How To

How to Handle Puzzles for Interview

Does the mere thought of attending an Interview and missing a question shake you to the core?

Well, you are not alone. 

Interviews are the greatest puzzles on their own. However, to make this riddle much harder to resolve, the Interviewers introduce various external and conceptual puzzles to it. 

To enhance the difficulty level of the interviews, you might have to appear for exams with a set of much harder puzzles for an interview to resolve. 

Though, if you have encountered any such situations in your interview experiences or blockchain coding and wish not to repeat them, this is the right article for you. 

Let’s begin our discussion with the basics and understand what are Puzzles in an interview

What is a Puzzle in an Interview? 

Puzzles are some typical problem statements that the candidates are asked during their technical interviews. 

These questions are usually logical and reasoning-based questions that you need to resolve through your excellent technical skills. 

These problems are called puzzles because they require high analytical skills to be resolved by the candidates

Just like puzzles, there are different components of a single question that must fit properly to resolve it. These puzzles majorly examine your quick thinking and problem-solving skills. 

If you are wondering how these puzzles are framed, we hope a few examples and their explanation might help you get an idea of how these problems are constructed. 

Though, you should also know about the top puzzles asked by the examiner;

Interview Puzzles- Examples and sample solutions

Following are a few examples of puzzles you will find usually during your tech and non-technical interviews at various MNCs:

  • Riddles

If your job profile includes creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, the chances of facing a riddle during your interview are quite high. 

These questions usually cover aspects like logical thinking and creative approach over your technical skills to answer a question. 

Example: You have two boxes and the first box that can accommodate only 8 small boxes at a time. The second box can hold 5 boxes. How many boxes in total can you accommodate after merging these two boxes? 

Approach to resolve: Make sure you analyze the problem first before trying to resolve it. Mark the parameters that remain constant and make a difference (in this case volume of a single box). Once done, try to apply elementary and logical approaches rather than jumping to something typical. 

  • Numerical puzzles

Are you good with numbers? If yes, these puzzles will prove to be the easiest way to boost your score. These problems usually analyze your numerical analysis and critical thinking skills. 

You might have to deal with complex problems behind which an elementary concept is applied. 

Example: Given that a spider is climbing on a wall. Every 10 minutes, the spider goes 5 meters up and falls 3 meters down. Say the wall is 60m tall, how much total time will be required by the spider to reach the top and start building a web? 

Approach to resolve: In such problems, you will have to analyze the problem with your real-time analysis skills. Imagine and rewind the problem in your head to take the best possible solution out of it. In this case, you must keep in mind that the spider will not fall once it reaches the top, and hence, the final fall-down count will not be accommodated in the final result. 

  • Calculating Quantity

Questions in this category usually examine your quantitative aptitude and your skills to analyze the problems on real ground. These questions usually cover your time-distance problems and the problems that require you to answer them in a fixed quantity. 

Example: You have two cars A and B. Car A is moving at a velocity of 30KMPH and B is moving at 40KMPH. An airplane flies over these trains towards the direction of car B. Calculate the distance the airplane covers unless these cars pass over each other. 

Approach to solve: In such questions, make sure you keep the concepts of relative velocity and time distance ratio in mind to resolve them efficiently. Make sure you resolve these problems with all the accurate information and also ask for additional ones if you feel the need for example the directions of cars or the velocity of the plane. Like in this case you need the speed of the plane to resolve this problem. 

Do these questions sound tricky to you? Well, that sums up the puzzle questions in an Interview. But various tricks can help you resolve these puzzles efficiently. After all, all it needs is the right puzzle piece to complete the picture and solve the trickiest puzzles. 

In the next segment, we have enlisted a few tricks that will help you resolve these typical puzzles easily. 

Tricks to Solve Interview Puzzles

If you are looking for some tricks and useful techniques that will help you resolve these puzzles, your wait is over. 

Following are a few quick tips that will help you enhance your puzzle-solving skills:

  • Understand the problem statement with a real-time reference
  • Analyze the puzzle in an inappropriate amount of time. Don’t try to rush the process
  • Think out loud about the problem or puzzle and try finding verbal solutions as well
  • Don’t be shy to ask questions. If you think you need more information about the puzzle, ask for it confidently. 
  • Take it out on your paper pad. Many times, organizing or just letting out your thoughts on a sheet of paper can help you get the correct solution for the puzzle easily. 
  • Express to impress. While solving your puzzles on paper, make sure you figure out the process in detail so that your interviewer can understand as well

Winding up

Puzzles for an interview can be very critical. Make sure you prepare your skills in detail before entering this phase of your testing or Interview.  It is quite essential while dealing with various tests such as blockchain coding assessment tests, coding tests, and many more. 

After all, puzzle solutions are just one trick away! 

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