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It's funny that his expected answer was "Google it". In most cases when people answer with that (it could be the answer for any tech interview question...) you

It's funny that his expected answer was "Google it". In most cases when people answer with that (it could be the answer for any tech interview question...) you get encouraged to actually do the problem, so it's a time waster. For the interviewer it gives them no signal outside of you having the ability and awareness of the existence of search engines, although there could be some vague behavioral signal that shows you have a stronger urge to find existing solutions rather than waste time creating your own. This is a really toxic interview because you're basically expected to read the interviewer's mind. I've had a couple of these with peak Silicon Valley companies. At pre-IPO Zynga I was asked by a GM "what the most important number in game design is", at River Studios (Mike Rothenberg's company...) the entire interview was basically this style of question.

hashkb 6y ago
False. We want you to be confident and admit you Google all day every day. Simple as that. You seriously would have done all that before Googling it?
- swatkat 6y ago
  >> We want you to be confident... Who is this “we”?
  - hashkb 6y ago
    Interviewers who want to make sure you don't think Googling is shameful.
    - akdas 6y ago
      Every interview is different. You're asking people to read your mind: https://hiringfor.tech/2020/03/02/are-you-asking-candidates-to-read-your-mind.html https://hiringfor.tech/2020/03/02/are-you-asking-candidates-...
      - hashkb 6y ago
        That article doesn't seem to contain a point relevant to this particular issue. If I ask you "How can you attempt to get the answer to this in under a minute" or "what's the first thing you would do" and you don't say "search for existing solution" (it doesn't have to be Google), you fail. You don't have to read my mind; I want to know where YOUR mind goes first. And if it goes to anything more complicated than "I'll try to look it up" you just simply fail; I can't afford to have you wasting any more of my business' time.
    - blackflame7000 6y ago
      Note: This doesn’t work Bing
- elmersglue 6y ago
  People assume interviews are to prove technical competence. Answering with “Google it” is more of a test of someone’s humour. While in practice it might be true that you’d Google it, most people have been conditioned by the education system to answer with something more substantive and demonstrative of their technical thinking ability.
  - hashkb 6y ago
    I'm not responsible for your conditioning. I want you to tell me the truth. If you're playing a game in your mind that causes you to give me a more complex answer than you need because you think that's what I want to hear, you're going to have similar pathology as an employee and IMO this is a great screen for exactly that! Edit: doing any "technical" work prior to doing research is a display of technical INcompetence.
lwigo 6y ago
What was the answer? Years ago Zynga asked me how would I design a vending machine for blind people which was annoying because I asked it immediately back and clearly they hadn't even thought about it themselves. But then I brought up Ian Bogost and it was a hard stop basically, lol. edit: Is it health? Like health tracking / indication? Not all games require it but maybe in the right context this would be the most important. This is snarky but I think you could run with it (health being the most important "number").
- Impossible 6y ago
  The answer was 3 I think, referring to rock paper scissors balance relationships in RTS games, and fighting games, but it was Zynga in 2011 so they were mostly thinking about casual strategy. I think I said 1 at first because the question was kind of silly and I trend toward reductive answers with silly questions. response to your edit: Your interpretation of the question makes a little more sense. He was talking about a specific number, not a concept\variable that is common in games. For Zynga I'd probably say energy or money or something, although any tracked resource that determines loss, victory or progression would work for your version.
  - blackflame7000 6y ago
    Sounds like your interviewer smoked too much pot before the interview. What the hell kind of question is that and what information could it possibly give you to help make a candidate selection

hashkb 6y ago

False. We want you to be confident and admit you Google all day every day. Simple as that. You seriously would have done all that before Googling it?

swatkat 6y ago
>> We want you to be confident... Who is this “we”?
- hashkb 6y ago
  Interviewers who want to make sure you don't think Googling is shameful.
  - akdas 6y ago
    Every interview is different. You're asking people to read your mind: https://hiringfor.tech/2020/03/02/are-you-asking-candidates-to-read-your-mind.html https://hiringfor.tech/2020/03/02/are-you-asking-candidates-...
    - hashkb 6y ago
      That article doesn't seem to contain a point relevant to this particular issue. If I ask you "How can you attempt to get the answer to this in under a minute" or "what's the first thing you would do" and you don't say "search for existing solution" (it doesn't have to be Google), you fail. You don't have to read my mind; I want to know where YOUR mind goes first. And if it goes to anything more complicated than "I'll try to look it up" you just simply fail; I can't afford to have you wasting any more of my business' time.
  - blackflame7000 6y ago
    Note: This doesn’t work Bing
elmersglue 6y ago
People assume interviews are to prove technical competence. Answering with “Google it” is more of a test of someone’s humour. While in practice it might be true that you’d Google it, most people have been conditioned by the education system to answer with something more substantive and demonstrative of their technical thinking ability.
- hashkb 6y ago
  I'm not responsible for your conditioning. I want you to tell me the truth. If you're playing a game in your mind that causes you to give me a more complex answer than you need because you think that's what I want to hear, you're going to have similar pathology as an employee and IMO this is a great screen for exactly that! Edit: doing any "technical" work prior to doing research is a display of technical INcompetence.

lwigo 6y ago

What was the answer? Years ago Zynga asked me how would I design a vending machine for blind people which was annoying because I asked it immediately back and clearly they hadn't even thought about it themselves. But then I brought up Ian Bogost and it was a hard stop basically, lol. edit: Is it health? Like health tracking / indication? Not all games require it but maybe in the right context this would be the most important. This is snarky but I think you could run with it (health being the most important "number").

Impossible 6y ago
The answer was 3 I think, referring to rock paper scissors balance relationships in RTS games, and fighting games, but it was Zynga in 2011 so they were mostly thinking about casual strategy. I think I said 1 at first because the question was kind of silly and I trend toward reductive answers with silly questions. response to your edit: Your interpretation of the question makes a little more sense. He was talking about a specific number, not a concept\variable that is common in games. For Zynga I'd probably say energy or money or something, although any tracked resource that determines loss, victory or progression would work for your version.
- blackflame7000 6y ago
  Sounds like your interviewer smoked too much pot before the interview. What the hell kind of question is that and what information could it possibly give you to help make a candidate selection