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Gold for 7 Days of Work M y Tech In t erviews

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Goldfor7DaysofWork

6Jan10

S EA RCHINT ERV IEWQ UES T IO NS

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Tweet Quest ion:Youvegotsomeoneworkingforyouforsevendaysandagoldbarto
paythem.Youmustpaytheworkerfortheirworkattheendofeveryday.Ifyou

RA NDO M

areonlyallowedtomaketwobreaksinthegoldbar,howdoyoupayyourworker?

ExampleofInterviewTestForFrontEnd

(Assumingequalamountofworkisdoneduringeachdaythusrequiringequalamountof

Developers

payforeachday)

BeforeYouTryToGetATechJob,Build

Answer:Thetrickisnottotryandhowtocutinsuchawaytomake7equalpiecesbut

Stuff

rathertomaketransactionswiththeworker.Maketwocutsonthegoldbarsuchthatyou

AnagramsinanArrayofStrings

havethefollowingsizesofbars.
1/7,2/7and4/7.Forconveniencesake,Iwouldjustrefertothebarsas1,2and4.

FO LLO WUS

AttheendofDay1:GiveBar1(You2and4,Worker1)

AttheendofDay2:GiveBar2,TakebackBar1(You1and4,Worker2)

INT ERES T ING REA DS

AttheendofDay3:GiveBar1(You4,Worker1and2)

Wheredidarcadegamesgo?

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AttheendofDay5:GiveBar1(You2,Worker1and4)

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M AR C H 1 8,2 01 6 AT 7 :30AM

canimeltitthegold??

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4/28 /2016

Gold for 7 Days of Work M y Tech In t erviews

schimschone
D EC EM B ER 1 ,2 01 4 AT 2 :07 P M

Whilethereispossiblysomemeritinaskingthequestion..youknow,seeifan
employeehasacreativeresponsetoabadsituation..theanswerthatappearstobe
wantedisjustplaindaft.
Imean,whatsthepointofpayinganemployeeifyourplanistobartersomeamount
ofwhatyoupaidthembackatsomefuturepoint.Employeestakepaymentfortheir
servicessothattheycaninturnbuythegoodsandservicestheyneedtosurvive..and
thuskeepworkingforyourscroogedass.Theonlyreasononewouldpayan
employeepriortocompletingtheirworkwouldbetosupporttheirneedspriorto
completion.IftheemployeecantspendthemoneybecauseIwilllaterhavetotradeit
backtothem,thenwevenegatedthewholereasonforthetrade.
Thatstatedthen,theresthreerealanswers:First,paythemuponcompletion.Second
paythemoneblockapproximatelyevery3rdofaweek.Orthird,paythemsomeinitial
goodfaithamountwiththerestuponcompletion.
Yes,whileIrealizethisposesamathematicalproblembeggingforanefficientanswer,
aspartofaninterviewforanythingotherthanamathspecificpositionitshowsa
completelackofgroundinginreality.Doreallywanttohiresomeonewhoisso
groundedinefficiencythattheyllneveractuallybeabletonegotiateastrategywith
anotherhumanbeingbyaccountingforthatpersonsneeds?

Yash
AP R IL 6 ,2 01 1 AT 1 0:2 6 AM

Initiallybreakthe7segmentblockintofollowingsegments
i(blocksegment)
ii(blocksegment)
iiii(blocksegment)
1day>Givei(blocksegment)
2day>Giveii(blocksegment)&
takebacki(blocksegment)
3day>Givei(blocksegment)
4day>Giveiiii(blocksegment)&takebacki,iiblocksegments
5day>Givei(blocksegment)
6day>Giveii(blocksegment)&
takebacki(blocksegment)
7day>Givei(blocksegment)

TalAchit uv
AP R IL 1 ,2 01 1 AT 6 :4 0AM

Whenyoureaskedthisduringaninterview,yourthoughtprocessshouldbe:
1)Ineedtocutthebarinto7equalpieceswithonlytwocuts.Thisisclearly
impossible.
2)Letsrestatetheproblem:
Theworkerneedstohave1/7ofabarattheendofday1and2/7ofabarattheend
ofday2,andsoon
Whiletheoriginalassumedrequirementwasclearlyimpossibletosatisfy,thisre
statedoneisnotimpossibleoratleastitisnotasclearthatitisimpossible

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4/28 /2016

Gold for 7 Days of Work M y Tech In t erviews

Youshouldtrytofigureoutawayofsolvingitorprovingthatitaswellisimpossible.
Hopefullywhiletryingtodothatyoullthinkoftheoptionoftransactions.

Ace
M AR C H 1 2 ,2 01 1 AT 4 :1 7 P M

whatifIspentthegoldbytheendofthenextday?

Candy
M AR C H 4 ,2 01 1 AT 1 1 :5 7 AM

@Docsorry,ifyougototheshop,havetopay3$ butonlyhavea10$ bill,dont

yougivethemthe10$ billandexpect7$ back!??!
Thesolutioniscorrect

sailee
N OVEM B ER 2 9,2 01 0AT 4 :03P M

disisdsameanswerithoughtfordispuzzle
imconvinced.

IQ250
SEP T EM B ER 2 7 ,2 01 0AT 5 :1 2 AM

Youmustpaytheworkerfortheirworkattheendofeveryday.
FirstwearegivingthemmorethantheirwagesandthenafterrealiZintakinthm
bak
watdhellisdis??

Doggie
J U N E9,2 01 0AT 1 1 :03P M

Isntlikeaskingforchange?
You:Doyouhavechangefor2/7ofagoldbar?
Worker:OfcourseIdo,hereyougo

Doc
J U N E9,2 01 0AT 1 0:2 2 P M

Whowouldansweritthisway?Idontseewhyanyonewouldthinkabouttakingmoney
backfromsomeoneyoupay?Youcantcountonthemoneybeingthereonday2,3,
etc.Peoplehaveahabitofspendingmoney.

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