Ten bamboozling interview questions (and the companies that asked them)
By GQ magazine 12 June 12
1. You are shrunk to the height of a penny and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in sixty seconds. What do you do? (Google)
2. You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin increasing the speed slowly. What will happen first: will the glass slide off, will it tip over, or will the water splash out? (Apple)
3. Why are manhole covers round? (Microsoft)
4. How much cash is in my wallet? (Morgan Stanley's hedge fund PDT)
5. If you were a cartoon character, which would you be and why? (Bank of America)
6. How many petrol stations are there in the United States? (General Motors)
7. Why do you like singing? (Boston Consulting Group)
8. What colour best represents your personality? (Johnson and Johnson)
9. What would you do if a customer came into the store not wearing the appropriate amount of clothing? (Walmart)
10. How are potholes formed? (Cree)
Answers (where applicable)
1. At the same density, you would be strong enough to jump out.
2. It depends on the shape and fullness of the glass. A full, tall glass will spill first; a very short glass with little water will slide; a test-tube-like glass with topple over.
3. This is a tautology.
6. Approximately 115,000 stations.
9. A good answer distinguishes between teenage fashions and mentally disturbed adults
10. Inter-connecting fatigue cracks can "cut out" a section of road that gets lifted away by wheel loads. Ice in the cracks exacerbates the effect.
Originally published in the June 2012 issue of British GQ.