{"id":8036,"date":"2024-11-07T14:33:03","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T22:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/?p=8036"},"modified":"2024-12-11T08:29:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:29:19","slug":"9-steps-to-solve-any-interview-brainteaser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/2024\/11\/07\/9-steps-to-solve-any-interview-brainteaser\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Steps to Solve Any Interview Brainteaser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Author: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breakinto.tech\/blog\/2016\/6\/2\/9-steps-to-solve-any-interview-brainteaser\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.breakinto.tech\/blog\/2016\/6\/2\/9-steps-to-solve-any-interview-brainteaser\">Jeremy Schifeling<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u201cHow much does a school bus weigh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u201cHow many people are currently online in Germany?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u201cHow many windows are there in New York City?\u201d<br><br>And, most importantly: \u201cHow the heck do you answer these crazy questions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because if you\u2019re interviewing for a tech job, chances are you\u2019ll get thrown one of these curveballs at some point during the selection process. And when you do, you don\u2019t want to totally whiff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So to make sure that you\u2019re ready to handle just about anything, let me share 9 steps that helped me earn offers at Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and VC-backed startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1) Understand What the Interviewer Wants<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to get flustered if you assume that this is the same kind of question you might find on a multiple-choice test \u2014 i.e., there\u2019s one right answer and lots of wrong ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, think about it <strong>from the interviewer\u2019s perspective<\/strong>. She needs to find someone who can succeed in this job \u2014 not someone who\u2019s great at counting windows. So what she really wants to know is whether you can handle the rigors of a crazy tech job:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>\u00b7 Dealing with uncertainty<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00b7 Thinking analytically<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00b7 Communicating clearly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, take a deep breath and focus on demonstrating your curiosity, logical analysis, and clear communication \u2014 not on the answer itself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2) Clarify the Question<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To demonstrate your curiosity, start by <strong>asking some clarifying questions<\/strong>. For instance, if you\u2019ve been asked how many windows are in New York (PS: here\u2019s a list I\u2019ve collected of other tech brainteasers), you might respond by asking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you say windows, do you only mean building windows or are you also thinking of subways, computers, and exhibits at the Bronx Zoo?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This not only shows off your curiosity; it can also save you tons of agony. Because if it turns out that your interviewer only cares about building windows, this question just became a whole lot simpler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3) Ask for Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, as tempting as it might be to dive right into calculations, resist that temptation. There are few people in the world who can write an essay AND read it aloud simultaneously. But that\u2019s exactly what you end up doing when you try to answer the question immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So instead, <strong>ask for a few minutes to gather your thoughts<\/strong> and then jot down a quick outline like this one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Assumption<br>1. Only Buildin windows<br>2. 3 main categories<br>3. NYC 10M<br>4. Apartments: 3 windows\/person<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Catergories<br>1. Residential<br>2. Retail<br>3. Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Calculations<br>1. Residential: 10M x 3 windows\/person<br>2. Retail<br>3. Office<br>4. Total <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That way, you get both the time to think analytically and the organization to communicate clearly. And no, interviewers aren\u2019t going to mark you down for taking a timeout. Because, again, they need someone who can do the job \u2014 and very few tech jobs involve solving brainteasers live, on-stage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4) Give a Roadmap<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With your outline in-hand, it\u2019s time to give your interviewer <strong>a roadmap to your answer.<\/strong> That\u2019s because so many answers go off the rails when you think you\u2019re being clear, but the interviewer is totally lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, you say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOK, so I\u2019m going to solve this problem in three steps. First I\u2019m going to name my assumptions. Next, I\u2019m going to break the problem into relevant categories. And finally, I\u2019m going to make calculations for each category.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, the interviewer can keep track of your progress at every step (\u201cOK, she just laid out her assumptions. Check!\u201d). And, as a bonus, you come across as way more organized and analytical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5) State Your Assumptions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned up-front, these questions rarely have one right answer. I mean, even the mayor of New York doesn\u2019t know exactly how many windows are in his city!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So instead of getting caught up in the search for an illusory truth, just make some logical assumptions. And then, most importantly, name and justify your assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, you might say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to apartment windows, I\u2019m going to assume that there are three windows per resident. That\u2019s because I\u2019ve lived in a lot of two-person apartments that had six windows, on average. And so three per person feels about right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While this might seem like relatively flimsy evidence, the critical word here is \u201cbecause.\u201d That\u2019s because (wink!) psychology research has shown that people are significantly more likely to accept something with a justification attached. And it makes you look more organized, to boot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6) Break the Problem Down<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, these questions are often so massive that trying to solve them in one fell swoop can be downright ridiculous. So, instead, <strong>break them down into easy-to-digest parts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this case, you can offer an answer like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOK, since buildings in New York are so different, I\u2019m going to look at the three main categories of buildings separately: Residential, Retail, and Office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, the question that once looked freakishly scary has become quasi-reasonable \u2014 and you get to flex your analytical biceps!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7) Round!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While knowing that there were 8.406 million people in New York in 2013 might help you win Trivia Night at the demographers\u2019 bar, trying to multiply 8.406 times anything is a recipe for disaster. So do yourself a big favor and <strong>round to the juiciest whole number you can think of:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlright, I\u2019m going to say there are about 10 million people living in New York, give or take a million\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, no one\u2019s testing your Rain Man skills. And this will pay off big time when you\u2019re ready to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8) Calculate on Paper<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might feel safer to do your calculations in your head so the interviewer can\u2019t see your crummy arithmetic skills. But that\u2019s just nuts \u2014 again, who can pull off 27 different mental calculations while simultaneously obeying the 95 rules of interview etiquette?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So skip the Math Olympiad stuff and <strong>show your work on paper or a whiteboard, step-by-step:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOK, there are 10 million people in NYC. So I\u2019m going to multiply that times 3 windows per person to get 30 million residential windows. Now let\u2019s move on to retail\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, even if you do mess up, you have the visibility to stop yourself before your errors snowball into an avalanche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get ready to break into tech.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your complete guide to tech career success is here &#8211; from the first application to the last interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9) Offer Caveats So you\u2019ve finally reached an answer (see my complete solution and all my tech interview techniques). Congrats \u2014 you\u2019re done, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not so fast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember that these questions aren\u2019t about the answer \u2014 instead, they\u2019re about the process. So before you drop the microphone, take one last chance to show off your curiosity and analytical chops by <strong>caveating your answer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo that\u2019s my answer. But I\u2019m not totally happy with it because I completely neglected development trends in the city. I basically assumed that every building was your typical old-school New York office or apartment, with relatively few windows. But all the new buildings are 100% glass, which suggests that this number is probably on the low side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, at last, you\u2019re done. Which leaves you just enough time to figure out how much that school bus weighs after all\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Jeremy Schifeling \u201cHow much does a school bus weigh?\u201d \u201cHow many people are currently online in Germany?\u201d \u201cHow many windows are there in New York City?\u201d And, most importantly: \u201cHow the heck do you answer these crazy questions?\u201d Because if you\u2019re interviewing for a tech job, chances are you\u2019ll get thrown one of these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43154,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[547,546],"tags":[585],"wsuwp_university_location":[332],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8036"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8038,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036\/revisions\/8038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=8036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}