Truth 37
Critical Thinking Drills Influence Hiring Decisions

If you had to build a 150-story building, how would you go about it?

How many gas stations are there in the U.S.?

How would you test a toaster?

How would you design a coffeemaker for an automobile?

You've probably heard of some of these legendary interview questions being asked at many high-tech companies—questions that baffle an interviewee, such as how manhole covers possibly relate to a job as a developer, marketing manager, or financial controller. On the surface, these seem like highly peculiar and illogical questions for an interviewer to be asking. However, rather than focusing on the answer, the interviewer is examining the thought process the interviewee uses to come up with the answer.

What is an interviewer looking for when asking how you would design a coffeemaker for an automobile? When I do interviews, I look for several things:

• Creativity. What unique and innovative ideas you apply to a problem.
• Critical thinking. How quickly you think on your feet and what assumptions you make to analyze problems and develop solution alternatives.
• Grace under pressure. How you respond when put under pressure.

In one interview I conducted, the interviewee had a good resume and did great with answering technical questions. I was feeling pretty good about the interviewee and was leaning toward hiring him. Then I asked him how he would build a 150-story building. This is where things fell apart. He simply couldn't show critical thinking or creativity in his thought process, and he stammered through an answer. I ended up declining the candidate because, while I thought he had the technical skills to do the job, he didn't demonstrate some of the core attributes my company looked for in its employees.

When you're being interviewed, here are some techniques to keep in mind when faced with "manhole cover" questions:

• Verbalize your thought process. These types of questions are meant to assess your thought process. Don't be afraid to verbalize your thoughts so that your interviewer can follow how you think through problems. You won't get any points for working something out in your head and then blurting out an answer.
• Allow your creativity to show through. From my perspective, the more creative and innovative the thought process and answer, the more I am impressed with an interviewee. Don't be afraid to color outside the lines on your answer.
• Feel free to sketch something out. Don't be afraid to step up to a whiteboard or pull out a sheet of paper and sketch something out. Again, how you think through problems is the most important thing to demonstrate, so if sketching something helps your thought process, by all means do so.

The more creative and innovative the thought process and answer, the more I am impressed with an interviewee.

• Use assumptions to estimate your answer. Interviewers like to see how you use assumptions to estimate an answer. For instance, one way to answer the question about how many gas stations there are in the U.S. would be to take the number of people in the U.S. and then estimate the number of people per gas station.
• Stay concise and avoid babbling. Verbalizing your thought process is good, but try to keep things concise and avoid babbling or random verbalizing. If you need to stop for a few seconds to collect your thoughts, do so.
• Don't panic. If you get one of these questions, don't panic. Take a deep breath, think about it for a few seconds, and have fun with your answer. Yes, you're being interviewed for a job you'd really like, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a job. Stay calm and let your creative juices flow.
• Don't insult the interviewer. During one interview, I asked an interviewee how he would go about testing a toaster. The interviewee asked what relevance that had to the job and told me it was a dumb question. His response told me everything I needed to know and made my hiring decision very easy. Insulting the interviewer only demonstrates arrogance on your part. Don't do it.

Oddball questions are intended to see how you think, how creative you are, and how you respond under pressure.

Expect that you'll be asked oddball questions. Remember that they are intended to see how you think, how creative you are, and how you respond under pressure. Just stay calm, verbalize your thought process, show some creativity, and have fun with your answer. You'll get your point across to your interviewer and will make a positive impression that can mean the difference between being hired and being passed over.