Employers use Analytical Questions or
brainteasers to explore your ability to use logic. What
really matters when answering these is your thought process
in arriving at a solution, rather than knowing the one
correct solution. The key to doing well is to make
sure your thinking is clear and logical and to state your
assumptions, if there are any. Remember, there is no
one correct answer; it is how you approach the
question that counts.
Since the most important thing is
the process you use, rather than the actual numbers, let’s
first devise an approach and then supply some estimates
afterwards, using reasonable assumptions along the way.
For example, let's use the following analytical question:
"HOW MANY BLUE CARS ARE THERE IN THE U.S.?"
Do
the problem in a 2-step process:
1. Figure out the number of
cars in the country, remembering that corporations as well
as individuals can own cars.
2. Take a wild guess as to the
subset of cars that are blue.
Now put in the numbers, referring to
the 2-step process outlined above:
1a. (250 million
people in the country)*(an average of 0.5 cars per
person)=125 million cars owned by people. The justification
for the 0.5 is that it is a balance between people who own
their own cars and families in which the cars are shared.
1b. Add another 20 million cars on top of
the 125 million to capture the number of cars owned by corporations (such as limousine/taxi companies, company
cars, etc.)
1c. Total=125 million+20million=145 million
cars in the country. Let’s round up to 150 million to make
the math easier.
2. Because the color blue is fairly
common, let’s assume that 30% of cars are blue. So, 30%*
(150 million cars)=45 million. This means that about 50
million blue cars exist in the U.S.
Tips for Answering Analytical
Questions
-
Don’t get bogged down in exact numbers: It is
better to select round numbers that you can easily multiply
or divide. Remember that (1) the interviewer is
not as concerned with what numbers you use, and (2) more accurate
numbers might be harder to manipulate, causing you to get
your math wrong, which the interviewer will not like.
-
Don’t be afraid to think out loud:
Doing the work in your head and then presenting your answer
to the interviewer isn’t very useful. They will not know
how you arrived at your answer and will probably ask you to
describe your thought process. Again, the interviewer is
interested in your ability to use logical reasoning.
-
Don’t be afraid to ask “stupid” questions:
If there is some fact that you need to know to answer
the question (such as the circumference of the earth) and
you don’t know it, either make up a reasonable number or ask
the interviewer. Don’t worry, it won’t be held against you.
