Puzzles have become the realistic way for the interviewers to test the problem-solving and creating thinking of a candidate. Puzzles? Really?
It may sound shocking to you but many interviewers ask riddles and puzzles to judge your analytical and thinking skills.
Especially in the selection process of IT professionals like software developers, engineers, and coders, the puzzle test is quite popular. Hence, it is essential to prepare different types of puzzles for the interview.
In this blog, we will discuss the top puzzles asked in an interview to give you an idea on how you can prepare for such kinds of puzzles for interviews.
But before we start to learn the top puzzles for an interview, let’s learn what interview puzzles are. Interview puzzles are critical and logical thinking problems that help the interviewee to use problem-solving skills to solve tough questions.
Along with puzzles for the interview, you can also prepare for aptitude questions for placement in your dream company?
Now let’s move to the top 10 puzzles to help you crack your tech interviews in a better way!
Top 10 Puzzles For Interview Preparation
Have you ever faced a problem like you are preparing for an interview but don’t have any idea about questions? To understand it in a better way, we take an example: you are searching for puzzles for preparation but don’t know what kind of questions they asked.
To make it easy, here are the top 10 puzzles for interview which will give you an idea of what you might be asked for:
- Crossing the Bridge Puzzle
This puzzle is about checking the candidate’s logical and problem-solving skills and how he will deal with the complicated situation.
A question like this will give you an idea, for example, four people want to cross the bridge but it’s too dark and you can’t even see outside clearly. You have only a torch; it’s risky to cross the bridge without a torch. Only two people can cross the bridge at a time. The time taken from each one of them to cross the bridge is – 1 min, 2 min, 7 min, and 10 mins. What is the average possible time for them to cross the bridge?
- Gold Bar Problem
You will be given a gold bar puzzle wherein you will solve the problem through your thinking and problem-solving skills. Let’s understand with an example. For seven days, you hired someone to work for your company and you can pay him a gold bar for his work. Every day, you have to give him at least one piece of gold. What is the minimum number of cuts you can make on gold so that you can pay him 1/7th piece of gold each day?
- Mislabeled Jar Puzzle
You have 3 jars that are not labeled correctly. The first jar contains oranges, the second jar contains apples and the third jar contains both. You have to label each one of them and you are open to picking fruits as much as you want from each jar. What is the minimum number of fruits you choose to pick to label them correctly?
- Faulty coin
You have ten bags that are filled with coins. However one of the ten bags is full of faulty coins and you forgot which one. You know that a real coin weighs 1 gram and a faulty coin weighs 1.1 grams. How will you identify the bag which is full of faulty coins?
- Heaven’s Gate Puzzle
You are standing in front of two doors; one door leads to hell and the second door leads to heaven. Two guards are standing, one by each door. One guard always tells lies and the second guard always tells the truth, however you don’t know which one is right for you to ask a question. Only one question you can ask to find heaven’s door. What question would you ask the guard?
- Battery Problem
You have eight batteries but four of them are in working condition and want to use them in the torch. However, the torch needs 2 batteries to work properly. How many batteries do you need to turn the flashlight on?
- Ant and Triangle Puzzle
Three ants are sitting in a way that they make an equilateral triangle and they start to pick a direction to go along the edge of the triangle. What will be the probability that none of them collides?
- Last Ball Color
You have a bag that is filled with 13 red and 20 blue balls. Your task is to pick two balls in one try. If the color of the balls is the same then you can remove or replace them with a blue color ball. If the color of the balls is different then you can replace or remove them with a red color ball. What will be the color of the last ball?
- Tomato Soup
A glass is filled with tomato soup and there is another glass that is empty and has a different shape and size. You need to give the soup to two kids. How would you split the soup equally so that both the kids are satisfied?
- Blue and Red Marbles
Two jars are filled with 50 blue marbles and 50 red marbles. You have to use marbles in such a way that when you blindly pick one marble from the jar, it must be a red marble. On your first try, you will randomly pick a jar and a marble. Then you can place the marble in whichever jar you like, however, each marble must be inside the jar. How would you place the marble?
All of these puzzles for interview preparation are quite important to get placed in a company. So, memorize and understand them for your selection process.
Key Tips to Answer Puzzle Problems in Interviews
Which are the key tips to answer puzzle problems in interviews? Following are three key tips and all of them are necessary for your interview preparation:
- Everything must be clear
Do not start to give your answer after hearing the incomplete question and try to not make any assumptions. If you find anything you are missing then ask them and make sure that the provided information is relevant.
- Explain your answer or thought
Start your solution of puzzles for the interview process with an explanation of your thought. Give them detailed information and try to make it simple, not complex. It will give your interviewer an idea of how you think and solve complex problems under pressure.
- Give them more than one solution
Use your reasoning and logical skills to calculate a solution; it’s okay if the solution is incorrect but don’t fail to try. If you think that you have alternate solutions then you can discuss them too.
Conclusion
All these top puzzles for interview preparation or we can say, these kinds of questions for aptitude preparation for placement tests will help you crack the interview exam. We know you will be able to solve puzzles for any interview process and stand out above others and we wish you all the best.
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