GOOGLE JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
Job: Product Manager
Answer: This is one of those questions Google asks just to see if the applicant can explain the key challenge to solving the problem.
Reader Matt Beuchamp came up with a dandy (=very good) answer, writing:
I figure a standard school bus is about 8ft wide by 6ft high by 20 feet long - this is just a guess based on the thousands of hours I have been trapped behind school buses while traffic in all directions is stopped.
That means 960 cubic feet and since there are 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot, that means about 1.6 million cubic inches.
I calculate the volume of a golf ball to be about 2.5 cubic inches (4/3 * pi * .85) as .85 inches is the radius of a golf ball.
Divide that 2.5 cubic inches into 1.6 million and you come up with 660,000 golf balls. However, since there are seats and crap in there taking up space and also since the spherical shape of a golf ball means there will be considerable empty space between them when stacked, I'll round down to 500,000 golf balls.
Which sounds ludicrous. I would have guessed no more than 100k. But I stand by my math.
Of course, if we are talking about the kind of bus that George Bush went to school on or Barney Frank rides to work every day, it would be half that....or 250,000 golf balls.
2. How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?
Job: Product Manager
Answer: This is one of those questions where the trick is to come up with an easier answer than the one that's seemingly being called for. We'd say. "$10 per window."
3. In a country in which people only want boys…
…every family continues to have children until they have a boy. If they have a girl, they have another child. If they have a boy, they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls in the country?
Job: Product Manager
Answer: This one caused quite the debate, but we figured it out following these steps:
- Imagine you have 10 couples who have 10 babies. 5 will be girls. 5 will be boys. (Total babies made: 10, with 5 boys and 5 girls)
- The 5 couples who had girls will have 5 babies. Half (2.5) will be girls. Half (2.5) will be boys. Add 2.5 boys to the 5 already born and 2.5 girls to the 5 already born. (Total babies made: 15, with 7.5 boys and 7.5 girls.)
- The 2.5 couples that had girls will have 2.5 babies. Half (1.25) will be boys and half (1.25) will be girls. Add 1.25 boys to the 7.5 boys already born and 1.25 girls to the 7.5 already born. (Total babies: 17.5 with 8.75 boys and 8.75 girls).
- And so on, maintianing a 50/50 population.
3. How many times a day dothe clock’s hands overlap?
Job: Product Manager
Answer: 22 times. From WikiAnswers:
AM
12:00 1:05 2:11 3:16 4:22 5:27 6:33 7:38 8:44 9:49
4. You're the captain of a pirate ship…
…and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up. If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?
Job: Engineering Manager
Answer: You divide the booty evenly between the top 51% of the crew.
5. You have eight balls all of the same size…
…7 of them weigh the same, and one of them weighs slightly more. How can you find the ball that is heavier by using a balance and only two weighings?
Job: Product Manager
Answer: Reader Hyloka nailed this one first:
Take 6 of the 8 balls and put 3 on each side of the scale. If the heavy ball isn't in the group of 6, you know it's one of the remaining 2 and so you put those two in the scale and determine which one. If the heavy ball is in the 6, you have narrowed it down to 3. Of those 3, pick any 2 and put them on the scale. If the heavy ball is in that group of 2, you know which one it is. If both balls are of equal weight, then the heavy ball is the one you sat to the side.
REPORTED SPEECH EXERCISES:
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Example: Peter: "Clean the black shoes!"
Peter told me ______
Answer: Peter told me to clean the black shoes.
1) Andrew: "Clean the blue bike!"
Andrew told me .
2) Jessica: "Write a text message!"
Jessica told me .
3) Nelly: "Help Peter's sister!"
Nelly told me .
4) Fred: "Wash your hands!"
Fred told me .
5) Anna: "Open the window!"
Anna told me .
6) Tom: "Come at 8!"
Tom told me .
7) Teacher: "Do your homework!"
The teacher told me .
Example: Peter: "Don't clean the black shoes!"
Peter told me ______
Answer: Peter told me not to clean the black shoes.
1) Karen: "Don't play football in the garden!"
Karen told me .
2) Teacher: "Don't forget your homework!"
The teacher reminded me .
3) Mike: "Don't shout at Peter!"
Mike told me .
4) Yvonne: "Don't talk to your neighbour!"
Yvonne told me .
5) Denise: "Don't open the door!"
Denise told me .
Example: Peter: "I clean the black shoes."
Peter told me that ______
Answer: Peter told me that he cleaned the black shoes.
1) John: "Mandy is at home."
John said that .
2) Max: "Frank often reads a book."
Max told me that .
3) Susan: "I'm watching TV."
Susan said to me that .
4) Simon: "David was ill."
Simon said that .
5) Peggy: "The girls helped in the house."
Peggy told me that .
6) Richard: "I am going to ride a skateboard."
Richard said to me that .
7) Stephen and Claire: "We have cleaned the windows."
Stephen and Claire told me that .
8) Charles: "I didn't have time to do my homework."
Charles remarked that .
9) Mrs Jones: "My mother will be 50 years old."
Mrs Jones told me that .
10) Jean: "The boss must sign the letter."
Jean said that .
Example: Peter: "I cleaned the black shoes yesterday."
Peter told me that ______
Answer: Peter told me that he had cleaned the black shoes the day before.
1) Emily: "Our teacher will go to Leipzig tomorrow."
Emily said that .
2) Helen: "I was writing a letter yesterday."
Helen told me that .
3) Robert: "My father flew to Dallas last year."
Robert told me that .
4) Lisa: "Tim went to the stadium an hour ago."
Lisa said that .
5) Patricia: "My mother will celebrate her birthday next weekend."
Patricia said that .
6) Michael: "I am going to read a book this week."
Michael said to me that .
7) Jason and Victoria: "We will do our best in the exams tomorrow."
Jason and Victoria told me that .
8) Andrew: "We didn't eat fish two days ago."
Andrew remarked that .
9) Alice: "I spent all my pocket money on Monday."
Alice complained that .
10) David: "John had already gone at six."
David said that .
Example: Peter: "I cleaned the black shoes yesterday."
Peter told me that ______
Answer: Peter told me that he had cleaned the black shoes the day before.
1) Emily: "Our teacher will go to Leipzig tomorrow."
Emily said that .
2) Helen: "I was writing a letter yesterday."
Helen told me that .
3) Robert: "My father flew to Dallas last year."
Robert told me that .
4) Lisa: "Tim went to the stadium an hour ago."
Lisa said that .
5) Patricia: "My mother will celebrate her birthday next weekend."
Patricia said that .
6) Michael: "I am going to read a book this week."
Michael said to me that .
7) Jason and Victoria: "We will do our best in the exams tomorrow."
Jason and Victoria told me that .
8) Andrew: "We didn't eat fish two days ago."
Andrew remarked that .
9) Alice: "I spent all my pocket money on Monday."
Alice complained that .
10) David: "John had already gone at six."
David said that .
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