While most people in Russia dream of working at Gazprom or securing a stable government job, young professionals in developed countries aim to join innovative companies. However, landing a good position requires passing a rigorous selection process. For example, preparing for an interview at the globally renowned search engine Google can take several months, much like studying for a difficult exam.
Google prioritizes candidates who graduated from prestigious private American universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Pennsylvania, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and Dartmouth College. The admissions committee may request your current academic grades regardless of your age. Most importantly, the company looks for talented individuals with original ideas.
If you enjoyed Perelman Y. I.’s books “Entertaining Arithmetic” and “Entertaining Algebra,” you will find it easier to answer some of the committee’s questions, as some are taken directly from these works, such as the problem about the clock hands overlapping.
Here are some of the questions candidates have faced during interviews with Google’s hiring committee.
Questions for IT Product Sales Manager Candidates
Question 1
If you filled a school bus with golf balls, how many would fit inside?
This question helps the interviewer understand your problem-solving approach. To answer, you need to estimate the size of the bus and the golf balls to calculate their volumes. Dividing the bus’s volume by the ball’s volume gives the approximate number of balls, adjusting for the space taken by seats.
Question 2
How much would you charge to wash every window in Seattle?
This is a test of your ingenuity. A simple answer like “$15 per window” is acceptable.
Question 3
According to legend, a ruler in a certain country decreed that families must keep having children until a boy was born to increase the number of future warriors. Did the ruler achieve his goal?
Consider eight families: four have four girls each, and four have four boys each. Families with girls will have one more child. By probability, two of these will be boys and two girls. Counting all children results in six boys and six girls, totaling twelve. Two families still have only girls and will have two more children, one boy and one girl. Ultimately, there are seven boys and seven girls, fourteen children in total. Thus, the number of boys and girls born remains equal, and the ruler’s goal was not met.
Question 4
How many piano tuners are needed worldwide?
You could answer: “The market regulates their number. Assuming tuning takes one hour once a month, and with an eight-hour workday over 24 working days, one tuner can service 192 pianos monthly.”
Question 5
What steps should be taken during the evacuation of San Francisco’s population?
A good candidate would ask a clarifying question: “What kind of disaster is expected?”
Question 6
How many times do the clock hands overlap in a day?
By observing a watch, you see that starting from 12, the hour and minute hands overlap once every hour except between 11 and 12. So, in 12 hours, they overlap 11 times, meaning 22 times in 24 hours.
Question 7
You have eight identical balls, one is slightly heavier. How do you find the heavier ball in three weighings?
Divide the balls into groups of two and six. Weigh one ball from the first group against another; if one side is heavier, you’ve found the ball. If not, divide the six balls into two groups of three and weigh them. The heavier group contains the ball. Then weigh two balls from this group; if they differ, the heavier is found; if equal, the third ball is the heavier one.
Question 8
How would you explain a database to a child in a few words?
This question tests your ability to simplify complex concepts. You might say: “A database is like a cabinet where your children’s books are stored; to find your favorite story, you first need to find the right book.”
Question 9
You’ve been shrunk to the size of a dwarf and placed inside a blender. The blades will start spinning in one minute. What do you do?
This tests creativity. The best option is to try to disable the blender’s motor.
Questions for Software Developer Candidates
Question 1
Why is a manhole cover round?
A cover of any other shape could fall into the hole. For example, a square cover can pass through diagonally.
Question 2
What is Dead Beef?
This question checks your computer science knowledge. DEADBEEF is a hexadecimal code used for debugging in IBM mainframes as a marker in hex dumps.
Question 3
A car loses control and heads straight for a hotel. What could stop it?
The obvious answer is a curb.
Question 4
You want to check if a new acquaintance has your phone number correctly saved, but you cannot ask her directly. You can only send a note via a friend who will deliver it and bring back a response. The note must not directly ask the question, and the friend should not be able to read your number. What do you write?
You could ask her to call you at a specific time. If you don’t receive a call, the number is incorrect. Alternatively, ask her to write down the sum of the digits of your phone number. If it matches the correct sum, the number is right.
Question 5
Pirates are dividing loot. You are the captain, and your crew must vote on the division. If less than half accept your terms, you will be killed. How do you divide the treasure to stay alive and get a good share?
You should divide the loot equally among 51% of the pirates. The rest will be in the minority, increasing your share without risking your life.
