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If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

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Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#41

Post by [deleted] »

dudul wrote: post #11
desireco42 wrote: post #5

This is epic :). I can imagine how interviewer would be pissed off if you come this prepared. They love those koan type questions but don't like when you turn the tables on them.

I'm so pissed at these stupid questions during interviews that now I start doing that. The last one was "how many tennis balls could you fit in the Empire State Building?". I spent maybe 10 minutes asking idiotic "clarifying" questions before the interviewer realized I was messing with him (e.g. "can I use any color for the balls?" "Do I have a crew to help me?" "Can I try to crush them?" etc). He got pretty upset ye…

[deleted]

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#42

Post by voxadam »

arethuza wrote: post #27
13of40 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked there in the early 2000's I had a friend of a friend whose fiancée graduated with a bachelor's degree in either CS or EE and applied for a developer position. Somehow, and I struggle to understand the mechanics of this because engineering was highly compartmentalized away from the "business" parts of the business, they managed to turn her down for an engineering role and got her a job in marketing. Also…

I really think the answer for all of those kinds of questions should be "I'd use Google to find the answer". I mean who would try and solve a problem like that without searching for a solution first? Edit: http://mathpuzzlewiki.com/index.php/Soda_machine

If you're being interviewed for a job at Microsoft the answer should be "I'd use Bing to find the answer."

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#43

Post by adflux »

jimmaswell wrote: post #35
13of40 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked there in the early 2000's I had a friend of a friend whose fiancée graduated with a bachelor's degree in either CS or EE and applied for a developer position. Somehow, and I struggle to understand the mechanics of this because engineering was highly compartmentalized away from the "business" parts of the business, they managed to turn her down for an engineering role and got her a job in marketing. Also…

Does anything beat just pressing the buttons in order?

This is essentially the Monty Hall problem. First choice is 1/3d to be correct, if this choice is wrong, then change, because you will now improve your odds to be 1/2

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#44

Post by RHSeeger »

csells wrote: post #25
13of40 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked there in the early 2000's I had a friend of a friend whose fiancée graduated with a bachelor's degree in either CS or EE and applied for a developer position. Somehow, and I struggle to understand the mechanics of this because engineering was highly compartmentalized away from the "business" parts of the business, they managed to turn her down for an engineering role and got her a job in marketing. Also…

It depends on your definition of optimal. If you optimize for time, then pressing each button one at a time until a Coke comes out. Plus it doesn't take any brain cells so I can get back to coding quicker. : )

You can also optimize for

- The highest likelihood of getting your choice with a single pick

- The least amount of money spent to guarantee getting your choice

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#45

Post by drclau »

dudul wrote: post #11
desireco42 wrote: post #5

This is epic :). I can imagine how interviewer would be pissed off if you come this prepared. They love those koan type questions but don't like when you turn the tables on them.

I'm so pissed at these stupid questions during interviews that now I start doing that. The last one was "how many tennis balls could you fit in the Empire State Building?". I spent maybe 10 minutes asking idiotic "clarifying" questions before the interviewer realized I was messing with him (e.g. "can I use any color for the balls?" "Do I have a crew to help me?" "Can I try to crush them?" etc). He got pretty upset ye…

Wait. Is this some old story (I hope!) or are these questions still used in interviews?

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#46

Post by 13of40 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #35
13of40 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked there in the early 2000's I had a friend of a friend whose fiancée graduated with a bachelor's degree in either CS or EE and applied for a developer position. Somehow, and I struggle to understand the mechanics of this because engineering was highly compartmentalized away from the "business" parts of the business, they managed to turn her down for an engineering role and got her a job in marketing. Also…

Does anything beat just pressing the buttons in order?

IIRC, optimal was measured by how many quarters you put in the machine.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#47

Post by bishnu »

cableshaft wrote: post #3

I was expecting something a little different, where they passed on him because he didn't give the 'right' answer (what the interviewer had preconceived and/or looked up online).

100%. The answer wouldn't be "join our marketing team", it would be "you aren't a culture fit".

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#48

Post by RHSeeger »

988747 wrote: post #28
zepolen wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what's not serious about that question assuming it was for a programming position?

For one, it has nothing to do with programming. Also, nothing to do with time management, people skills, or anything else that programmers do on their job.

Without trying to be pedantic... it may have nothing to do with "programming", but it does have to do with "software development". Programming is writing code. Software development tends to be more about problem solving, figuring out what code needs to be written in the first place. I'd rather do the "figure out the number of balls that fit in a building" than "write code to re-order a binary tree", since the former is more likely to clearly demonstrate the problem solving skills I use every day at work... developing software.

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#49

Post by codesections »

watwut wrote: post #36
thom wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that _is_ the conceit here. The ‘right’ answer is that all manhole covers are round because a round cover can’t fall into the hole.

Many manholes are in fact squared. So the premise itself is wrong.

This is pointed out in the first two words of the "Feynman" answer ("They're not.")

Re: If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)

#50

Post by seiferteric »

adflux wrote: post #43
jimmaswell wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anything beat just pressing the buttons in order?

This is essentially the Monty Hall problem. First choice is 1/3d to be correct, if this choice is wrong, then change, because you will now improve your odds to be 1/2

Maybe I am misunderstanding but the question says NONE of the labels are correct right? If so, I was thinking of it this way. If you press coke, it can only be random or Pepsi (.25?), if you press Pepsi, it can only be coke or random (.75?), if you press random it can only be coke or Pepsi (.5) (oddly this is still random 50/50 :) ). So the optimal on first try would be to press Pepsi?
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