Day 15 Ramadhan - Stay at Home

"Instead of thinking outside the box, get rid of the box."

Self-Study Today: Puzzling Questions

Remember how we can get butterflies while waiting for the interview session.

And then the adrenaline rush kicks in when suddenly, the impossible question comes in.

When it's better to not answer, "I don't know" yet don't want to make a fool out of ourselves. 

Good news is, if you've read the book "How Would You Move Mount Fuji?", there's a chapter on "How to Outsmart the Puzzle Interview".

To quote a bit:

1) Decide first what kind of answer is expected.

Logic puzzles normally have to solve on your own. (Monologue)

Design and case questions requires you to ask for more information. (Dialogue)

Open-ended questions, intentionally to generate a conversation. (How smart the person is based on the conversation occurred.)

2) Whatever you think first is wrong

These questions are supposed to be difficult, that's why it's called "puzzling". Best way to start supplying the answer is to explain why the "obvious" reason is wrong. It will be an excellent way to help you understand the question while not being quiet for a long time.

3) Forget you ever learned calculus

This is only applies to logic puzzles. Always give the simple answer.

4) Complicated question = simple answer.

E.g. What country does Voltaire described as "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire".

Answer: the Holy Roman Empire.

5) Simple question = complicated answer

One-liners question such as "How would you test an elevator?" often means you're expected to ask for more information.

6) When crucial information is missing in a logic puzzle, lay out the possible scenarios.

You'll almost always find that you don't need the missing information to solve the problem.

7) Where possible, give a good answer that the interviewer has never heard before.

Especially to open-ended questions with "no right answers".

Eat to Live

Today's main course cooked is Tofu Soup

Food for Thought

Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷