hotwheelstx
09-03-2003, 05:58 AM
How many quarters -- placed one on top of the other -- would it take to reach the top of the Empire State Building?
When Jeremy Solomon was asked this in an interview, he didn't have a clue as to what would be the correct answer. Nonetheless, he remained calm.
First, he asked the interviewer exactly what she meant by “placed on top of the other.” After she said on their sides, Solomon began to explain his logic step-by-step to the interviewer. He estimated that a quarter is about an inch in diameter and guessed that there are 120 floors in the Empire State Building, with each floor being 10 feet tall. Then he did the appropriate math.
Did Solomon give the right answer? Not quite -- the building only has 102 floors, and they aren't 10 feet tall.
Did he nail the question? Absolutely.
Divulge Your Thought Process
“Really, what interviewers are looking for is how somebody thinks through the problem,” explains Jean Eisel, director of the Career Management Center at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. “Whether somebody gets the answer or not, it's more looking at how [job candidates] think through the problem. Don't try to get the answer. Focus on how you're going to divide the problem up. You don't necessarily have enough information to give the answer. They're really looking at how people process information.”
The brainteaser is a type of interview question that's recently been popping up more and more. The use of these puzzling questions (How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day? How would you weigh a plane without scales?) is originally attributed to Microsoft and made it's way into many technology companies' interviews. These types of questions have since been adopted by other industries, like business consulting, investment banking, law, marketing and finance.
There's even a book about this phenomenon, William Poundstone's How Would You Move Mount Fuji? The author offers similar advice to Eisel's: “They really expect you to walk them through your whole way of reasoning. And even if you end up not getting the right answer, they can be very impressed by some of the approaches you toss out there. In solving any real-world problem in business, you basically have to go through this process of brainstorming some ideas that aren't going to work out. So if you can show that you can do that -- even with one of these [mind-bending] problems -- that gives them a lot of useful information, even if you don't actually come up with the answer.”
Talk It Out
Joel Spolsky is founder of Fog Creek Software and used to work as a program manager at Microsoft. He's used brainteasers at both companies, primarily as conversation starters. “The goal is to have an interesting conversation with the person and to try to see if they're smart through that conversation,” Spolsky explains. “If you have an interesting conversation about certain types of topics with a person, you can determine if [he] is the type of person you want to hire. The questions are almost a pretext to having that conversation. If you have a conversation with somebody about the Back Street Boys, you're not going to learn how smart the person is.”
The truth is, a smart interviewer won't particularly care if you know how many piano tuners there are in the world or why manhole covers are round instead of square. What interviewers will care about is how you approach, analyze and break down a problem.
http://interview.netscape.monster.com/articles/brainteasers2/
Write Winning Thank-You Letters
by Wendy S. Enelow
Monster Contributing Writer
Writing powerful thank-you letters is not just a formality. Thank-you letters are marketing tools that can have tremendous value in moving your candidacy forward and positioning you above the competition. Although much of what you include in your thank-you letter may have already been communicated during your interview, there is nothing more effective than the written word to etch those thoughts into your interviewer's mind.
Overcome Objections
If during an interview there were specific objections raised as to your candidacy, use your thank-you letter to respond to and overcome those concerns. Demonstrate the concerns are not an obstacle but an opportunity, and you're fully prepared to meet the challenge.
Example: You're interviewing to be CEO for a well-established company in the Midwest. Although you're extremely well-qualified, they're concerned you've never lived in the area and have no network of local contacts. Eliminate their concerns by explaining your network of professional contacts is nationwide and, in fact, you know John Doe of X Company, have a long-standing relationship with an economic development director in the area, etc. These contacts will only serve to expand the company's already-established network.
Reiterate Your Expertise
If the company communicated its specific needs, issues or challenges, use your thank-you letter to demonstrate how you can meet those needs.
Example: You've interviewed to be the CFO of a distressed company in need of immediate action. They need a candidate with proven success in fast-track turnarounds and revitalizations. Highlight your experience in turning a company around and showing profitability.
Highlight Your Core Professional Competencies and Successes
If the company communicated its ideal qualifications for a candidate, use your thank-you letter to outline how you meet or exceed each qualification.
Example: You've interviewed for the position of EVP of technology and product development with a high tech venture, and the company has clearly communicated its four essential candidate qualifications. Help them see immediately that you have those four qualifications with an overview of your career highlights.
How long should your thank-you letter be? Of course, as with anything else in a job search, there is no definitive answer. One or two pages is the norm, depending on the amount of information you want to communicate. Letters certainly do not have to be only one page.
Remind yourself that you already have the company's interest or you wouldn't have been interviewing, and use your thank-you letter as a tool to communicate valuable information. The entire job search process is marketing and merchandising your product -- you. There is no reason why writing thank-you letters should be any different than any other of your job search activities.
When Jeremy Solomon was asked this in an interview, he didn't have a clue as to what would be the correct answer. Nonetheless, he remained calm.
First, he asked the interviewer exactly what she meant by “placed on top of the other.” After she said on their sides, Solomon began to explain his logic step-by-step to the interviewer. He estimated that a quarter is about an inch in diameter and guessed that there are 120 floors in the Empire State Building, with each floor being 10 feet tall. Then he did the appropriate math.
Did Solomon give the right answer? Not quite -- the building only has 102 floors, and they aren't 10 feet tall.
Did he nail the question? Absolutely.
Divulge Your Thought Process
“Really, what interviewers are looking for is how somebody thinks through the problem,” explains Jean Eisel, director of the Career Management Center at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. “Whether somebody gets the answer or not, it's more looking at how [job candidates] think through the problem. Don't try to get the answer. Focus on how you're going to divide the problem up. You don't necessarily have enough information to give the answer. They're really looking at how people process information.”
The brainteaser is a type of interview question that's recently been popping up more and more. The use of these puzzling questions (How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day? How would you weigh a plane without scales?) is originally attributed to Microsoft and made it's way into many technology companies' interviews. These types of questions have since been adopted by other industries, like business consulting, investment banking, law, marketing and finance.
There's even a book about this phenomenon, William Poundstone's How Would You Move Mount Fuji? The author offers similar advice to Eisel's: “They really expect you to walk them through your whole way of reasoning. And even if you end up not getting the right answer, they can be very impressed by some of the approaches you toss out there. In solving any real-world problem in business, you basically have to go through this process of brainstorming some ideas that aren't going to work out. So if you can show that you can do that -- even with one of these [mind-bending] problems -- that gives them a lot of useful information, even if you don't actually come up with the answer.”
Talk It Out
Joel Spolsky is founder of Fog Creek Software and used to work as a program manager at Microsoft. He's used brainteasers at both companies, primarily as conversation starters. “The goal is to have an interesting conversation with the person and to try to see if they're smart through that conversation,” Spolsky explains. “If you have an interesting conversation about certain types of topics with a person, you can determine if [he] is the type of person you want to hire. The questions are almost a pretext to having that conversation. If you have a conversation with somebody about the Back Street Boys, you're not going to learn how smart the person is.”
The truth is, a smart interviewer won't particularly care if you know how many piano tuners there are in the world or why manhole covers are round instead of square. What interviewers will care about is how you approach, analyze and break down a problem.
http://interview.netscape.monster.com/articles/brainteasers2/
Write Winning Thank-You Letters
by Wendy S. Enelow
Monster Contributing Writer
Writing powerful thank-you letters is not just a formality. Thank-you letters are marketing tools that can have tremendous value in moving your candidacy forward and positioning you above the competition. Although much of what you include in your thank-you letter may have already been communicated during your interview, there is nothing more effective than the written word to etch those thoughts into your interviewer's mind.
Overcome Objections
If during an interview there were specific objections raised as to your candidacy, use your thank-you letter to respond to and overcome those concerns. Demonstrate the concerns are not an obstacle but an opportunity, and you're fully prepared to meet the challenge.
Example: You're interviewing to be CEO for a well-established company in the Midwest. Although you're extremely well-qualified, they're concerned you've never lived in the area and have no network of local contacts. Eliminate their concerns by explaining your network of professional contacts is nationwide and, in fact, you know John Doe of X Company, have a long-standing relationship with an economic development director in the area, etc. These contacts will only serve to expand the company's already-established network.
Reiterate Your Expertise
If the company communicated its specific needs, issues or challenges, use your thank-you letter to demonstrate how you can meet those needs.
Example: You've interviewed to be the CFO of a distressed company in need of immediate action. They need a candidate with proven success in fast-track turnarounds and revitalizations. Highlight your experience in turning a company around and showing profitability.
Highlight Your Core Professional Competencies and Successes
If the company communicated its ideal qualifications for a candidate, use your thank-you letter to outline how you meet or exceed each qualification.
Example: You've interviewed for the position of EVP of technology and product development with a high tech venture, and the company has clearly communicated its four essential candidate qualifications. Help them see immediately that you have those four qualifications with an overview of your career highlights.
How long should your thank-you letter be? Of course, as with anything else in a job search, there is no definitive answer. One or two pages is the norm, depending on the amount of information you want to communicate. Letters certainly do not have to be only one page.
Remind yourself that you already have the company's interest or you wouldn't have been interviewing, and use your thank-you letter as a tool to communicate valuable information. The entire job search process is marketing and merchandising your product -- you. There is no reason why writing thank-you letters should be any different than any other of your job search activities.