Comment by hessenwolf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by hessenwolf | Hacker News Reader

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And you know what? Maybe I'd like to work for Google or McKinsey. However, I suck at brainteasers.

I've worked in research since 2002. I always solve the problem. I'm the one you go to, after the other teams ran into trouble (I work rather hard to position myself as that).

I take the details of your issue, and offer to come back to you. Then I brainstorm and come back with a proposal. I will probably discuss the problem with several other specialists, one or two at a time.

Ideas occur at a Poisson rate with time spent thinking. I find running helps to focus the time spent thinking.

My most creative problem-solving ideas I've had while peeing. I think it is the interruption.

These screening interviews will rule me out, with high probability. Fine.

These screening interviews will rule me out, with high probability

This sounds like a problem that you could put your mind to solving.

The solution is like the blog author's (maybe it was a different blog I read this morning): practice interview questions. Study for the exam.

Yeah, I can do that. Mmmm. And maybe I pass. But other companies won't make me do that...

So, if the aim was screening for people that want to work for Google above all else, then, yes, the screening totally works. But... Google would downsize you and your project coldly if there were financial reason to do so, so...

Not a big fan of Google here, but while they may kill your project in cold blood, I highly doubt they'd downsize you with it.

The other part you should consider is that Google and others of their whiteboarding ilk will likely pay you much more than other companies, except maybe finance. So if other factors don't prevent you, maybe it's worth jumping through the hoops for the pay upgrade.

>I've worked in research since 2002. I always solve the problem.

Those two sentences conflict heavily with each other. In research it is very rare to solve open problems. So either you are researching trivial things or your definition of "solving the problem" includes assuming it can't be solved.

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