"Congratulations on making it this far Mr. user. We're very excited about the possibility of you joining our organization. As you know, our company values employees who are creative thinkers who work well on teams. We want individuals who are responsible, honest, and hardworking. With that in mind, let's begin the interview."
"First question: How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?"
I can definitely say that there are a specific number of piano tuners in the entire world.
Is that your final answer? Remember that we'll be evaluating what you say here very closely.
"Let's say there is 1 piano tuner / piano holder. Let's say there is 1/10'000 persons in the world who has a piano. We are 7 billion on earth, divided by 10'000, there are 700k piano tuners"
Fuck you asshole I hate teamwork.
Do you think you're some hip company who wants to be the next Google or some shit? You realize that even Google stopped asking these questions because they are so fucking useless, and really only serve to give the interviewer a sense of superiority over the interviewee. This tells me so much about the culture of this company. Luckily, I'm not in desperate need of a job, so I won't entertain you with an answer. I believe we are through here. I have other things in my life that needs attention.
One piano tuner can tune multiple piano's
And there are many countries in which there are practically no piano's
I'd say 70k is a better estimate
Everyone is the piano tuner of their own life.
There's a lot of people who think they're piano tuners. The fact of the matter is that there are no real piano tuners left in the world, but its hard for people to see that, because they don't have anything to compare the so called piano tuners of today with. If we had a real piano tuner today, everyone would look at him and be like, "wow, everyone else is just a piano fiddler."
Sure but we don't really care about numbers, it's more that you can demonstrate basic thinking.
You're not you when you're hungry, Mr. Manager.
Here, have a Snickers.
By creating a train of logic, these questions allow companies to see how good the employees are at critical thinking.
Dimensional analysis learned in 5th grade is not critical thinking. There's a reason the companies stopped using them. They don't tell a thing about how a candidate will perform in a real work environment.
wow really makes you think, huh?
You're hired.
The point of these case questions are to figure out if you know how to ask the right questions.
If you are given an ambiguous question like that, the first things you should ask are:
How many analog pianos are there in the world right now?
What is the average amount number of years a Piano can go without tuning?
What is the churn rate of users using their pianos?
Are there new pianos being made today?
How many pianos can a tuner tune in one day?
Then you can make a very easy equation assuming the market is efficent.
Consultants are hired to know how to ask questions and solve problems, not make assumptions.
>calculating the number of piano tuners by dimensional analysis
what
Google did not stop using these. When you get your in face interview at google, you are tested with case studies on hypothetical problems.
The question is not "How many baseballs can fit in a boeing 747, but they are "Google is planning on releasing a self driving car in the next 4 years. Our competitors are as well. If google is the first to market, what should we price the car at? How should we market it?"
or, "One of our large client ad buyers is seeing less and less hits on their ad serve but their spending is the same, how would you advise them to improve their campaigning?"
Both of these are the same 'well I need more information' type of scenarios, but they aren't as lol randum as the piano tuners.
Either way, the case study question is not dead, it is just more relevant and is about if you know how to ask the right questions.
Those questions actually require critical thinking and are relevant to the job domain. Le golf ball problem is just the type of problem used by hipsters trying to copy Google, with no idea how to assess a candidate's answer to them. Furthermore, the process is literally just making estimates and multiplying out. It doesn't require complex thought, it's just an insult to the candidate's intelligence.
Mid level corporate business, especially consulting, is not complex thought. It is becoming a well oiled computer with a firm handshake.
If you are planning to get your MBA, get used to these types of situations insulting your intellect daily.
But on the positive, with 3 years in at any major successful business, you can get your foot in the door to become a senior manager or get the funding needed to launch your own startup. Small businesses get wet when you say you were a manager at a google or a bain and company.
Critical thinking doesn't exist. Memorizing situational questions and approaches is what gets people by.
I like how they grill you so hard in interviews, then you get the job, and it amounts to typing in spreadsheets all day. Oh, and half the people who work there are incompetent fuckfaces.
Good thing you vet so hard, the high-level tasks demand it and it's clearly working!
I think HR only exists to perpetuate itself.
"You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish."
Job is all yours.