Puzzle me this
Posted Monday, May 19 2008 by The JobsBloggers
While I know this has been the subject of a previous post, I’ve been getting this question enough lately that I felt compelled to get my answer out there. Does Microsoft still ask a lot of puzzle questions?
I’m sure this scenario happens often enough: a candidate performs a search on Live for “Microsoft interview” and comes across a plethora of information related to our process.
While some of the information on these sites may have value (any recent hires care to comment?), it’s my impression that puzzle questions, once a mainstay of the MS interview, have more or less entered the endangered species list.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying it’s 100% guaranteed that you won’t receive this type of question – but it’s my feeling that the web at large highly overstates the frequency of these types of questions. In the last year I think I’ve seen maybe five instances of interviewers asking anything remotely close to a puzzle question. If you consider the hundreds of interviews that I’ve reviewed, I’d say your actual odds of receiving one are pretty darn low.
So if you’re going to be spending a bunch of time preparing for your upcoming interview, spend your time wisely. There are a few things that are just a bit more important than wondering why manhole covers are round.
- Kenji
7 commentsTagged as: interviewing, kenji
Comments
I just interviewed at Microsoft (and accepted a lead developer position), and I personally thought most of what I saw on the "Microsoft Interview" sites was useless. I didn't get a single puzzle question. I did a problem solving question - the "calculate the angle between the hour and minute hands of a clock" question that I saw on a few sites. I never really prepped for any of these problem solving questions, though. In other words, I didn't know - nor did I want to know - the answer when I went in. Why? I didn't want to sound like I had rehearsed the answer. Microsoft asks these questions so you can think about them and figure them out on the fly . They want to see you think! They want to see you reason things out! Going in rehearsed and blurting out the answer won't help there.
My advice? Go in with a clear head. Be prepared for tough questions. Don't get too flustered. Don't sound rehearsed. And, finally, don't be afraid to be wrong. It's more about the process than the answer.
I disagree with what Chris said. I think there is value in going through some questions like these before the interview. Don't try to learn the answers to the questions but instead give yourself some practice at solving these types of questions. It will put yourself in a good state of mind for the interview.
Regardless of whether or not MS ask you puzzles, they will ask you problem solving questions related to your field and solving these questions will help you problem solve because really, that's all they are.
I was interviewed around 3 months ago and I did receive two of these questions (both of which I got right). The first was the 3 light switches question, the second was representing a day and month using two 6 sided dice.
Having said that I would say that it's more important that you have a good idea of the principals of Software Engineering rather than know how to solve problems. Pick up a copy of a good book like Code Complete and read a few of the more relevant chapters out of that. I'm sure it will get you a lot further than memorizing a few puzzles.
I just had my interview process a little while ago...(I got hired!! w00t!!)
and lemme tell you something...the process has changed enormously :/ (my cousin who is workin' at MS for 3 years now told me his process was completely different)
we were 12 people in the room and from all the questions asked (3 interviews * 1 or 2 questions per interview * 12 people) only 1 was a puzzle...and that was only because this guy finished his code before the time and the interviewer was bored lol
focus on algorithms...really, this can save your life ;) or read my blog about my interview
www.lolrpg.net/microsoft
ups it was
http://www.lolrpg.net/blogs/microsoft/
sorry...:/
I just went through two rounds of interviews (1 for a program manger pos and one for an SDET position) and got the job as an SDET. I had one pretty wicked problem solving puzzle. It was in stark contrast to the first time I interviewed two years ago where I got a more general puzzle question.
I don't think the puzzle question has good away, I think it's gotten more sophisticated, especially as people post interview questions online :)
The interviewer I had the problem solving question was excited that I didn't know the answer because it meant he could see me work it out, and see where my problem solving issues, just like not knowing the answer to the manhole cover a few years ago would have allowed you to step through that (albiet simpler problem)
" While some of the information on these sites may have value (any recent hires care to comment?) "
Well i'm kinda proud to be able to comment on that :) (since i got a job offer for a sdet position some weeks ago)
basically i was interviewed in rio de janeiro, it looked to me that they were looking for a tester with great coding skills, .. i had only testing and coding questions. The good sites are those that have coding questions and include something like 'how would you test what you just coded?' ... forget about those 'moving mount fuji' questions, it is be better to have the interviewer saying something like 'ohh that's a good test case or a nice algorithm', so rather than trying to get ready for weird puzzle questions , it is way better to be ready to improve the efficiency of an algorithm in the interview... perhaps those puzzle questions may appear, but it is not an important matter!
best regards and good luck
I'm going to disagree with myself (kind of) and agree with Aaron. ;-) If you are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable answering problem solving questions, then a basic overview of these sites would be a great help. Don't get caught up in the details, though, and don't try to memorize (there are too many to do that anyway). Most importantly, though, go read some good books. I second the motion on Code Complete, and I would also recommend The Pragmatic Programmer.