Google is notorious for its prodigiously tough recruitment process and is known for throwing tricky interview questions at job candidates, often in the form of mind-boggling brainteasers. But the technology giant's unorthodox interview methods may be scaring off talented and valuable workers. Here are some of Google's toughest and most bizarre interview questions and how to answer them. We also have some suggestions on what interview questions the company should ask instead.
谷歌的招聘一直非常严格,并且以对求职者抛出刁钻的面试问题而著称,这些问题通常以令人难以置信的脑筋急转弯的形式出现。但这家科技巨头的非正统的面试方法可能会吓跑有才华和有价值的员工。以下是谷歌最棘手和最古怪的面试问题,以及该如何回答这些问题的建议。我们也对公司应该提出哪些面试问题有一些建议。
 
When you're a company that everybody is tripping over themselves to work for, you have the luxury of being picky. But there is a limit on how far you can push job candidates before they snap. Google is currently being sued by several software engineers for alleged discriminatory recruitment practices. An experienced programmer, Michael Geary, recounted on Hacker News that he passed on applying for a job at Google after hearing about the tricky interview questions that the company is prone to asking.
如果你的公司非常吸引人,大家都挤破头想进去,那么你自然有理由挑剔候选人。但这种挑剔也是有限度的,不能在挑好职员前吓走职员。谷歌目前正被几名软件工程师起诉,称其存在歧视性招聘做法。一个有经验的程序员,Michael Geary,讲述了一个关于他在谷歌申请工作的消息,之前他听说这个公司很容易提出的刁钻的面试问题。
 
One applicant for Google's director of engineering role Pierre Gauthier -- who has 37 years' experience in coding and 24 years as a research and development director -- called out the rigid criteria the company's recruiter's use and the questions he was asked during the interview process.
一位谷歌的工程总监Pierre Gauthier(他有37年的编程经验,担任了24年的研发总监)讲述了公司招聘人员使用的严格标准以及面试过程中被问到的问题。
 
Here's some of the toughest and weirdest interview questions Google has asked in the past and how to answer them:
以下是最难的问题以及回答方式:

#1 How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
一辆校车内可以容纳多少个高尔夫球?
It's not just about getting a solid answer; the question requires the respondent to go through their methodology used in solving the question. Consider the size of a school bus and how big the golf balls are.
这不是给出一个具体数字就能解决的问题,而是需要回答者讲述解题过程和方法。可以考虑一下校车的大小和高尔夫球的大小。
 
#2 Out of eight balls, seven balls weigh equal while the one ball is slightly heavier than the others how would you figure out which one is the heavier by using a balance and only two weighing?
在8个球中,7个球的重量是相等的,而其中一个球的重量比其他球稍微重一些,你怎么用一个天平和两个秤算出哪个是重的?
Another ball related question. Again, the response to this question requires logical thinking and for you to go through how you came to a conclusion. Here’s a suggested response:
这也是一个关于球的问题,要求回答者的逻辑思维,并且讲述解题思路。以下是解题建议:
 
Take 6 balls out of 8 balls
Put 3 balls on each side of weighing machine, if they weight equal you know that the heavier ball is in the remaining two which is left out
But if they don’t weigh equal, then the heavier ball is in one of those triplets
Out of those 3 balls that have heavier ball, pick any 2 and put them on the scale and keep doing until you get your heavier ball
从8个球中取出6个球。
在称重机的每一边放3个球,如果它们重量相等,你就知道较重的球在剩下的两个中。
但是如果他们的重量不相等,那么较重的球就在其中一个三胞胎中。
3个球中有较重的球,挑出2个球,把它们放在秤上,然后一直重复做,直到找到答案。

 

#3 Explain the significance of 'dead beef'?
解释“死牛肉”的意思?
This one is for a more technical role, but when you get thrown this question out of the blue, the natural response is to associate it with real meat, which is the wrong way to approach it.
这是为技术类岗位设计的问题,但是当你突然听到这个问题时,会下意识地把它和真正的肉联系起来,这是一种错误的方法。
 
Dead beef here refers to 0xDEADBEEF, a hexa-decimal value for debugging which was common back in the days when mainframes were popular.
这里的死牛肉指的是0xDEADBEEF,它是一种十六进制的用于调试的值,在大型主机流行的时候是常见的。

#4 Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew.
用三句话向你8岁的侄子解释“数据库”的含义
You can probably guess this is a question to test an applicant's ability to explain complex concepts in the simplest way possible.
这是一个测试申请者是否能够以最简单的方式解释复杂概念的能力的问题。
 
Here's a suggested response from Business Insider:
以下是建议:
 
"A database is a machine that remembers lots of information about lots of things. People use them to help remember that information. Go play outside."
“数据库能记住很多很多信息。人们用它们来帮助记忆这些信息。你可以去外面玩了。”
 
#5 Do you have an IQ more than 130?
你的IQ值是否高于130?
This is one of those trick questions where you think the interviewer is trying to assess your intelligence whereas they're probably trying to see how you view yourself.
你可能认为面试官试图评估你的智力,但他们可能是在试图了解你对自己的看法。
 
Don't answer just "yes", even if you have measured your IQ and it is over 130. According to Google's personnel chief Laszlo Bock, Google is looking for "intellectual humility". He said those who have been clever all their lives often commit "the fundamental attribution error, which is: if something good happens, it's because I'm a genius. If something bad happens, it's because someone's an idiot". He's probably going to look down on you for taking an IQ test to measure your intelligence in the first place because it makes you look insecure and have a need to be validated.
即使你已经测量了你的智商,也超过了130,也不要只回答“是”。谷歌的人事主管拉兹洛•博克表示,谷歌正在寻找“智慧的谦逊”。他说,那些一生都很聪明的人经常犯“基本归因错误”,即:如果有好事发生,那是因为我是个天才。如果坏事发生了,那是因为某人是个白痴。他可能会因为你的智商测试而轻视你,因为这会让你看起来不安全,需要被验证。
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So what could Google ask its job candidates instead? Here are a few suggestions:
那么谷歌应该如何抛出这个问题呢?下面是一些建议:
 
'What's the hardest bug you've had to find and fix?'
你发现自己犯过的最大的错误是什么?怎么补救的?
 
This one is for programmers and developers.
这个问题是为程序员和开发人员准备的。
 
"Within 5-10 minutes, and with some strategic follow-up questions, I can usually discover the following:
What kinds of problems does the candidate believe to be hard?
How solid is her technical reputation? (Did 'unsolvable' problems find their way to her inbox?)
Is he a team player? (Solo effort to solve, or team effort?)
Debugging skills and tactics.
 “提问这个问题,再加上一些后续的提问可以让我在5-10分钟内了解求职者的以下特点:
•候选人认为哪些问题很难解决?
•她的技术能力到底如何(她会遇到“无法解决”的问题吗?)?
他擅长团队合作者吗(习惯独自解决问题,还是团队合作?)?
•发现并改进问题的技巧有哪些。

 

'What didn't you get a chance to include in your resume?'
你没有写在简历中的东西有哪些?
 
"Obviously a good CV is important, but if you were going to hire by what they say about themselves on paper, you wouldn’t need to waste time on an interview. As important as it is to look at what a candidate has achieved elsewhere, I have always believed that the single most important thing to consider is 'personal fit'. By that I mean, is this someone whose way of being, sense of humour, and general demeanour will dovetail easily with your company’s culture?"
很显然,好的简历是很重要的,但是如果你想通过他们在纸上的介绍来招聘他们,你就不需要在面试中浪费时间了。”同样重要的是,看看候选人在其他地方取得的成就,我一直认为,最重要的是要考虑的是“个人适合度”。我的意思是,这个人的存在方式,幽默感,以及日常的举止,会与你公司的文化相吻合吗?
 
'Who is the smartest person you know?'
你认识的人当中,谁是最聪明的?
 
"By giving this person an identity, the interviewee subconsciously divulges what they hope to use their brains for, which in turn, highlights whether their interests are altruistic or commercial. We all know that candidates come in expecting to sell themselves, so by forcing them to sell someone else, we are given a direct comparison as to who the candidate aspires to be.   "Subliminally, what we are really asking the candidate is ‘what their values and aspirations are.’ Forcing them to think of a real person in their lives – not someone famous."
通过回答这个问题,被访谈者下意识地透露他们希望用大脑做什么,进而强调他们的兴趣是利他的还是商业的。我们都知道,候选人是想推销自己的,所以通过强迫他们出卖别人,我们可以看出求职者的未来目标。“潜意识里,我们真正要问的是‘他们的价值观和抱负是什么’。通过这个问题强迫他们去选择一个真实存在于生活中的人,而不是一个名人。”