October 18th, 2012 at 4:21PM
10 Toughest Interview Questions -> Answered!
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October 3rd, 2012 at 4:23PM
Interview Brainteaser Myth

Do you know why manhole covers are round? How much toilet paper is needed to cover Texas? Whether people can swim faster in water or syrup?

Several books, websites and forums claim that the ability to answer these questions is the key to getting a gig at one of the most revered tech companies in the world. They purport to give hopefuls the cheat’s code to a life of free meals, laundry service and Lego walls within Google’s employ. All you have to do, they suggest, is learn the tricks.

But current and former Googlers agree that the ability to answer brain teasers isn’t the secret key to getting a job at the search giant – because there isn’t one.

A software engineer who worked at the company for four and a half years and at one point interviewed two to three Google applicants per week, said the company actually frowns on brain teasers.

“I’ve actually been amused when I see these ‘what questions they ask at Google’ type things, because, one, they’re usually just these very old brain teasers, and two, once they’re published somewhere, Google’s not going to ask them any more,” the software engineer said.

Google employees agree that getting into the company is a rigorous process – applicants go through multiple rounds of interviews that can last several hours – but the trick question myth has been a part of tech company lore for decades.

“My understanding is that this is the sort of the thing that has been going around for at least 10 or 15 or 20 years; that at x tech company these are the things they ask. Before it was Google, it was said that Microsoft and IBM would ask these questions.”

Gayle Laakmann McDowell, author of The Google Resume and founder and CEO of CareerCup.com, was a software engineer at Google between 2005 and 2008, where she, too, interviewed potential candidates. McDowell said Microsoft asked brain teasers 15 years ago but have since ended the practice.

“Any information that is out that the companies are asking brain teasers is very, very out of date – or people are misinterpreting what the questions are about,” McDowell told the Guardian.

She says that people who assess difficult estimation questions (how many pizzas are delivered every year in New York?) as trick questions don’t understand what they are being asked.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time it’s about problem solving. Just ask questions and see if you can logically deduce the answer,” McDowell said.

These questions are typical for positions like software engineering that rely heavily on mathematics.

“All the tech companies are really asking very similar questions. There’s nothing that scary about Google’s,” McDowell said.
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May 14th, 2012 at 12:26PM
Executive Job Interviews: The Questions You Simply Have To Ace - The Sourcing Institute News

Questions and answers

There are certain questions that are common in managerial and executive job interviews. They are presented here with some basic guidelines on how to tailor your responses.

Question 1: Tell me about yourself.

Your response should never take more than two to three minutes. While it is acceptable to throw in a few personal details, focus on your career highlights. This is an opportunity to tell the recruiter how your achievements helped you climb the ladder to management level and what you have accomplished as a business leader. Before the interview, think about your career highlights and practice telling your story. Find ways to make it engaging to the recruiter. The ability to engage and inspire is essential in outstanding leadership, and an executive recruiter will always be able to recognize it. On a more practical level, you will come across as more confident if you know in advance which achievements you will bring up and how you will talk about them.

Question 2: Why are you leaving your current position or job?

It is important to keep your answer to this question positive. A negative response could indicate to the interviewer a lack of loyalty or consideration for the place you are leaving, immaturity or avoidance in owning your responsibility for issues and conflicts. An example of a positive response is, “The position allowed me to gain experience managing a staff and working with senior executives. I am ready to expand my roles and level of responsibility and think this would be an interesting challenge.”

Question 3: Tell me about an experience where you feel you failed.

This question’s purpose is to evaluate your ability to identify your own weaknesses, your ability to learn from experiences where the outcome was not positive, and your willingness to take responsibility for failure. Remain honest, do not reply, “I have never failed.” Focus on a specific experience, spend one minute explaining the background issue, clearly identify where you believe you made incorrect choices or decisions, and demonstrate how you applied what you learned to another situation. End the response on a positive note. If you were successful at minimizing losses, or discovered a new business opportunity after a project that failed, these would definitely be the things to mention during this part of the interview. The worst thing to do is be too defensive or blame circumstances and other people for the failure of a project that you yourself led.

Question 4: Name three of your strengths and three of your weaknesses.

The key to responding to this question is to avoid discussing characteristics critical to the position as a weakness, and owning strengths that are important to the specific job responsibilities. If the position requires scheduling or handling many deadlines, you should discuss your ability to multi-task, your use of collaboration or time management software, or give an example of a project you successfully managed. When discussing weaknesses, indicate how you are working to correct them.

Question 5: What do you know about our company?

At this level of professionalism, you are expected to research a company before applying. Repeating website information won’t sound original. Learn the company’s values and mission. Discuss how your own values are similar. Discuss the company’s history. You may not remember what year it was founded, but knowing whether it’s a newly formed organization or has been around for 50 years is important. Knowing the CEO’s name and those of the key personnel does more than help during the interview. It shows the recruiter that you have a healthy interest in the company’s leadership and, if you also know what their responsibilities are, it lets the recruiter know that you are genuinely interested in the work that lies ahead and that your interest in joining the executive team goes beyond personal ambition.
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