http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/30/job-interview-questions_n_802658.html#s217038&title=Goldman%20Sachs%20-%20Analyst%20position%20

1/1/2011 10:54:53 PM

Not wasting time on this.

1/1/2011 10:57:26 PM

I'm gonna be so fucked

1/1/2011 11:03:59 PM

What if I already have inherited a pizzeria from my uncle? There is a reason I'm applying for a job

1/1/2011 11:06:52 PM

these are all asinine questions that tell the interviewer nothing about how well someone might perform in a job.

some of them, however, are pretty interesting as riddles go.

1/1/2011 11:07:15 PM

It would suck to be shrunk down to pencil size and placed in a blender.

1/1/2011 11:08:03 PM

Quote :

"these are all asinine questions that tell the interviewer nothing about how well someone might perform in a job. some of them, however, are pretty interesting as riddles go. "

1/1/2011 11:11:52 PM

How do you answer that in a professional way anyway? Cuz my answer would be to ninja climb my ass out. Blender walls are close enough together to pull that off I think

Shit is gonna bother me until I get home and can compare pencil to blender sizes

[Edited on January 1, 2011 at 11:16 PM. Reason : stupid phone]

1/1/2011 11:12:46 PM

i think these are perfectly fine questions to ask during an interview

they give the interviewer a chance to see how the applicant handles a curveball

1/1/2011 11:14:54 PM

i've been in a couple of interviews with questions like this, one w/ schlumberger, one with a local company

1/1/2011 11:15:58 PM

Thread destroyed. Nice!

I saw that.

Quote :

"i think these are perfectly fine questions to ask during an interview they give the interviewer a chance to see how the applicant handles a curveball"

Throw me a curveball and I'll knock it back into your fucking face son.

[Edited on January 1, 2011 at 11:18 PM. Reason : Son]

1/1/2011 11:16:25 PM

I answered them all correct and just got offered a job making 150k.

1/1/2011 11:18:05 PM

[quote]Lindsey Gregory 2 hours ago (9:10 PM)

“What do wood and alcohol have in common?”

Both + lighter = fire.


geniusxboy 0 minute ago (11:17 PM)
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This comment is pending approval and won't be displayed until it is approved.

“What do wood and alcohol have in common?”

It's "Grain."

Wood Grain
and Grain Alcohol

1/1/2011 11:21:37 PM

Quote :

"“Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum numbers guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make.” "

2^10 = 1024 therefore... 10 guesses based on the Newton's method, right?

1/1/2011 11:27:15 PM

what's the minimum number of guesses to guess anything...

1/1/2011 11:34:05 PM

I thought they are asking what the minimum number of guesses it would take to guess a correct number if you guess and got it wrong until there were no numbers left to choose from

1/1/2011 11:36:52 PM

Quote :

"“Why do you think only a small percentage of the population makes over $150K?” "

The more rare your talent; the higher chance of making money. Those who have $150k possess a talent that only a small amount of people can replicate.

Of those who have a talent, only a fraction of those know how to market it.

*small percentage is a relative term since 3% of 300,000,000 in the US is 3,000,000.

1/1/2011 11:40:52 PM

Quote :

"“If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?”"

Jetpack. If you can shrink me and put me in a blender, I can at LEAST get a jetpack.

Quote :

"“Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are.” "

12.

Quote :

"“How many basketball[s] can you fit in this room[?]”"

Me personally? 1. I only own one ball.

Quote :

"“Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required?”"

25 horses, 5 per race?

Quote :

"“Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum numbers guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make.”"

1. Seriously, what a stupid question. pick a number between 1 and 1000, guess 500, and if it's 500 you win.

Quote :

"“Why do you think only a small percentage of the population makes over $150K?”"

because some people are stupid, and other don't work as hard.

Quote :

"“What would you do if you just inherited a pizzeria from your uncle?""

Sell it.

1/1/2011 11:45:56 PM

Quote :

"“There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?”"

pick a fruit out of the box labeled "apples and oranges". if it's an apple, you've found the "apples" box. if it's an orange, it's the "oranges" box. the other two boxes are labeled as each other.

1/1/2011 11:46:50 PM

Quote :

"“Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required?”" "

The first tier is 5 races of 5 horses: outcome = 5 winning horses.

The second tier is 1 race of the 5 winning horses.

The horses to place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are the 3 fastest horses, therefore the minimum number of races is 6.

1/1/2011 11:51:43 PM

^Why do you need to race them a second time? Answer: you don't. Compare their fucking times.

1/1/2011 11:53:02 PM

Same reason why some teams go to the superbowl who have lost to a team that was not in the superbowl.

1/1/2011 11:54:41 PM

^^^^ you label all 3 boxes as "fruit".

1/1/2011 11:56:36 PM

^^^^ What if the fastest 3 horses are in the same heat, you would instantly knock out #2 and #3 that way.

[Edited on January 2, 2011 at 12:08 AM. Reason : ^]

1/2/2011 12:07:55 AM

good call.

1/2/2011 12:10:06 AM

^^^

1/2/2011 12:15:19 AM

It's not exactly Newton's Method, but you have the right idea; in general it's ceil(lg(n)), where n is the size of the initial set to guess from, lg is the base-2 logarithm, and ceil is the ceiling function, a.k.a. "rounding up"; for this case a reasonable algorithm can be given (choose either the middle integer in the set or the even integer out of the two middle ones, and then the new set is based on whether you hear "higher" or "lower") and then the worst cases are the odd numbers 751-781 and 845-875.

I enjoyed the question about horse-racing, and I believe the answer is "7" (of course, if you could actually time them instead of merely seeing the rankings, it's "5"): Separate the horses into 5 groups A-E and race them in first-tier races; label them A1, B3, etc. based on the group and position in the first race. Then race all of the first-place finishers in a second-tier race to determine the fastest horse overall (imagine the first three were C1, E1, and A1); finally, set up a race involving the second- and third-place finishers in the second-tier race, the second-place finisher in the first-tier race in which the second-place finisher in the second-tier race had won, and the second- and third-place finishers in the first-tier race won by the fastest horse, to determine the second- and third-fastest horses overall (in this imagination, the final race would involve E1, A1, E2, C2, and C3, respectively; either E1 or C2 is definitely the second-fastest, and the third-fastest could be either of them or A1, E2, or C3).

Quote :

"The more rare your talent; the higher chance of making money. Those who have $150k possess a talent that only a small amount of people can replicate."

The true answer is that inflation hasn't yet decreased the value of $150k enough; remember there was a time when it was rare to be in possession of $1000 in the bank, and "millionaire" originally referred to such a person.

[Edited on January 2, 2011 at 12:31 AM. Reason : Latin for 1000 is "mil"

1/2/2011 12:28:22 AM

nvm

but I'd land a job on wall street, no sweat.

[Edited on January 2, 2011 at 12:37 AM. Reason : too bad living in NY isn't what I want atm]

1/2/2011 12:36:43 AM

Quote :

"Same reason why some teams go to the superbowl who have lost to a team that was not in the superbowl."

You're comparing horse racing to football and calling samesies? You're joking right?

1/2/2011 12:40:07 AM

degrading track conditions and tired horses will make them run differently.

1/2/2011 12:54:50 AM

Quote :

"“What do wood and alcohol have in common?”"

Neither are appropriate to have while on the clock at this workplace?

1/2/2011 12:57:22 AM

They are carbohydrates, and the latter can be derived from the former (albeit in a form unsafe for drinking).

1/2/2011 1:36:05 AM

^^
hahahah

1/2/2011 1:47:36 AM

Quote :

""“Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required?”""

If the answer to this one isn't 0, then somebody needs to learn how to properly phrase a god damned question.

1/2/2011 2:16:09 AM

Why would it be 0? I have already demonstrated that 7 are needed to determine the fastest 3 horses.

1/2/2011 2:32:21 AM

You're assuming this is a math puzzle and I'm assuming that it is (or at least could be) a reading comprehension test.

Quote :

"Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses."

OK. I just timed all 25 horses individually and can easily determine the three with the lowest times.

Quote :

"In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time."

Thank you for this useless information.

Quote :

"What is the minimum number of races required?"

Required for what?

The question should read something like "Using only a series of races how many 5 horse events would you need to determine the three fastest horses out of a group of 25?" The way it's worded now is (I believe intentionally) vague and misleading. They probably want to see if you're the type of person that takes half assed directions and runs with it (Not a bad skill to have in the workforce) or if you pay attention to details.

Then again it could just be the person writing the question sucks at the English language.

1/2/2011 2:48:53 AM

Quote :

"Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum numbers guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make"

Pretty sure the answer to this one is 1. If it asked for the maximum number of guesses then it would be a different story

1/2/2011 10:39:20 AM

max would be 1000



the only way that equation or yalls theory would be the answer would be "what is the most efficient way to find the number"

1/2/2011 10:41:26 AM

^ I don't think you understand the question. theres no way the max is 1000

1/2/2011 10:43:08 AM

if you guessed every other number before you got it right it would be 1000

if you guessed it right on the first try it would be 1


what is there not to understand?

1/2/2011 10:45:22 AM

Quote :

"If the answer to this one isn't 0, then somebody needs to learn how to properly phrase a god damned question."

it's not, its a selection question; i bet the company that had it dealt with programing or network design.

1/2/2011 10:45:39 AM

Quote :

"if you guessed every other number before you got it right it would be 1000"

the question assumes you'll be following the hints, not ignoring them.

1/2/2011 10:51:24 AM

if it is 1000 and you start at 1 and go up, it could still be 1000


I didn't say it was the most logical (but it is the maximum)

1/2/2011 10:52:12 AM

As for the blender question, I would crawl into the bottom and tear pieces of the rubber ring apart, and then strap them to my feet and hands as suction cups and then scale the wall to get out.

1/2/2011 11:08:15 AM

^^ you're totally ignoring the 'higher' and 'lower' hints. reading is fundamental.

^ it says you'd be shrunk to the 'size' of a pencil...not that your feet would turn into erasers or something

1/2/2011 11:40:50 AM

^He said "the rubber ring" as in part of the blender...but you can't rely on being able to fashion suction cups from the pieces; I'd just climb out, remember that it is possible for people to grip any surface of a blender, and I would be very strong in comparison to my size, by the Square-Cube Law: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SquareCubeLaw

Quote :

"OK. I just timed all 25 horses individually and can easily determine the three with the lowest times."

That takes 25 races

Also I interpreted the term "minimum" in the question about guessing a number to mean the minimum number of steps required for an algorithm to be able to reach any number in the set.

[Edited on January 2, 2011 at 12:03 PM. Reason : MOAR

1/2/2011 12:00:37 PM

Quote :

"you're totally ignoring the 'higher' and 'lower' hints."

huh? You'd be following the hints if you do like he's saying. I guess 1, you say higher. I guess 2, you say higher. I guess 3... You'd have to be retarded but it's still valid.

1/2/2011 12:10:31 PM

Quote :

"^^ you're totally ignoring the 'higher' and 'lower' hints. reading is fundamental. "

time to listen to your own advice:

Quote :

"if it is 1000 and you start at 1 and go up, it could still be 1000 I didn't say it was the most logical (but it is the maximum)"

let me break that down for ya- "1" - higher, "2" - higher, "3" -higher.... Like I said, it wouldn't be logical but it is the most possible guesses if the number was in fact 1000


^haha yeah, I think he was trying to assume rationality there... it would be completely retarded to go that way, but it is a possible way of getting there while following the stipulations, thus the max number of possible guess

[Edited on January 2, 2011 at 12:26 PM. Reason : e]

1/2/2011 12:24:35 PM

at lot of these are discrete math problems and have been answered very wrong. I also get the impression they've been truncated by some "journalist" that doesn't understand how minute details have profound effects on these problems and doesn't understand most of them.

the facebook question about the 1-1000 guess is supposed to be a binary search question though the minimum of any value matching search is 1 since your answer could be first in memory/guessed first/etc

the 25 horses problem isn't as simple as it seems as you could have a bracket of 5 horses that contains the fastest 3. so after the first 5 races, you can only eliminate the bottom 2 from each race, leaving 15. run the top 15 in 3 races and you can again only eliminate the bottom 2 so you're left with 11. then you have 2 races with 5 eliminating 4 more leaving you with 7. and then 2 more races to eliminate the final 4. the answer is 12 races ASSuming you have no time keeping device. with a time keeping device this is stupid and you only need 5.

I didn't read all of them

1/2/2011 12:34:27 PM

^Do you need me to draw a diagram to show why you only need 7 races?

1/2/2011 12:58:59 PM