I've had the pleasure/displeasure of being on both sides of the desk. I know what it feels like to go thru a series of interviews, each guy drilling you with tough questions a little harder than the previous interviewer. I also know what it feels like to have that nervous potential would-be employee sitting across from me as I run thru his resume and hit him with my own style of questioning. At times it can feel like a bit of an interrogation, getting interviewed. Your palms may get cold and clammy. Your throat may get a lump in it. No matter how rattled you get, it's important to remember that although the person across the desk does hold the answer to whether or not you will receive a paycheck, he/she is also only human.
I can sympathize with anyone I interview. I don't want them to feel awkward or so nervous that at any second they are going to toss their cookies. I do my best to put them at ease. Yes, it is an interview and it should be somewhat formal, but at the same time - it's just me. I'm not someone scary, so they need to relax. There is nothing to fear. I've always felt uncomfortable myself if I watch someone give a speech who is a bundle of nerves. I don't know why that is, but maybe I can feel their pain. I can relate and I feel bad. Their tension somehow rubs off on me and I don't like it. Therefore, I do my best to put anyone who interviews with me at ease from the get-go. I let them know that I won't ask anything that I haven't been asked myself or I wouldn't ask of myself. It sounds nice right? Well little do they know that I've been asked some insanely tough interview questions and I ask alot out of myself. I suppose giving out that "comforting line", isn't that comforting of a thing to say after all...if they only knew.
One thing is for sure, I am willing to bet that not many people have had a series of interview questions like this before. Below are some actual questions someone was asked when they interviewed with Google. As you may or may not be aware of, Google is one of Silicon Valley's hottest tech companies and is opening up a branch in the Pittsburgh area. On average they receive 150,000 applicants a day and hire 9 out of the 150,000 each day. So as you can see, although it's a growing company, it's also a tough one to get into...which is probably even more reason why I am thinking of applying. The Pittsburgh branch won't open up for a few more years and I don't plan on living in the area for another year, so it's not like I really want to work for Google because I like running my own business. It's more that I want to see if I have what it takes for them to hire me. I'm kind of curious if I could make the cut. I like a challenge and if these odd questions below aren't challenging or weird enough for you, I don't know what is.
1. Solve this cryptic equation, realizing of course that value for M and E could be interchanged. No leading zeros are allowed: WWWDOT - GOOGLE = DOTCOM
2. How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?
3. Which of the following expresses Google's over-arching philosophy?
a) I'm feeling lucky
b) Don't be evil
c) Oh, I already fixed that
d) You should never be more than 50 feet from food
e) All of the above
4. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?
5. How would you find out if a machine's stack grows up or down in memory?
6. Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew.
7. How many gas stations would you say there are in the United States?
I have the answers to these, but I won't post them until a later date. See if you can figure any of them out. Good luck!
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