Wonder if I could get a job at Google? How I’d answer these two interview questions.
According to this article in Business Insider, Marissa Mayer (Google exec, one of the first 20 employees, and really, really smart person) says she asks two questions to people interviewing at Google before they pass the final phase of the process. The questions are below and I thought it’d be interesting to see how I’d answer them, though without the fakey ‘I better answer right so I get the job’ context.
QUESTION #1: What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen in the last six months?
I’m going to cheat and give a few answers to this one.
The Jawbone UP. It’s a device you wear on your wrist that monitors your activity throughout the day, your workouts and your sleep. It’s not so much this device that is uber-cool (though its designed really well), but where it shows we’re headed. Having technology integrated with our lives in ways we never imagined, becoming less intrusive and more beneficial, is extremely cool. (I’m working on a post for next week on the UP as I’ve been using it for about a month now.)
The redesigned Path mobile app. I can’t say enough about how beautiful this app is. It’s not incredibly cool from a tech perspective, but the design of this app is phenomenal. And not far behind is the Flipboard iPhone app that was just released. These two apps are far and away the best mobile experiences I’ve seen. And to me that’s cool.
QUESTION #2: What do you own that you love?
There are very few things I own that I absolutely love. Not that I don’t like the things that I own, in fact I very much like most of everything I own, but in terms of things I absolutely love, here are a few:
My Macbook Air, iPad2 and iPhone4S. Maybe I love them because I’m a fanboy but I prefer to say that I’m a fanboy because of these products. Why do I love them? They’re designed beautifully inside and out. Extremely functional, user-friendly and as my friend @interpolate says, “they just work”. The technology gets out of the way and these devices just work.
My Bodum french press. I’ve really begun enjoying coffee over the last six months and in that time I’ve purchased a french press and I love making coffee in it each morning. It’s really nice to start the day with a great cup of coffee. It’s also when I do most of my blogging.
Curious how others would answer these questions…
#1. Angry Birds. now, follow me on this for a minute. It’s not really the game it’s self, but it’s the traction and foothold it managed to gain with non-gamers. My wife plays it, and has never played a computer game in her life. I see execs playing it at the airport. I’d go so far as to dub it the facebook of games in interest level alone. They managed to crack a market and create an appeal with a group of people that would probably never have played a game before.
The PNC Bank mobile App is probably the second. this is really really well done. The paperless check deposit is just pretty much the best thing I’ve seen, and a really smart use of technology.
#2. Well, sadly, i traded it in a few months ago, but my BMW was one. I’ve had some pretty nice/sporty carts in my time, but this was the first one that was in my mine a real pure-play performance car. Yes it was a sedan, but for BMW, that was really secondary, and everything about the car was geared towards the driver and the driving. Little things, like the shitty cup holders (you’re driving, not drinking coffee), low stance that was a touch hard to get out of (again, you’re diving the car, if you just get in and out you’re missing the point) and the low-fi (yet still amazing functional) radio and A/C controls. BUt it was really the design, and the way it all came together that i fell in love with. Hopefully this is just a break from my relationship with it and not a complete divorce.
interested to see your UP review given the news from yesterday:
https://www.themoneytimes.com/node/1701711440
#1) The ‘chameleon’ tank – essentially can change how infrared see’s it ; as a car for example. Or just plain ‘ol invisible.
https://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/14/exclusive-revolutionary-chameleon-tank-gets-invisible/
#2) My Macbook Air
https://mashable.com/2011/12/27/glassdoor-interview-questions-2011/