Tricky Questions
19 October 2012
Read by 2193 persons
With what are called brain-teasers, companies want to test the creativity and analytical thinking skills of candidates. But the effectiveness and efficiency of these brain-teasers are questionable.
The question is quite unexpected: "If one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, how many eggs does one chicken lay in one day?" "But what do they want?" wonders the bewildered candidate and starts to stammer. When a personnel manager asks such brain-teasers, also known as "brainteasers", it is because he wants to test the candidate's analytical mind, creativity and mathematical intelligence. But opinions on the meaning and effectiveness of these brain-teasers differ.
Remaining impassive in the face of brain-teasers
It is mainly business consulting firms and investment banks, but also consumer goods companies that rely on these mind games, says Stefan Menden. The co-founder of the career support network squeaker.net has been interested in mind games for several years and has compiled 100 of these riddles in his book "Das Insider-Dossier: Brainteaser im Bewerbungsgespräch" ("The Insider File: Brainteasers in the job interview"; this book does not exist in English).
The thirty-year-old wants to help candidates stay calm in the face of these rather surprising brain-teasers. "It's not necessarily about finding the solution at all costs, but above all about proceeding in a structured way," explains Menden. This is why one should never shout out the supposed solution. In fact, it is mostly wrong. Take, for example, the question of the boat: does the water level rise or fall when you lift the anchor? The level rises because the anchor is heavy and causes the boat to sink deeper, and the mass of water thus displaced is greater than the mass of the anchor in the water. QED. But this solution is not immediately within everyone's reach.
Always say what you are thinking
"Start by getting comfortable and breaking down the problem," recommends our brain-teaser expert Menden. It is especially important to always say what you are doing. This is also what Just Schurmann recommends. "Thinking aloud often helps to overcome nervousness and structure your thoughts," says the manager of the Bonston Consulting Group (BCG) in Munich, head of recruitment. There, brain-teasers are not used systematically. There are more interesting ways to grasp a candidate's analytical speed and creativity, for example by solving a case study," explains Schurmann.
Furthermore, it is possible to train to solve these kinds of problems. "You therefore don't know whether the answer is the result of good spontaneous intelligence or training," explains the BCG personnel manager. Christoph Aldering, diagnostic expert at Kienbaum in Gummersbach, sees things the same way. Here too, these mind games are abandoned. Moreover, brain-teasers would have nothing to do with daily work. "If it becomes an ambush designed to trip up the candidate during the application process, then the selection process is not properly constructed." explains the occupational psychologist.
Ultimately, a sound analysis of requirements should be the basis of any application process.
Criticism: the results don't say much
Even Heinz Schuler, professor of psychology at the University of Hohenheim, can only speculate when it comes to brain-teasers. "Apparently, behind correct, funny or convincing answers for whatever reason, there is verbal intelligence, creativity, wit, flexibility and humor," presumes the expert in personnel selection tests and criticizes that neither the result can be considered as meaningful, nor the decision-making process as transparent.
If, through such problems, one can learn more about the structures of the mind, the way of approaching things and the techniques used to solve a problem, then there is nothing wrong with it, also estimates Rüdiger Hossop, psychologist at the University of Bochum. But if it's just a quiz question, then it's an intellectual gadget.
Testing skills for sensitive topics
This is why personnel managers at Procter & Gamble forgo brain-teasers. On the other hand, candidates should expect unusual questions such as: "How would you market Always sanitary napkins in Pakistan?" However, it is above all creativity and intercultural sensitivity that are tested here, says company spokeswoman Petra Popall. She cannot confirm the use of brain-teasers in the literal sense.
Brain-teaser expert Stephan Menden has meanwhile discovered another reason for using these thorny problems: "Basically, it's about putting the candidate in an unexpected situation and seeing how he reacts," explains the business consultant, who himself had to solve brain-teasers during his job interviews. So are brain-teasers only used to destabilize a candidate? "That's exactly what we try to avoid in this situation," says BCG personnel manager Just Schürmann. But ultimately, an interview is not meant to show your stress resistance.
At BCG, at least, the potential future business consultant does not fail on the chicken question. Even if you only need the rule of three to solve the problem. If one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, one chicken lays one egg in one and a half days. This means that one chicken lays two thirds of an egg in one day. But fortunately, nobody asks how that works.
Bärbel Schwertfeger.
Monster.ch
Posted on October 19, 2012.
The question is quite unexpected: "If one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, how many eggs does one chicken lay in one day?" "But what do they want?" wonders the bewildered candidate and starts to stammer. When a personnel manager asks such brain-teasers, also known as "brainteasers", it is because he wants to test the candidate's analytical mind, creativity and mathematical intelligence. But opinions on the meaning and effectiveness of these brain-teasers differ.
Remaining impassive in the face of brain-teasers
It is mainly business consulting firms and investment banks, but also consumer goods companies that rely on these mind games, says Stefan Menden. The co-founder of the career support network squeaker.net has been interested in mind games for several years and has compiled 100 of these riddles in his book "Das Insider-Dossier: Brainteaser im Bewerbungsgespräch" ("The Insider File: Brainteasers in the job interview"; this book does not exist in English).
The thirty-year-old wants to help candidates stay calm in the face of these rather surprising brain-teasers. "It's not necessarily about finding the solution at all costs, but above all about proceeding in a structured way," explains Menden. This is why one should never shout out the supposed solution. In fact, it is mostly wrong. Take, for example, the question of the boat: does the water level rise or fall when you lift the anchor? The level rises because the anchor is heavy and causes the boat to sink deeper, and the mass of water thus displaced is greater than the mass of the anchor in the water. QED. But this solution is not immediately within everyone's reach.
Always say what you are thinking
"Start by getting comfortable and breaking down the problem," recommends our brain-teaser expert Menden. It is especially important to always say what you are doing. This is also what Just Schurmann recommends. "Thinking aloud often helps to overcome nervousness and structure your thoughts," says the manager of the Bonston Consulting Group (BCG) in Munich, head of recruitment. There, brain-teasers are not used systematically. There are more interesting ways to grasp a candidate's analytical speed and creativity, for example by solving a case study," explains Schurmann.
Furthermore, it is possible to train to solve these kinds of problems. "You therefore don't know whether the answer is the result of good spontaneous intelligence or training," explains the BCG personnel manager. Christoph Aldering, diagnostic expert at Kienbaum in Gummersbach, sees things the same way. Here too, these mind games are abandoned. Moreover, brain-teasers would have nothing to do with daily work. "If it becomes an ambush designed to trip up the candidate during the application process, then the selection process is not properly constructed." explains the occupational psychologist.
Ultimately, a sound analysis of requirements should be the basis of any application process.
Criticism: the results don't say much
Even Heinz Schuler, professor of psychology at the University of Hohenheim, can only speculate when it comes to brain-teasers. "Apparently, behind correct, funny or convincing answers for whatever reason, there is verbal intelligence, creativity, wit, flexibility and humor," presumes the expert in personnel selection tests and criticizes that neither the result can be considered as meaningful, nor the decision-making process as transparent.
If, through such problems, one can learn more about the structures of the mind, the way of approaching things and the techniques used to solve a problem, then there is nothing wrong with it, also estimates Rüdiger Hossop, psychologist at the University of Bochum. But if it's just a quiz question, then it's an intellectual gadget.
Testing skills for sensitive topics
This is why personnel managers at Procter & Gamble forgo brain-teasers. On the other hand, candidates should expect unusual questions such as: "How would you market Always sanitary napkins in Pakistan?" However, it is above all creativity and intercultural sensitivity that are tested here, says company spokeswoman Petra Popall. She cannot confirm the use of brain-teasers in the literal sense.
Brain-teaser expert Stephan Menden has meanwhile discovered another reason for using these thorny problems: "Basically, it's about putting the candidate in an unexpected situation and seeing how he reacts," explains the business consultant, who himself had to solve brain-teasers during his job interviews. So are brain-teasers only used to destabilize a candidate? "That's exactly what we try to avoid in this situation," says BCG personnel manager Just Schürmann. But ultimately, an interview is not meant to show your stress resistance.
At BCG, at least, the potential future business consultant does not fail on the chicken question. Even if you only need the rule of three to solve the problem. If one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, one chicken lays one egg in one and a half days. This means that one chicken lays two thirds of an egg in one day. But fortunately, nobody asks how that works.
Bärbel Schwertfeger.
Monster.ch
Posted on October 19, 2012.
