Corporate culture questions

[DaveJ]

I noticed an article on wsj.com about interview questions asked a Google and other top tier megacorporations, and was wondering about their purpose. The article did not clue me in very well. The article seems to indicate that they are "cultural", but to me they seemed more based on intelligence and thinking outside the box. Here are a couple:

"You're in a car with a helium balloon on a string that is tied to the floor. The windows are closed. When you step on the gas pedal, what happens to the balloon—does it move forward, move backward, or stay put?"

"You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?"

I work at a small business and was clueless what the answers to these questions were, until I heard the answers they were like head slapping obvious. The guy I work with, who makes more money than me, was not able to answer them either. Does this mean I don't have what it takes to work at a corporation? My wife has a good corporate job, and she answered both these questions right, like, without the slightest hesitation.

Now I don't know why they are described as cultural, maybe they are. Are these questions about culture or intelligence? Is there any way I can improve my ability to answer questions like these, or is my brain just not good enough? Even if being able to answers these questions shows some heightened level of thinking, I'm not sure how they negate years of hard work, ability to work as a team, open mindedness, and all that traditional stuff. I'd like to know more about what's going on with these questions.

[ChromeFoundry]

1. Thes types of questions

are designed to gauge your problem solving abilities.

They expect you to theorize on a solution and explain your reasoning for your conclusion from what knowledge you already know. They usually start out with basic problems - "Why are manhole covers round?" and work up to more complex questions like - "About how many gas stations are there in the entire lower 48 states? Explain how you would determine a good estimation." Google is looking for people that stretch their mind to find solutions to problems before they exist.

I don't know how one would get better at solving problems like these, other than being exposed to a lot of information and by simply wondering how everything works and seeking out answers to odd questions.

Here's one that always puzzled me... If a person was born completely blind, would their dreams contain images? If so, what would they be images of?

[DaveJ]

2. "Before they exist" Very interesting

That gives me something to think about.

The questions you came up with seemed more flexible in terms of possible answers, whereas the questions above seemed to have more definite solutions.

I actually meant to post this in the Careers forum, but I guess it works here too since they seem to be asked mainly at technology companies.

I still want to seek out ways to train my mind at questions like these. They are sort of like riddles, I think. I never paid much mind to riddles in the past. But I read that the Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin would have fun coming up with riddles together. I guess I need to study them more.

[DissedByBush]

3. How many seconds are there in a year?

Pretend you have no calculator.

Hint: Rain Man couldn't do this better than you.

[DaveJ]

4. There are two possible answers to the question right?

I'm not sure what these sort of questions have to do with job quality, but they do cause me to think differently.

[DissedByBush]

5. 12 n/t

[canetoad]

6. Dave, questions like that

Were compiled for the entertainment of naff little HR middle managers who, having no imagination and a stulifying job, need a way to make themselves feel superior to poor bastards looking for work.

They describe them as 'cultural' because it's a nice, hazy, all-encompassing word that really doesn't mean much. I bet the little shites privately wet their pants at the efforts of normal people to get a handle on this stupid behaviour.

You can never come up with the right answer because there is no right answer. You need to be able to baffle them with bullshit.

[Kennah]

7. Not sure I would call those questions "cultural"

Those are very much problem solving questions to test how you think, but I believe the more important point is that you don't freeze up and say, "Umm, I don't know." Even if you are wrong, keep thinking and talking about what you would do or what would happen. If you can think on your feet and react immediately, that is a very desirable trait in many places.

I work for the state, and I was on an interview panel in November. These are some of what I consider to be cultural questions.

"Tell me about a time when you had a major disagreement with your supervisor over a decision or policy."

The wrong answer is "I do what I'm told", and we all but got that from a couple of candidates. Be positive, speak up and talk to your supervisor, offer alternatives rather than just gripe, and ultimately comply with the decision of the supervisor. That's usually the right answer as the state doesn't want automatons.

"We have all worked with 'interesting' people. Tell me about a time when you worked with someone who was 'interesting'."

The questioner put emphasized the word 'interesting'. This one is tricky. Don't talk about the woman who raised goats. The right answer is to talk about someone who is difficult, weird, or both. Make it positive and talk about how you found alternative means to work with them or reach them, or reach them when others would not or did not. Especially in IT where I work, there are some very odd ducks. Because it's a vague question, it is a leading question that can draw people out and they end up volunteering a lot.