I personally think that "estimation" questions (sometimes called "Fermi problems" since Enrico Fermi was famous for asking them) are a great way of gauging an individuals thought process. They aren't about getting the right answer, but rather about seeing how one breaks down a seemingly difficult question into simpler pieces and determines what can be reasonably estimated. They really don't fall into the category of…
How many golf balls can you fit in a bus? How many plumbers in New York?
Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
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Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#22Sorry but this article is false.
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#23I personally think that "estimation" questions (sometimes called "Fermi problems" since Enrico Fermi was famous for asking them) are a great way of gauging an individuals thought process. They aren't about getting the right answer, but rather about seeing how one breaks down a seemingly difficult question into simpler pieces and determines what can be reasonably estimated. They really don't fall into the category of…
How many golf balls can you fit in a bus? How many plumbers in New York?
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#24Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#25According to Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of people operations at Google, "We found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time." How did they determine that without asking candidates any brainteasers? Clearly, they did at some point--probably before the author's direct experience.
This article is really just a means to promote the author's books and prevent readers of the original article from presuming that that her books are obsolete now (they're not).
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#26Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
How did you answer that question? -- I honestly don't understand what possibly could be drawn from asking that. Deductive reasoning? Logical thought pattern? Creative thinking? Seems like there are a lot of better ways to find out if someone is capable of such things
"Quit wasting my fucking time google-interviewer." "Correct. You're hired."
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#28Sounds like she's still perpetuating the problem: Software Engineering interviews will focus on your standard coding, algorithm, and system design questions... Why are algorithm questions still being asked in a high-pressure environment? Very few people actually work on algorithms once hired and never in my experience has it actually been a good indicator of actual development competency. As DHH states: http://37sign…
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#29In part, it's because it seems to have come out of consulting, where a common task seems to be to size a market for which there is no commonly available data. So, understanding how someone might go about doing that seems reasonable on its surface.
But in fact, I've met too many consultants who seem inclined to build "castle in the air", spinning market details about theoretical markets without properly defining either the product or service or the buyer of that product or service. And since they are for markets for which there is by definition no solid data (since that is why the consultant was asked to size it in the first place), their estimate is never validated (or if it is, it is so long after they have left that they never hear about.)
At the same time, no one ever seems to mind if the answer to such questions is off by a country mile when the actually size of the market is known, so long as the thought process was rigorous and shows the right kind of logical decomposition of the problem. But this justification for the value of the question also bothers me, as it seems to be testing more whether you can come up with convincing-sounding bullshit than whether you can correctly estimate a given value. This, again, may be an accurate measure for whether someone can become a consultant, but I never liked the notion that we should judge people on how well they can spin bullshit.
Finally, the question seems to also be gauging the interviewees willingness to "play along" with what an interviewer is asking. The questions are often on seeming random topics (piano tuners in New York or gas stations in Wisconsin), and are often not directly related to the domain. In the real real world, you would actually probably find a list of such things on the internet, or conduct some basic research that can be done to answer such a question. Or the correct response might be something like, "We can make a rough estimate, but without more solid data than a few random facts which we've rubbed together to come up with a market size, maybe we shouldn't be pursuing this market". In which case, the contrived example serves to allow the interviewee to demonstrate that they are the type of person who will enthusiastically pursue whatever random intellectual exercise they have been assigned by the interviewer, so long as there is a chance of getting the interviewers approval.
All of the things that the question tests for, then, seem to not be characteristics you would actually want in someone if they were to answer the question in the real world. In the real world, you might do a back of the envelope calculation, sure, but you would also do a lot of research on the internet, conduct a lot of interviews and surveys, and/or conduct evaluations of competitors to understand and size a market.
Re: Google Hasn’t Changed Their Interview Questions
#30I personally think that "estimation" questions (sometimes called "Fermi problems" since Enrico Fermi was famous for asking them) are a great way of gauging an individuals thought process. They aren't about getting the right answer, but rather about seeing how one breaks down a seemingly difficult question into simpler pieces and determines what can be reasonably estimated. They really don't fall into the category of…