10 Quirky Tech Job Interview Questions That May Stump You
Apple, Google, and other tech giants are notorious for grilling candidates with tough questions. How would you fare in one of their job interviews? Here are a few quirky questions tech companies asked applicants in the hot seat.
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Technology pros on the job hunt are already at an advantage -- they're in the hottest sector for landing top jobs, as Glassdoor recently reported. The employment website highlights the positions Software Architect and Data Scientist among its top tech roles for the year.
Tech workers benefit from technology's rampant growth across industries. In order to remain competitive among a digitally savvy consumer base, all businesses need employees who can boost their online and mobile presence.
Despite the broader demand for IT expertise, thousands of tech workers continue to submit applications in the hopes of landing a coveted spot at tech's biggest companies: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, the list goes on.
[Working at a startup sounds cool, but are you cut out for it?]
Some applicants hear nothing. Some receive form-letter rejections. A select bunch, however, receive the invitation to visit campus for an interview.
In many cases, the interview prep process is straightforward. Most companies will want to know why you want to work for them and why they should hire you. Some applicants can expect tests to demonstrate their abilities, depending on their area of expertise.
However, based on the stories to come from candidates at major tech companies, interviewees know a curveball could come their way. A candidate at Bose, for example, was asked how they might go about unloading a 747 full of jelly beans.
Here, we take a look at some questions asked by different tech companies in job interviews for a variety of positions. Each of these questions were submitted to Glassdoor from users who survived the interview process. Could you answer these? What would you say?
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Product Development: Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?
Software Developer: Why are manhole covers round?
Program Manager: You are on a game show. There are three doors, behind one of which is a prize and the other two is a chunk of coal, and the host knows which door holds the prize. You choose door #1. Before it is opened, the host opens door #3 and reveals a lump of coal. You have the choice to stick with the door you chose originally or switch to door #2. What do you do?
Technical Support Engineer: You work on the 60th floor of a 100-story building. You walk into your office and find a bomb sitting on your desk. If reads 90 seconds and is counting down. What do you do?
IT: What would you write on the tombstone of the current hotel industry?
Mechanical Engineer: You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin slowly increasing the speed. What happens first? Does the glass slide off? Does it tip over? Or does the water splash out?
Data Scientist: You're about to get on a plane to Seattle. You want to know if you should bring an umbrella. You call three random friends of yours who live there and ask each independently if it's raining. Each of your friends has a 2/3 chance of telling you the truth and a 1/3 chance of messing with you by lying. All three friends tell you, yes, it is raining. What is the probability that it's actually raining in Seattle?
Solutions Architect: If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
Software Developer: You have five horses on a five-lane track, and you want to rank the top three. All you have available to you is the track and the ability to tell perfectly in which order the horses cross the finish line. How many races are necessary in order to rank the top three horses?
Senior Project Manager: If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
Senior Project Manager: If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
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