crosswind components. The point is that both components increase the round-trip time. The best wind for round-trip travellers is no wind at all.
edited 21st Feb '12 3:18:40 PM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!The question about the glass of water on a record turntable has an interesting answer.
This question involves the concepts of centrifugal force and the force of friction. Friction between the bottom of the glass and the turntable causes the glass to be set in motion.
Let's say that there was no friction at all, and everything is infinitely slick. What would happen in that case is that the turntable would slide effortlessly underneath the glass, and the glass wouldn't move. As Newton's first law says, "Stationary objects stay put unless there's some force acting on them." The glass won't spin without the force of friction.
Now let's say that the glass was securely glued to the turntable, which effectively creates infinite friction between the two surfaces. The glass and turntable must rotate as a unit. Crank up the speed, and the glass moves faster. This creates centrifugal force. The only thing free to react to the force is the water, because it's not glued down. Once the glass is spinning fast enough, the water will spill out of the outward side, away from the centre of rotation.
The question is asking to look at a case between the two extremes mentioned above. At first, friction will be adequate to hold the glass in place. It will rotate with the turntable and create a slight centrifugal force. As the turntable spins faster, the centrifugal force will increase. The friction holding the glass in place will remain approximately the same. As a result, there must come a point when the centrifugal force overcomes the frictional force.
People who studied physics or spent a lot of time on playground slides will remember that an object that begins to slide experiences less friction than it did while standing still. You "stick" a little at the top of the slide, then suddenly slip freely. The same applies to the turntable. Rather than accelerating gradually, the glass will stick, then slide.
What happens next? The answer is this: "It depends on the shape of the glass and how full it is." This isn't an attempt to evade the question. There are 3 realistic outcomes:
1. Fill a glass to the brim. The slightest centrifugal force will raise the water level on the cup's outward side, spilling some water. This will occur while the glass is "sticking" - before it slides.
2. Use a very short "glass", a petri dish with a single drop of water in it. No way is the glass going to tip over, nor will it be moving so fast that the single drop of water climbs the surface and spills out. Instead, when it's spinning fast enough, the petri dish-glass will simply slide off the turntable.
3. Use a very tall glass, like a test tube with a flat bottom. The centrifugal force effectively acts on the centre of gravity. Because the centre of gravity is so high, and all the frictional force is on the very bottom, the test tube-glass will flip over rather than slide.
The turntable surface makes a difference, too. A rubber turntable increases friction and favours spilling and tipping scenarios, all else being equal. A slick, hard plastic turntable favours sliding.
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Those two questions involving symbols and asking what comes next in the series are major stumpers.
10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66. What number comes next in the series?
You probably thought you had to use math. Not for this question. Instead, try spelling out the numbers in plain English, and you'll get this: ten, nine, sixty, ninety, seventy, and sixty-six. The numbers are in order of how many letters are in their names! The answer has to be a number containing nine letters in its name. The "right" answer depends on the company. Usually the answer is 96 (ninety-six). At Google, a better answer is one googol, but the best, preferred answer there is ten googol!
SSS, SCC, C, SC. What comes next?
You probably thought you had to use binary numbers, roman numerals, etc. to get the answer. Not for this question. Actually, the series is the letter of the alphabet in a silly code. For this silly code, "S" stands for "straight line", and "C" stands for "curved line". The letter "A" is 3 straight lines, hence "SSS". The letter "B" is 1 straight line and 2 curved lines, hence "SCC". The letter "C" is 1 curved line, hence "C". The letter "D" is 1 straight line and 1 curved line, hence "SC". The next letter to come next is "E", which is 4 straight lines, hence "SSSS".
If this makes you feel better, the author of Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google feels that the "SC" series question is not a particularly good one, even though Amazon.com uses this question in interviews!
Anyway, here's a new batch of brainteaser questions for you guys to try to answer, if you dare!
- It is difficult to remember what you read, especially after many years. How would you address this?
- There are three men and three lions on one side of a river. You need to carry them all to the other side, using a single boat that can carry only two entities (human or lion) at a time. You can't let the lions outnumber the men on either bank of the river because then they'd eat them. How would you get them across?
- Using only a 4-minute hourglass and a 7-minute hourglass, measure exactly 9 minutes.
- Find the minimum number of coins to give any amount of change.
- In a dark room, you're handed a deck of cards with N of the cards faceup and the rest facedown. You can't see the cards. How would you split the cards into two piles, with the same number of faceup cards in each pile?
- You're given a cube of cheese and a knife. How many straight cuts of the knife do you need to divide the cheese into twenty-seven little cubes?
- There are three boxes, and one contains a valuable prize; the other two are empty. You're given your choice of a box, but you aren't told whether it contains the prize. Instead, one of the boxes you didn't pick is opened and shown to be empty. You're allowed to keep the box you originally picked ("stay") or swap it for the other unopened box ("switch"). Which would you rather do, stay or switch?
- You're in a car with a helium balloon tied to the floor. The windows are closed. When you step on the gas pedal, what happens to the balloon - does it move forward, move backward, or stay put?
edited 22nd Feb '12 5:22:05 PM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!And if you said two or six googol, you need to get the fuck out right now. We don't like your kind around here.
2. I feel like there's something I'm missing. Can't you just carry three pairs consisting of a lion and a person from the starting bank to the far bank? That seems a little too easy for these answers.
3. Does it have to be nine minutes from when you first flip an hourglass, or can you use the hourglasses for a while before you start timing the nine minutes?
4. Never mind, I understand the question now.
5. Do I know what N is at the time that I'm performing the task? If so, take N cards out of the deck to make its own pile, then flip the deck. You took M face up cards out of the deck, so the original deck now has N - M face up cards. By flipping the second deck, you've changed the M face up cards in the deck to face down ones, so the second deck also has N (the second deck's size) - M face up cards.
7. We might as well be asking knights and knaves in terms of "you've probably heard this question before", although the basic knights and knaves problem admittedly doesn't have as much of an issue with people rejecting the answer for feeling unintuitive even after being given explanations. Anyway, in this problem, can it be said that I had to be shown an empty box after I made my initial pick? Then, in a nutshell, I should switch. The odds of me picking wrong (2/3) and being shown an empty box (1) are 2/3 * 1 = 2/3. The odds of me picking right (1/3) and being shown an empty box (1) are 1/3 * 1 = 1/3. With the odds of the former greater, my best option is to switch.
I have to say, these questions are kind of siphoning my enthusiasm for a process that I already didn't like. Puzzles are fun, but being told that your ability to solve a particular puzzle is an objective measure of your competence level is insulting. That goes double for many of the physics one, that require varying levels of knowledge on a subject that may not actually relate to anything you're going to do professionally.
edited 27th Feb '12 8:03:59 AM by SomeName
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.
I agree somewhat with that, but you have to admit it's a much more interesting process than the same old boring "Where do you see yourself in five years?"/"Why do you want to work here?" type questions you may get.
- There are three men and three lions on one side of a river. You need to carry them all to the other side, using a single boat that can carry only two entities (human or lion) at a time. You can't let the lions outnumber the men on either bank of the river because then they'd eat them. How would you get them across?
Presumably a person has to be in the boat on each trip in either direction. With that stricture, it's the standard "goats and cabbages"/"foxes and chickens" brainteaser. Without it, it's more interesting, but still trivial.
- Using only a 4-minute hourglass and a 7-minute hourglass, measure exactly 9 minutes.
Another standard puzzle-book brainteaser, although it's more often seen in 3-, and 5-<unit> pails, looking to measure 4 <units>. The only thing that requires imagination is realizing that you can stop an hourglass in mid-measure by laying it on its side.
- Find the minimum number of coins to give any amount of change.
trivial — for a US dollar , you need 4 pennies, 2 nickels, 1 dime and 3 quarters. The pennies, nickels and dime will let you change any amount up to .25 . The quarters simply restart the count at .26, .51, and .76 .
- In a dark room, you're handed a deck of cards with N of the cards faceup and the rest facedown. You can't see the cards. How would you split the cards into two piles, with the same number of faceup cards in each pile?
As above. Also a standard brainteaser puzzle.
- You're given a cube of cheese and a knife. How many straight cuts of the knife do you need to divide the cheese into twenty-seven little cubes?
Basic knowledge of arithmetic
- There are three boxes, and one contains a valuable prize; the other two are empty. You're given your choice of a box, but you aren't told whether it contains the prize. Instead, one of the boxes you didn't pick is opened and shown to be empty. You're allowed to keep the box you originally picked ("stay") or swap it for the other unopened box ("switch"). Which would you rather do, stay or switch?
Straight up Monty Hall Problem.
- You're in a car with a helium balloon tied to the floor. The windows are closed. When you step on the gas pedal, what happens to the balloon - does it move forward, move backward, or stay put?
Basic knowledge of Newton's Laws.
It's unnecessary to stop the hourglasses in any case. Doing some not-right-at-bedtime thought: Flip both glasses. Flip the four minute glass when it runs out. Flip the seven-minute glass when it runs out, then flip it again when the second four-minute glass runs out. After the seven-minute runs out for the final time, nine minutes have passed.
Text I feel is necessary to append to every post.

Well, on Valentines Day, I got this one book titled Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google by William Poundstone.
The book talks about how today's economy, with the recession and all, has actually made getting a job harder. Why?
Google has a good reason to do this. For a long time, job interviews were about dressing up nice, talking a good game, and getting the interviewer to warm up to you! A lot of people can do that and a lot of people can't! Of course, it creates the scenarios of "false positive" (i.e. people who flunk an interview, but would make a good employee) and "false negative" (i.e. people who ace an interview, but would make a bad employee). Clearly, job interviews are not very good at evaluating prospective employees, and Google would like to change that to keep the two scenarios to a minimum!
How is Google going about it? By coming up with brain-teaser questions to test a number of things, like how balanced are you with intelligence and creativity? If you have high intelligence and little creativity, you are a straight-laced, rigid thinker. If you have little intelligence and high creativity, you are a flake. The ideal would be a balance between the two.
Here's a question that Google can pose to you in a job interview:
You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in sixty seconds. What do you do?
How about it? Can you answer this question?
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!