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The hardest/weirdest interview question


fattybfat

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1. What is the corelation between a pineapple and a calculator?:confused:

Got that from an interview for a travel agents job.

2. How would you guys answer this one...

Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn't want me to know.

What other difficult questions do you guys hear the most??

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the calculator can aid the calculation for the number of pineapples required before the farmer can produce profit. the farmer who grows pineapples, grows them on a plantation at a cost of 5 cents per sapling. on average, one pineapple plant will grow 2 pineapples. however, once a pineapple has been harvested, each successive pineapple will be approximately 36g less in mass than the previous. each pineapple requires a radius of 2 feet in order to grow optimally. the farmer charges 75 cents per kilogram, to which each pineapple on average grows to 459g.

if this is true, assuming that all pineapples are grown identically, calculate the amount of pineapples the farmer must sell if he grows 5000 pineapple plants in order to break even. round off to the nearest integer. also, calculate the minimal amount of area that the farmer must use in order to grow the crops.

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the calculator can aid the calculation for the number of pineapples required before the farmer can produce profit. the farmer who grows pineapples, grows them on a plantation at a cost of 5 cents per sapling. on average, one pineapple plant will grow 2 pineapples. however, once a pineapple has been harvested, each successive pineapple will be approximately 36g less in mass than the previous. each pineapple requires a radius of 2 feet in order to grow optimally. the farmer charges 75 cents per kilogram, to which each pineapple on average grows to 459g.

if this is true, assuming that all pineapples are grown identically, calculate the amount of pineapples the farmer must sell if he grows 5000 pineapple plants in order to break even. round off to the nearest integer. also, calculate the minimal amount of area that the farmer must use in order to grow the crops.

forget to say ...it should be what is the pineapple corelation with the calculator related to the travel agent job....my bad

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Strangest interview exchange.

Education can teach you how to spell experience. I think to myself ooooooook.

after a few seconds he asks what I thought of that

I said it sounded like he didn't finish his degree.

I didn't get the job.

.

:D so funny, what type of job is that?

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Q: You start with a single lily pad floating in an empty pond. If that pad grows and the surface area of the pad doubles every day, it will take 30 days to cover the entire surface of the pond. If instead of one lily pad you start with eight lily pads (each identical in characteristics to the original lily pad), how many days will it take for the surface of the pond to become covered?

Q: A windowless room contains three identical light fixtures, each containing an identical light bulb. Each light is connected to one of three switches outside of the room. Each bulb is switched off to begin. You are outside the room, the door is closed, you can not see anything inside the room. You have one, and only one, opportunity to flip any of the external switches. After flipping your chosen switch(es), you may go into the room and look at the lights. You may not touch the switches again. How can you tell which switch goes to which light?

Q: Inside of a dark closet are five hats: three blue and two red. Three smart men go into the closet, and each selects a hat in the dark and places it unseen upon his head. Each man knows both that the closet contains three blue hats and two red and that the other two men have the same knowledge.

Once outside the closet, no man can see his own hat. The first man looks at the other two, thinks, and says, “I cannot tell what color my hat is.†The second man hears this, looks at the other two and says, “I too cannot tell the color of my hat.†The third man is blind. The blind man says, “Well, I know what color my hat is!â€

What color is the blind man’s hat and how do you know?

They aren't very difficult if you think logically through them and they are pretty widely known on the street....

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Q: You start with a single lily pad floating in an empty pond. If that pad grows and the surface area of the pad doubles every day, it will take 30 days to cover the entire surface of the pond. If instead of one lily pad you start with eight lily pads (each identical in characteristics to the original lily pad), how many days will it take for the surface of the pond to become covered?

Does this not depend on the geometry of the pond and lily pad as well as the initial placement of the 8 lily pads in the second scenario?

**edit: otherwise its 27 days right?

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Q: A windowless room contains three identical light fixtures, each containing an identical light bulb. Each light is connected to one of three switches outside of the room. Each bulb is switched off to begin. You are outside the room, the door is closed, you can not see anything inside the room. You have one, and only one, opportunity to flip any of the external switches. After flipping your chosen switch(es), you may go into the room and look at the lights. You may not touch the switches again. How can you tell which switch goes to which light?

Flip one switch on for a short time and then off, flip one on. the lit bulb is the switch that is on , the warm bulb the one you flipped and the other bulb obviously the final switch

Q: Inside of a dark closet are five hats: three blue and two red. Three smart men go into the closet, and each selects a hat in the dark and places it unseen upon his head. Each man knows both that the closet contains three blue hats and two red and that the other two men have the same knowledge.

Once outside the closet, no man can see his own hat. The first man looks at the other two, thinks, and says, “I cannot tell what color my hat is.†The second man hears this, looks at the other two and says, “I too cannot tell the color of my hat.†The third man is blind. The blind man says, “Well, I know what color my hat is!â€

What color is the blind man’s hat and how do you know?

The blind man has a red hat, after man one says that he cannot tell what colour his hat is man 2 and man 3 must have 1 red hat and one blue, but if man 2 says the same it means that he also can see one blue and one red hat. once man 2 hears what man one says if man one was wearing a red hat and man 3 a blue hat he would have been able to determine his hat colour because of what man 1 had said.

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The blind man has a red hat, after man one says that he cannot tell what colour his hat is man 2 and man 3 must have 1 red hat and one blue, but if man 2 says the same it means that he also can see one blue and one red hat. once man 2 hears what man one says if man one was wearing a red hat and man 3 a blue hat he would have been able to determine his hat colour because of what man 1 had said.

The blind man has a blue hat.

Man 1 sees AT LEAST 1 blue hat (because if he sees 2 red hats then he obviously must have a blue).

Therefore, Man 2 knowing this fact can not know what colour his hat is if he sees 2 blue hats or a red hat on Man 1 (if the red hat was on the blind Man then he can deduce he has a blue hat).

Thus, the blind man knows he does not have a red hat so he can deduce he has a blue one.

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Wow, if I had to work in Americaland, I'd end up on the street. I've only been asked questions like 'what book are you reading?' or 'what do you see yourself doing in five years time?'

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otherwise its 27 days right?
The blind man has a blue hat.

Yes, both are correct.

Obviously they are easier when you have time to think about them but I use these types of questions to see how a candidate thinks under time pressure; its a lot harder doing these questions on the spot with another person staring down your neck. Also, they are pretty famous questions, so if he knows a thing or two about the industry he should be able to answer them quickly; it shows me the candidate has done some reasonable due dilligence...

Getting the right answer isn't entirely important but rather how the candidate explains his answer logically and convincingly...

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you have a large (~1 million) list of integers, print all pairs that sum to 10.

not too tough if you have the time to sit back and think about it, but it was challenging to write up the algorithm in an interview situation.

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There is an order of logical and practical monks who do not communicate with each other in any way (visual, aural, eye contact, hand motions, etc.). Each morning, the monks gather in a circle for prayer in which every monk sees every other monk besides himself. One day, a curse falls on the order: out of N monks, X monks are infected with the curse. The curse turns the sky dark and puts a symbol on all the infected monks' foreheads.

Each monk will commit suicide the following night if he determines with 100% certainty that he has the curse. The curse is lifted when all monks with the curse are dead. How many days does it take for the curse to be lifted?

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Yh those logic questions would be very tough under interview conditions. Even without the added pressure it still takes some time to reason out the answer. I guess the trick to getting it 'right' is just to stay calm and be logical/clear in your communication with the interviewer.

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Yh those logic questions would be very tough under interview conditions. Even without the added pressure it still takes some time to reason out the answer. I guess the trick to getting it 'right' is just to stay calm and be logical/clear in your communication with the interviewer.

true, alot of the time it is not about getting the right answer, is the way you present you logical thought, they just dont want anyone crazy...imo

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Once I went into an interview at a shoe store, and the guy who was interviewing me had this big book on his lap called 'HIRING AN EMPLOYEE!' He flipped to the section about 'what questions to ask,' and then asked me about twenty five of them. Including:

'How would your worst enemy describe you?'

'What's the best thing you've ever done in your life?'

'What's your greatest weakness?!'

And then he asked me why I wanted to work in a shoe store. I answered, and then he leaned in close, and he's like,'no, really...why?' And there was an awkward silence, and then I sort of said, 'I...just like shoes.' And he said, 'YEAH, BUT HOW MUCH?'

:|

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