logical puzzles and behavioral interview questions

[crystal_dance]

Does anyone know any good sites which have sample logical puzzle questions which they ask on interviews? If anyone was asked any interesting questions behavioral or otherwise can you post em here?

My friend was asked how many windows are there in manhattan? They weren't looking for the exact number ofcourse, but how you would go about the problem.

Another friend was asked how many McD's are there in Bloomington, Indiana.

[Xander]

"How many marbles can you fit into the Sears Tower, and how did you accomplish the task?"

Don't even ask me what the "correct" answer is. :p I'd say it depends on the position you're applying for...

[MrNCG23]

Does anyone know any good sites which have sample logical puzzle questions which they ask on interviews? If anyone was asked any interesting questions behavioral or otherwise can you post em here?

My friend was asked how many windows are there in manhattan? They weren't looking for the exact number ofcourse, but how you would go about the problem.

Another friend was asked how many McD's are there in Bloomington, Indiana.

I like this link for behavioral interviews:
http://www.careerservices.wayne.edu/resources/behavioralinterviewinfo.pdf

As far as the window question, I would start as follows: just glancing around, the avg # of windows on a side of a building is about 30, 4 sides makes 120, multiplied by avg # of floors at a building in Manhattan, ~25, multiplied by # of buildings within a square mile, and then comparing that to the # of square miles in Manhattan.

You can also work from "big picture => small picture" ... whichever is easier for you. Basically walk the interviewer through how you would figure it out if you were given that as a work problem.

As far as the McD question, I would either try to guess how many franchises there are in the nation, then work down. Since I don't know McD that well, I would go about it by counting how many McDs I know around where I live, estimate the physical area that those McDs cover, compare my location/population to that of Bloomington (which I would have to guess), and then make a scaled guesstimate.

For the marbles question, look at how big the marbles are, how many make a cubic/square foot (it is a bit easier if the marbles are all the same), then estimate how many to fill a floor, multiply by # of floors in Sears Tower (I have no idea) and guesstimate from there.

[cache]

The purpose of behavorial/psych questions is to understand how you think and reason. You can get an overview of what is expected, but an interviewer wants to see you figuring things out on the spot...or using aquired knowledge to solve new problems. Already knowing the answer to an abstract problem does nothing for you in the interview. It is more impressive to either solve the problem through traditional methods, or show the interviewer your non-traditional way of problem solving.