Crazy Questions Google Asks During Interviews

Search giant wants employees good at brain-teasers
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2009 9:08 PM CST
Crazy Questions Google Asks During Interviews
A worker at Google Inc.'s new campus in Kirkland, Wash., walks past a company sign built entirely out of Lego bricks and featuring the Space Needle, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Google is hiring, and we hear it’s a great place to work. But even if you’re an Ivy League grad with a great GPA, you’re going to have to survive the dreaded Google Interview process. How dreaded? Well, here are some questions they’ve asked, along with how Business Insider would answer them:

  • How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle? The key here is to simplify the question. How about $10 per window?

  • How many piano tuners are there in the world? This is a classic “Fermi Problem.” You’re supposed to make estimates, then calculate an answer based on them.
  • Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco. This is all about how you tackle problems. Start by asking what disaster we’re preparing for.
  • How many times a day do a clock’s hands overlap? 22.
  • A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened? He landed on Boardwalk.
For more, check the sources. The first has the questions, the second the answers.
(More Google stories.)

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