Hiring Decisions are Influenced by Critical Thinking Drills

What steps would you take if you needed to build a 150-story building?

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

What is the significance of spherical manhole covers?

How would you go about designing an espresso machine for a vehicle?

You’ve most likely heard of some of the famous interview questions asked at many high-tech firms — questions that perplex an interviewee as to how manhole covers might possibly relate to a job as a developer, advertising supervisor, or monetary controller. These appear to be extremely strange and illogical questions for an interviewer to be asking on the floor. It isn’t so much the answer that the interviewer is looking for as it is the thought process that the interviewee employs to provide you with the answer.

What should an interviewer look for when you’re asked how you’ll design an espresso machine for a vehicle? After conducting interviews, I look for a number of issues:

• Creativity refers to the unique and progressive ideas that you apply to a problem.
• Important thinking – How quickly you think on your toes and what assumptions you make to research problems and develop solutions.
• Grace in the face of adversity – How you respond in the face of adversity.

In a single interview, the interviewee had an excellent resume and answered technical questions well. I used to have a good feeling about the interviewee and was considering hiring him. Then I asked him how he would build a 150-story building. That’s where things fell apart. He simply wasn’t capable of displaying significant pondering or creativity in his thought course of action and stammered through a solution. I ended up rejecting the candidate because, while I believed he had the technical skills to do the job, he lacked one of the key characteristics that my company looked for in its employees.

While you’re being interviewed, keep the following tips in mind if you’re asked about your “manhole cowl”:

• Describe your thought process – All of these questions are designed to assess your thought process. Do not be afraid to express your thoughts so that your interviewer can understand how you think about issues. You will not be rewarded for figuring something out in your head and blurting out a solution.
• Allow your creativity to shine through by using – In my opinion, the more inventive and progressive the thought course of and response, the more impressed I am with an interviewee. In your response, don’t be afraid to color outside the lines.
• Be willing to sketch something out – Do not be afraid to use a whiteboard or a sheet of paper to sketch something out. Again, the way you think about issues is an important factor to demonstrate, so if sketching something out helps your thought course of, by all means do so.
• Use assumptions to estimate your response – Interviewers are interested in seeing how you use assumptions to estimate a solution. For example, if the question is how many gasoline stations there are in America, one method of estimating the number of gasoline stations is to use the number of people in America and make assumptions on the number of people per gasoline station.
• Keep things concise and avoid babbling – While verbalizing your thought process is enjoyable, try to keep things concise and avoid babbling or random verbalizing. If you need to pause for a few seconds to gather your thoughts, do so.
• Do not panic – If you are asked one of these questions, do not be alarmed. Take a deep breath, think about it for a few seconds, and have fun with your response. Sure, you’re being interviewed for a job that you really want, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a job. Keep calm and allow your creative juices to flow.
• Do not offend the interviewer – During one interview, I asked an interviewee how he would test a toaster. The interviewee asked what relevance the query had to the job and told me it was a dumb question. The interviewee’s response informed me of everything I needed to know and simplified my hiring decision. Insulting the interviewer will only show arrogance on your part. Do not attempt it.

You can expect to be asked unusual questions. Remember that they are looking to see how you think, how creative you are, and how you react under pressure. Simply maintain calm, verbalize your thought process, be inventive, and have fun with your response. You can get your point across to your interviewer and make a positive impression that could mean the difference between being hired and being passed over. Oh, and to answer the question “Why are manhole covers spherical?” it is the only shape that will not fall through the opening when tilted.