Interview Question
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You don't need a tool to find the middle of the rope. Set fire to one end. Once it has burnt to the middle set light to the other end. 45 mins.
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You don't have a tool to measure to the "middle" ... unless you mean wait for 30 min then set light to the other end.
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
Actually the 1st is a bit of a trick question. The hint is in this line:
Rahul VB wrote:
For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour.
Did he actually state that the rope is 1 hour long and you must then divide it into a half hour- and another into a 3/4 hour rope? I think this question is meant to find out how you read a problem. E.g. your measuring tool is time. And all you're being asked is to measure a rope of 30 min "long" and another of 45 min "long" ... i.e. start burning the rope while you start the measurement (i.e. something like a stopwatch). Then snuff the burning rope once it's reached the time indicated. Now if you're required to end with a rope the same length as the specified time, you'd need at least 2 ropes (equal lengths) to achieve this. E.g. time how long the 1st burns, subtract the required left over rope from that time then burn the 2nd for that amount and snuff it.
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If it't a rope, you don't need a tool to find the middle. Just fold it, then pull the ends apart a little bit so that it lies in the shape of a V.
The good thing about pessimism is, that you are always either right or pleasently surprised.
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Actually the 1st is a bit of a trick question. The hint is in this line:
Rahul VB wrote:
For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour.
Did he actually state that the rope is 1 hour long and you must then divide it into a half hour- and another into a 3/4 hour rope? I think this question is meant to find out how you read a problem. E.g. your measuring tool is time. And all you're being asked is to measure a rope of 30 min "long" and another of 45 min "long" ... i.e. start burning the rope while you start the measurement (i.e. something like a stopwatch). Then snuff the burning rope once it's reached the time indicated. Now if you're required to end with a rope the same length as the specified time, you'd need at least 2 ropes (equal lengths) to achieve this. E.g. time how long the 1st burns, subtract the required left over rope from that time then burn the 2nd for that amount and snuff it.
Alternative to this (as others have mentioned) what if burning the rope is not necessarily the means of measuring it against time? Though here I might have to query on the translation, e.g. if the word rope is replaced with fuse the burning at a specified time interval makes a lot more sense than with a "rope". Also, are you allowed to "invent" (or rather deduce) a new measurement from a sample? E.g. take a single rope, measure it using some other means (e.g. using a stick you picked up). Then time how long it takes to burn it. Then you can use maths to use the stick as non-destructive measure on other ropes. And then, if the interviewer keeps giving you restrictions which void your answers. E.g. using mine above he then states: But you don't have 2 ropes. Or it's impossible to snuff. Etc. etc. ... that probably means he's actually testing your willingness to continue problem solving and how you react under pressure.
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
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Yes Sir, Thats true. Capability and knowledge is every thing. This aptitude test and all bull shit. And on top of that what is the need to impose a criteria like 60% and above throughout academics? Its becoming frustrating now. In one company i cleared all aptitude and technical rounds, however one person who topped throughout his academics flunked these tests. Now what can be said about this? Well i hope these practices are not followed else where. Thanks and Regards, Rahul.
Rahul, I hope these types of tests are used everywhere. And the criteria for being in the top 60% is merely an exclusion of the BOTTOM 40%, which shows someone who did not LOVE the degree, in my book. And the Guy who did GREAT in school, and FAILED these tests is WHY they (we) give such tests. It is the opposite of working the system. All school tests are solvable. Not all problems in real life are. We need people who can figure that portion out... They have to know what they don't know, or realize they cannot solve the problem BEFORE they just start banging out code. I use tests like these. Even worse... How many molecules of rubber comes off a tire in a single rotation, under normal wear conditions? If the person studied a lot of physics: If I push a fudge brownie out into space from the MIR space station. Will it explode/implode? Please explain? To be clear, what I am looking for has NOTHING to do with the answer. It has to do with the reasoning, and their reactions to the question, and their follow-up questions. Honestly, put yourself in their shoes. If you had 1,000 people to interview for 100 positions, and you wanted to hire the types of people who are going to do the best... How would you decide that? - Personality? (doesn't work) - Dress? (hardly?) - Experience (maybe, but if you have 10:1, you probably pay on the low side, and you should, for the new people. Give me someone who wants a chance to prove themselves and have shown this during school) It is a simple optimization, and a requirement to optimize. Interviewing takes time and costs money.
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"Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do?" You burn it from both ends :) They really will end up with expert pyromaniacs in that company.
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If you read some of the other posts, you'll note that this was disallowed: "Not allowed to fold the rope".
The only way this can be done with a single rope is either by exact measurement or proportions of the rope. Since you can neither measure it (no tools) nor find proportions (requires bending the rope) this cannot be done accurately. However, if you have two ropes this may be possible: Light both ends of one rope and one end of the second. When the first rope is fully burnt light the other end of the second rope.
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
Fire is just an example of one way of measuring the length of the rope. So for example, tie one end of the rope to a tree and walk away for an hour... how long is the rope - ones hours length of walking long. Go back to the tree and do the same for 30 minutes and 45 minutes, you've got 3 measurements. It's a silly question, so I think silly answers are only fair.
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
You answer "African or European?" and then mention to the interviewer that you require a steady uninterrupted stream of "Skittles" delivered to your desk as you code. Interviews always respond favourably to developers with sugar addictions. Its not the capabilities, its the carbs....
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Fire is just an example of one way of measuring the length of the rope. So for example, tie one end of the rope to a tree and walk away for an hour... how long is the rope - ones hours length of walking long. Go back to the tree and do the same for 30 minutes and 45 minutes, you've got 3 measurements. It's a silly question, so I think silly answers are only fair.
This is the only answer that makes sense to me so far. You can measure pretty much any length multiple times this way. I think it is cool.
I would imagine if you could understand Morse Code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy. [Mitch Hedberg (American Comedian, 1968-2005)]
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Rahul, I hope these types of tests are used everywhere. And the criteria for being in the top 60% is merely an exclusion of the BOTTOM 40%, which shows someone who did not LOVE the degree, in my book. And the Guy who did GREAT in school, and FAILED these tests is WHY they (we) give such tests. It is the opposite of working the system. All school tests are solvable. Not all problems in real life are. We need people who can figure that portion out... They have to know what they don't know, or realize they cannot solve the problem BEFORE they just start banging out code. I use tests like these. Even worse... How many molecules of rubber comes off a tire in a single rotation, under normal wear conditions? If the person studied a lot of physics: If I push a fudge brownie out into space from the MIR space station. Will it explode/implode? Please explain? To be clear, what I am looking for has NOTHING to do with the answer. It has to do with the reasoning, and their reactions to the question, and their follow-up questions. Honestly, put yourself in their shoes. If you had 1,000 people to interview for 100 positions, and you wanted to hire the types of people who are going to do the best... How would you decide that? - Personality? (doesn't work) - Dress? (hardly?) - Experience (maybe, but if you have 10:1, you probably pay on the low side, and you should, for the new people. Give me someone who wants a chance to prove themselves and have shown this during school) It is a simple optimization, and a requirement to optimize. Interviewing takes time and costs money.
Hello Sir, I completely understand what you want to say. I also understand that you are one of the recruiters. I have nothing against these tests. Its just my frustration. I understand the importance of these questions. and speaking about
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And the criteria for being in the top 60% is merely an exclusion of the BOTTOM 40%
and it may also happen that due to bad fate or some family problem or something else, that student might have not performed in his academics, this doesnt mean that he dint respect his degree. You cant take away good and bad fate away from people. These few people in top 60% are not able to debug something like below scenarios 1)string s="1,2,3,4,5"; s.split(',')[0]; 2) Object reference not set to an instance of an object. What they do is operate on thousands of variables. Throughout their academics the simply mug up the entire book. They have 100% attendance. So they get good internal marks. This is what brings them to 60% throughout. I completely understand that there are 1000's of candidates and very few to interview and seal the position. Its just that : i just hope that you dont relate marks with intelligence,knowledge and capability. It might happen that in the bottom 40% that you left out might be a promising candidate. One of my friends flunked an year due to bad fate. Now he is one of the best Dot Net architects i have ever met. Today's generation dont want knowledge, they just want money, no one is willing to learn. They just want a good package. It is all because of this stupid education system today people lack knowledge. And yes i understand everything and agree to what ever you said. But i just want to say never let go of a promising candidate. Ok now tell me a person has scored 60% throughout passes the interview, but fails to perform now what will you do? His marksheet, degree, etc all is a waste. With due respect Sir, i just want to say , my aim here is not to oppose you or to fight with you. But please read the comments of Original Griff(MVP since many years and many people. You will come to know what we are saying please read other comments also. I hope you will realize the importance of an MVP title.) Not judging a person based on his knowledge and capability and taking into consideration his marks is not correct. I understand optimizing is important, but sometimes there is a wrong optimization. Lastly i just want to say, i apologi
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Hello Sir, I completely understand what you want to say. I also understand that you are one of the recruiters. I have nothing against these tests. Its just my frustration. I understand the importance of these questions. and speaking about
Quote:
And the criteria for being in the top 60% is merely an exclusion of the BOTTOM 40%
and it may also happen that due to bad fate or some family problem or something else, that student might have not performed in his academics, this doesnt mean that he dint respect his degree. You cant take away good and bad fate away from people. These few people in top 60% are not able to debug something like below scenarios 1)string s="1,2,3,4,5"; s.split(',')[0]; 2) Object reference not set to an instance of an object. What they do is operate on thousands of variables. Throughout their academics the simply mug up the entire book. They have 100% attendance. So they get good internal marks. This is what brings them to 60% throughout. I completely understand that there are 1000's of candidates and very few to interview and seal the position. Its just that : i just hope that you dont relate marks with intelligence,knowledge and capability. It might happen that in the bottom 40% that you left out might be a promising candidate. One of my friends flunked an year due to bad fate. Now he is one of the best Dot Net architects i have ever met. Today's generation dont want knowledge, they just want money, no one is willing to learn. They just want a good package. It is all because of this stupid education system today people lack knowledge. And yes i understand everything and agree to what ever you said. But i just want to say never let go of a promising candidate. Ok now tell me a person has scored 60% throughout passes the interview, but fails to perform now what will you do? His marksheet, degree, etc all is a waste. With due respect Sir, i just want to say , my aim here is not to oppose you or to fight with you. But please read the comments of Original Griff(MVP since many years and many people. You will come to know what we are saying please read other comments also. I hope you will realize the importance of an MVP title.) Not judging a person based on his knowledge and capability and taking into consideration his marks is not correct. I understand optimizing is important, but sometimes there is a wrong optimization. Lastly i just want to say, i apologi
Rahul, Nothing you said should offend me. When I go to the market for fresh fruit, I DO NOT look at EVERY piece of fruit. I do not look at the bad ones. Once I find what I need, I stop. Will I leave BETTER fruit behind? CERTAINLY. I was giving you the OTHER SIDE of the story, because WHEN (not if, as I wish) I make a bad hiring decision, the cost is QUITE HIGH. It typically takes 60 days to realize it. That is 2 months of WASTED salary + 2 months of WASTED training + 2 months of LOST opportunity. Oh, BTW, my rule of thumb is a new hire costs 6 months, because it takes those 2 months and other peoples time to get them up to speed. So now it will cost me 1yr of someones salary EVERY TIME I am wrong. For that price, I MUST try not to be wrong. I must play the odds... Now, there are 3 things YOU should do: 1) Change the conversation. If your OVERALL grades < 60%, maybe you have 90% in your major? Push that! 2) Show up with REAL LIFE examples of work. I got my first programming job at 18. My boss took a risk, but I took a low salary and EXCEEDED his expectations. But I also had excellent references, and I brought with me work in 3 different languages on the machines (PDP-11s) he was using. 3) Do Something. Publish Something. Make something useful. Make Flippy Bird II, the flight of the finger... (pun is intended)... Find out what they are doing, and do something related. At the same time that I use filters, I will interview ANYONE willing to be put through it, if they show enough initiative... Yes, book smarts alone is not good enough. Just don't hate the process! When I start hiring, I get ready for the following: - Idiots who have typos on their resume - People who call when an ad says Do not call (I use a pseudonym so the calls get blocked) - About as many Head Hunters as actual prospects will reach out to me (for MONTHS filling the position) - People who will claim to be self-starters that "need" a team to work on - People who outright lie about their skills - People who have certifications that don't know anything useful But it is not personal. I sort the resumes into piles: - Experience and Education - Just Experience (no formal education) - Just Education (recent graduates, etc) - No Experience or Education - No Clue, errors, wrong job, etc I start calling from the first Pile. The second and third are only used if I see something I like... Anyways, I wish you luck. And BTW, one of my favorite ANSI C questions was the result of: { int x;
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Rahul, Nothing you said should offend me. When I go to the market for fresh fruit, I DO NOT look at EVERY piece of fruit. I do not look at the bad ones. Once I find what I need, I stop. Will I leave BETTER fruit behind? CERTAINLY. I was giving you the OTHER SIDE of the story, because WHEN (not if, as I wish) I make a bad hiring decision, the cost is QUITE HIGH. It typically takes 60 days to realize it. That is 2 months of WASTED salary + 2 months of WASTED training + 2 months of LOST opportunity. Oh, BTW, my rule of thumb is a new hire costs 6 months, because it takes those 2 months and other peoples time to get them up to speed. So now it will cost me 1yr of someones salary EVERY TIME I am wrong. For that price, I MUST try not to be wrong. I must play the odds... Now, there are 3 things YOU should do: 1) Change the conversation. If your OVERALL grades < 60%, maybe you have 90% in your major? Push that! 2) Show up with REAL LIFE examples of work. I got my first programming job at 18. My boss took a risk, but I took a low salary and EXCEEDED his expectations. But I also had excellent references, and I brought with me work in 3 different languages on the machines (PDP-11s) he was using. 3) Do Something. Publish Something. Make something useful. Make Flippy Bird II, the flight of the finger... (pun is intended)... Find out what they are doing, and do something related. At the same time that I use filters, I will interview ANYONE willing to be put through it, if they show enough initiative... Yes, book smarts alone is not good enough. Just don't hate the process! When I start hiring, I get ready for the following: - Idiots who have typos on their resume - People who call when an ad says Do not call (I use a pseudonym so the calls get blocked) - About as many Head Hunters as actual prospects will reach out to me (for MONTHS filling the position) - People who will claim to be self-starters that "need" a team to work on - People who outright lie about their skills - People who have certifications that don't know anything useful But it is not personal. I sort the resumes into piles: - Experience and Education - Just Experience (no formal education) - Just Education (recent graduates, etc) - No Experience or Education - No Clue, errors, wrong job, etc I start calling from the first Pile. The second and third are only used if I see something I like... Anyways, I wish you luck. And BTW, one of my favorite ANSI C questions was the result of: { int x;
Respected Sir, If according to you i am that fruit in the market which you wont look upon, thats ok. With due respect i dont and i wont hate the hiring process. I again apologize for my language(if it hurt you). I respect every senior person in the industry and you are a senior so i respect you too. And yes i understood the other side of the story. It was nice speaking to you. I will look forward to learn many things from you. Thanks and Regards, Rahul
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I didn't realize that: but it makes sense. The Sith use VB, and the Rebels C#. Explains a lot...
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
Hokey JIT compilers and ancient mutated language structures are no match for a good Modern Fortran compiler at your side, kid.
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Hokey JIT compilers and ancient mutated language structures are no match for a good Modern Fortran compiler at your side, kid.
These aren't the compilers we're looking for.
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
No cut, no fold? With the rope, wrap 1 turn, one end in contact with each other, if you set fire to any point of the rope, this will take 30 minutes to burn (1st response). With the same rope, wrap 2 turns, each turn in contact with the other and the end in contact with the other, if you put the fire at any point it would take 15 minutes to burn. Separate one of the turns in keeping contact only at the end of the first round, set fire to the end of this offset turn which will take 30 min to burn and ignite the following turn which burns by the 2 ends during 15 minutes, therefore total 45 min. (2nd response). Is this not? I don't understand the second problem, fire me! :-D
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
1a. Fold in half and fire it up. 1b. Fold in half, fold one half in half, open the folded half and fire it up. 2. Move two from the bottom row up to the second row. Move the top one to the bottom. This is not difficult. Or do I not understand?
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Hello Friends, I went for an interview to a company: they asked me these 2 questions: 1> I have a rope. There is no tool available to measure that rope. I can just measure that rope using time. For example i set it on fire and the rope burns for one hour. a>Now i want to measure the rope for half an hour what to do? b>I want to measure it for 45 minutes. How to do? 2> I have a figure below: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) I want to convert it to: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) You have 2 options: a>Either use 3 smilies at once to rearrange the figure. b>Or use a combination of (2 + 1) smilies to rearrange the figure. which means you have only 1 chance if you use 3 smilies. OR 2 chances if you use (2 + 1) smilies You cant do a 1 + 1 + 1 combination of smilies to rearrange the figure. I was given 15 minutes to solve the above problems. Thanks a ton
Question 1: Fold the rope in half for 30 minutes, fold once more and take 3 lengths of the rope to equal 45 minutes. Question 2: No clue for the next question. Can you reword it in away that doesn't show me that English isn't your first language?
