It's not about finding a job, but having an open mind.

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	• How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle -- How the World's Smartest Companies Select ... William Poundstone Little, Brown and Company, 2004 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good for interview backup

This was a pretty fun read. The book goes over the origins of brainteaser/puzzle interviews, how they are/should be used, and has a lot of well explained examples. For my purposes of going over brainteasers that I might run into in investment banking interviews, the book was pretty handy because the few brainteasers I did get, I had read about before. If you are trying to do the same thing for other types of interviews (with trading companies or something more quantitative) then the book isn't as good in those areas, because the questions are more probability/stat based.

Overall, very enjoyable and well-written.

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It's not about finding a job, but having an open mind.

Too simple to think of this as getting a job at Microsoft of job interviews in general. It's about having an open mind. Clearly the "problems" can distinguish between those who say "I can't do it" and give up and those who find every problem, even the impossible, an opportunity to succeed, and are not crushed be failure. And the problems are fun.

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The answer key to your next interview

For anyone looking for an entry level position at a financial or technology firm, this is a must read. Insane logic puzzles and brainteasers are the new craze in interviewing, and the ideas are spreading to more and more companies. Whether such silly interview questions are a good measure of a candidate's intelligence is debatable. But one thing for certain is that interview brainteasers are here to stay.

Mt Fuji covers all angles of the interview brainteaser, from its history and origins to how they should be handled in an interview. The first segment of the book about the history of interviewing and puzzles is an interesting read and gives you insight into why their creators first put them to practice. As both an interview and interviewee, the history may help you understand their application, but overall this segment is not very practical for a tough interview.

The meat of this book comes near the middle, where it gives a list of popular logic puzzles actually used by some companies (solutions to all puzzles mentioned throughout the book are in the appendix). If you have the time, they are fun to work out. After this page of puzzles, the author describes how employers applied them in interviews and gives general guidelines for defeating similar questions.

The final chapter before the appendix is directed towards potential interviewers. It explains how some companies have gone overboard and improperly used brainteasers to evaluate job candidates. For interviewees, it makes you feel better if you had a bad interview because of unfair use of brainteasers.

Mt Fuji is an excellent read for any young person currently seeking a job, and any employer who would like to incorporate brainteaser questions into the interview process. The puzzles and history are geared towards technology firms like Microsoft, but these brainteasers are also very common with Wall Street firms. Not only is this read informative, but will be fun if you enjoy thinking out of the box.

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Not good for interviewing

This book is definitely entertaining, interesting, and well-researched. However, the premise is a little misleading. I bought this as I was finishing grad school and interviewing with tech companies. It really did not help at all. Maybe companies used to use these logic puzzles, but regardless, I can tell you for sure they don't anymore. I interviewed with companies including Google, Apple, Amazon, and Adobe, and none of them asked me any logic puzzles. I don't think it's common practice anymore. Don't buy this if you're looking to get ahead for tech interviews. Your time would be better spent studying programming problems.

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Should have read it twice....

This books is filled with all those puzzle questions that *used* to come up at interviews at Microsoft and Google... I interviewed at both companies none of these came up, in fact thay are now frowned upon...as fate would have it I interviewd at a third company and they asked the one about the boat and the suitcase, which I couldn't remember.. aaaaarrrg

Bill

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Microsoft's notoriously grueling interview process has been emulated by companies everywhere that seek to separate the most creative thinkers from the merely brilliant. HOW WOULD YOU MOVE MOUNT FUJI? reveals more than 35 of these challenging riddles and puzzles and, for the first time, shows how answers can be found through creative and effective analytical thinking.

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