Need Brain Buster Interview questions (I'm interviewing candidates)

[The Dancing Peacock]

My workplace is looking to make sure we get candidates that have the forethought to think critically in handling an unfamiliar problem or situation. My brother, an EE major, was asked "how many pingpong balls will fit in a 747?"

The correct answer was to first estimate how many pp balls per person, then figure out how many people on the plane, and what percentage of space they take up on a plane. Real numbers don't matter , it's the thought process that interviewers are looking for.

So any critical thinking questions like that would be appreciated. Any engineers get asked tough questions like that? Post 'em here please.

 

[FoBoT]

do the thing where you have a bunch of questions on a page, the first one is
1. this is timed, read everything before you start

and then has 20-30 questions/things for them to do, like put their name on the paper, make a circle in the corner , etc, etc
then the last item on the list is

34. don't do any other steps, just return the paper now

to see if they follow directions or if they just want to hurry and get it done

 

[jw791]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
do the thing where you have a bunch of questions on a page, the first one is
1. this is timed, read everything before you start

and then has 20-30 questions/things for them to do, like put their name on the paper, make a circle in the corner , etc, etc
then the last item on the list is

34. don't do any other steps, just return the paper now

to see if they follow directions or if they just want to hurry and get it done

I did that one...I actually passed

 

[HamSupLo]

what would you do if you had a million dollars?

 

[XZeroII]

A hot woman comes onto you at work...what do you do?

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
A hot woman comes onto you at work...what do you do?

looking more for critical thinking, not morality questions. The one above is more in the area of what I'm looking for. I don't know if it'll be feasible for us to do it, with the way our interview is structured.

 

[da loser]

i like how you said real numbers don't matter, it's the thought that counts, especially given your business setting

i think that question about hot women would be involve deep critical thinking, perhaps further explanation is needed, especially for ee people, haha. i'd say it involves more thought then ping pong balls..., and um if you dont have the forethought to think up problems yourself, why are you working there? j/k

ask them what is the degrees difference between the two hands on a clock when the time is 3:15. or how would you get a 6' car past a 5'11" passageway? or how about just have them solve a problem that you are having such as how to get the hot women to come unto you at work, free advice or entertainment, plus rank the competition.

how about you just explain what your work is, and see if the person understands, then ask the person a question. that should give you a nice discussion to pass the time and help you evaluate how that person truly thinks.

i would fail that question test deal, because i always just want to finish it fast, so why read instructions first? if it was really important to do nothing, then the writer should've put it first i blame the testmaker for lack for forethought.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: da loser
ask them what is the degrees difference between the two hands on a clock when the time is 3:15

knew someone who got one of those

one that microsoft gave one of my friends-
you have a bathtub with water in it and a boat floating, the boat is filled with ice cubes. You take the ice cubes out of the boat and put them in the water. what happens to the level of the water in the bathtub?
Increases, Decreases, or stays the same height

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: da loser
ask them what is the degrees difference between the two hands on a clock when the time is 3:15

knew someone who got one of those

one that microsoft gave one of my friends-
you have a bathtub with water in it and a boat floating, the boat is filled with ice cubes. You take the ice cubes out of the boat and put them in the water. what happens to the level of the water in the bathtub?
Increases, Decreases, or stays the same height

what's the answer?

 

[outriding]

how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

 

[rh71]

Paraphrasing... because I don't remember exactly how it was asked of my buddy in college...

Why is a manhole cover round?
- because it's the only shape that cannot easily fall through itself.

 

[AnimeKnight]

Originally posted by: The Dancing Peacock

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: da loser
ask them what is the degrees difference between the two hands on a clock when the time is 3:15

knew someone who got one of those

one that microsoft gave one of my friends-
you have a bathtub with water in it and a boat floating, the boat is filled with ice cubes. You take the ice cubes out of the boat and put them in the water. what happens to the level of the water in the bathtub?
Increases, Decreases, or stays the same height

what's the answer?

stays the same height right?

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: AnimeKnight

Originally posted by: The Dancing Peacock

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: da loser
ask them what is the degrees difference between the two hands on a clock when the time is 3:15

knew someone who got one of those

one that microsoft gave one of my friends-
you have a bathtub with water in it and a boat floating, the boat is filled with ice cubes. You take the ice cubes out of the boat and put them in the water. what happens to the level of the water in the bathtub?
Increases, Decreases, or stays the same height

what's the answer?

stays the same height right?

the point isnt to just say an ansewr...but reason it out

 

[gopunk]

wouldn't it be easier to just calculate the number of ping pong balls in a cubic foot? i bet that someone has already calculated volume of 747 already...

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: gopunk
wouldn't it be easier to just calculate the number of ping pong balls in a cubic foot? i bet that someone has already calculated volume of 747 already...

That's what I was thinking...

Of course, that would be a best-case scenario, since you would never be able to actually pack the balls tight enough...but its so simple....

 

[Hanpan]

n/m

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: gopunk
wouldn't it be easier to just calculate the number of ping pong balls in a cubic foot? i bet that someone has already calculated volume of 747 already...

Here's the intent of the question. Not being given the volume of the 747, give your best estimate for it. Whether you assume that 100 pp balls fit in a cubic foot, and there are 37000 cubic feet of space in a 747 and come up with an answer that way, or you do it the way I said in the first post, it doesn't matter. All we're looking for is the method. I want to see how someone handles being thrown a curveball in a problem the have to solve, I want to see them think this through. Look at my first post.

I want to see them try and work through things for something they don't understand. I want to test their problem-solving skills and logic. We aren't hiring engineers, it's just that most of these questions I hear are asked in engineering interviews.