If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?I would be a homo sapien, because I am the product of rumpy pumpy between two other homo sapiens.
When they start asking questions like that I usually just leave, especially if it is my future boss who is asking. A job interview is as much about the candidate evaluating the company as it is about the company evaluating the candidate.
I had a very interesting interview in Imagination Technologies when I had to solve how to save a game of chess using the minimum possible amount of bits in the memory.
When they start asking questions like that I usually just leave
One I've heard of for EEs: a BJT, collector to +5, base to GND, emitter to -5 through a resistor. Label all node voltages and currents. Bonus points: note possible features, issues, instabilities, etc.
I'm still waiting for the day when someone will ask me for my github user name.Once Google contacted me for hiring, and one reason they said was because of my Github projects. It was tempting to go to the interview, but being a freelancer is still better. But I told the recruiter that I'll contact him again when I don't get any more freelancer projects.
Here another read: http://www.wired.com/2014/08/how-to-solve-crazy-open-ended-google-interview-questions/ (http://www.wired.com/2014/08/how-to-solve-crazy-open-ended-google-interview-questions/)
I had a very interesting interview in Imagination Technologies when I had to solve how to save a game of chess using the minimum possible amount of bits in the memory.
That's just nasty, real code or pseudo code with some hand waving?
"Where do you see yourself in X years time"? The electronics industry changes from month to month and if I could predict five years into the future I would be playing the stock markets instead of attending job interviews.
"What is your greatest weakness"? Well, that would be my passionate desire for Sigorney Weaver's company, either that or my chronic kleptomania.
"What is your greatest strength"? Being able to answer silly interview questions without beating to death the person responsible.
"What is your favorite color"? Blood red, especially when lit by moonlight. Did you know that blood when lit by moonlight is quite black Mr Interviewer?
"What is your favorite computer language"? Solder (thank you Bob Pease)
"You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that"? Because I like freshly roasted tortoise.
And now a real one......................
"The stock control system has crashed, the yard is filled with delivery trucks waiting to load up and nothing is moving in or out of the warehouse, what do you do"? The correct answer here is 'ask for help' because the company needs the system up and running as quickly as possible and delays will cost much more than emergency assistance from a qualified database administrator.
I didn't perform well TBH, probably because it was my second interview that day or just I wasn't so smart on stress, however when going back on the train I've managed to come to a result of 120bits.
Can someone do better? :-//
That is most likely the day recruiters won't be interested in you as well >:DI'm still waiting for the day when someone will ask me for my github user name.Once Google contacted me for hiring, and one reason they said was because of my Github projects. It was tempting to go to the interview, but being a freelancer is still better. But I told the recruiter that I'll contact him again when I don't get any more freelancer projects.
I didn't perform well TBH, probably because it was my second interview that day or just I wasn't so smart on stress, however when going back on the train I've managed to come to a result of 120bits.
Can someone do better? :-//
Okay, you managed to nerd snipe me for the last hour, but after getting stuck at 160, I gave up and consulted the internet. According to people who know the rules of chess better than I do, the number of board positions is ~4x10^40, or ~135 bits, before accounting for pawn promotion (which I forgot you could even do!). Some estimates are apparently even as high as 10^52 (175 bits), if you account for promotions. How the heck do you get 120?
"If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?"
another interesting one to an interveiw i have seen,
Q: hold your hand / arm out straight and keep your fingers as still as you can.
it was a test to rule out people with hands too shaky to solder SMD parts
I'd fail that one due to arthritis but can do SMD soldering just fine. Why not ask to see examples of work instead?
another interesting one to an interveiw i have seen,
Q: hold your hand / arm out straight and keep your fingers as still as you can.
it was a test to rule out people with hands too shaky to solder SMD parts
which suggests that the question is a good prima donnas filter. It's not about the answer, it's about the attitude.
If that's their idea of a crude personality test I'd rather not work there anyway, thanks. If their reaction to themselves being morons who don't know how to interview and couldn't be bothered to google some good questions is to think I'm a prima donna... It says more about them than me. With that kind of attitude (blame others for your own failings) it's usually best to avoid them.
which suggests that the question is a good prima donnas filter. It's not about the answer, it's about the attitude.
If that's their idea of a crude personality test I'd rather not work there anyway, thanks. If their reaction to themselves being morons who don't know how to interview and couldn't be bothered to google some good questions is to think I'm a prima donna... It says more about them than me. With that kind of attitude (blame others for your own failings) it's usually best to avoid them.
I'd have to say one that immediately comes to mind was "If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?" ...
You can use probabilites to reduce the number of bits required to encode an outcome. So, in the example you give of 4*(10^40) =~ 2^135 outcomes, you will need 135 bits only if each of the outcomes is equiprobable. However, if this is not the case, then you can reduce the number of bits required to the entropy of the source. This is Shannon's first theorem and the basis for all lossless compression.I didn't perform well TBH, probably because it was my second interview that day or just I wasn't so smart on stress, however when going back on the train I've managed to come to a result of 120bits.
Can someone do better? :-//
Okay, you managed to nerd snipe me for the last hour, but after getting stuck at 160, I gave up and consulted the internet. According to people who know the rules of chess better than I do, the number of board positions is ~4x10^40, or ~135 bits, before accounting for pawn promotion (which I forgot you could even do!). Some estimates are apparently even as high as 10^52 (175 bits), if you account for promotions. How the heck do you get 120?
True story. After a long and tiring day of interviews, an interviewer asked me what my greatest weakness was. I answered that I did not like people. I still received an offer, which shows that you can be an engineer and a sociopath.The word for that is "introverted". Sociopathy is a lack of conscience, emotional manipulation, fabricating exactly what others want to hear, and very easy lying. Your boss and your congressman are probably sociopaths.
When I was at school I had a professor who was at Michigan with Ted Kaczynski where they both did a PhD. When I told my wife this she really liked to kid me that she was going to turn me in as the Unabomber. I think she was joking. BTW, I am also joking.True story. After a long and tiring day of interviews, an interviewer asked me what my greatest weakness was. I answered that I did not like people. I still received an offer, which shows that you can be an engineer and a sociopath.The word for that is "introverted". Sociopathy is a lack of conscience, emotional manipulation, fabricating exactly what others want to hear, and very easy lying. Your boss and your congressman are probably sociopaths.
I had a very interesting interview in Imagination Technologies when I had to solve how to save a game of chess using the minimum possible amount of bits in the memory.
True story. After a long and tiring day of interviews, an interviewer asked me what my greatest weakness was. I answered that I did not like people. I still received an offer, which shows that you can be an engineer and a sociopath.
for a fixed input size, any algorithm is O(1) :palm:
Optimal encoding, optimal time complexity, problem solved, when do I start the job?When you work out how many valid states there are. ;)
QuoteOptimal encoding, optimal time complexity, problem solved, when do I start the job?When you work out how many valid states there are. ;)
When interviewing people I want to know if they have common sense and a sense of humour as much as their technical competence.Right. Some things you can learn, some things you can't...
Out of interest how do people answer these types of questions:
'How would peers/family/colleagues describe you?'
The two phrases that leap into my mind are 'Very good thank you' and 'Why don't you ask them yourself?'.
But I'm guessing those as responses wouldn't help land a job... ::)
You can use probabilites to reduce the number of bits required to encode an outcome. So, in the example you give of 4*(10^40) =~ 2^135 outcomes, you will need 135 bits only if each of the outcomes is equiprobable. However, if this is not the case, then you can reduce the number of bits required to the entropy of the source. This is Shannon's first theorem and the basis for all lossless compression.I didn't perform well TBH, probably because it was my second interview that day or just I wasn't so smart on stress, however when going back on the train I've managed to come to a result of 120bits.
Can someone do better? :-//
Okay, you managed to nerd snipe me for the last hour, but after getting stuck at 160, I gave up and consulted the internet. According to people who know the rules of chess better than I do, the number of board positions is ~4x10^40, or ~135 bits, before accounting for pawn promotion (which I forgot you could even do!). Some estimates are apparently even as high as 10^52 (175 bits), if you account for promotions. How the heck do you get 120?
"Technically brilliant, with a great sense of humour, lots of common sense and boundless energy, but not very good at answering lazy interview questions"
Integer state = 0
For each move n do:
state = state*CountLegalMoves(state) + IndexOfMove(state,newMove)
End;I had a very interesting interview in Imagination Technologies when I had to solve how to save a game of chess using the minimum possible amount of bits in the memory.I like those type of questions. By the way often times it is not about knowing the best possible answer. It's about demonstrating your thought process. It might take you some time perhaps to come up with the most optimized solution, but showing that you have a methodical approach to solving the problem is often what they are going after.
This may be from my very limited job interview experience (went back to grad school for a reason.), but I get annoyed when people ask "What can you do for this company" for an entry level job. Honestly, nothing. You're going to do what you're told and complete menial tasks until you're promoted. You're not going to HELP the company at all, you're simply going to enable it to operate for as long as you work there. Now, that's a perfectly reasonable question for someone trying to land a higher position. I just think it's a way of coaxing awkward answers out of interviewees. "I uh... can uh... improve efficiencies with my light speed hands?" :palm:Why would that be an annoying question?
I'd have to say one that immediately comes to mind was "If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?" as if the interviewer had some weird degree in psychology and could telleverythinganything about me based on my response.
You can use probabilites to reduce the number of bits required to encode an outcome. So, in the example you give of 4*(10^40) =~ 2^135 outcomes, you will need 135 bits only if each of the outcomes is equiprobable. However, if this is not the case, then you can reduce the number of bits required to the entropy of the source. This is Shannon's first theorem and the basis for all lossless compression.
Out of interest how do people answer these types of questions:I'd describe myself as a professional idiot.
'How would peers/family/colleagues describe you?'
The two phrases that leap into my mind are 'Very good thank you' and 'Why don't you ask them yourself?'.
But I'm guessing those as responses wouldn't help land a job... ::)