BRAIN TEASERS! HOW TO ANSWER THEM?

hey fellow monkeys,

So was wondering what is the best way to approach brain teasers questions, its the only thing i am nervous about for an interview and I am scared it will be the 1 thing that differentiates people and dinges them, is that true?

Please offer your advice on how to approach them, best way to answer them and if possible how to prepare for them, because its one of those on the spot types of things and i am very nervous about it, Thanks in advance for the help!!!

9 Comments
 

definitely something you can prepare for...heard on the street is an absolutely awesome book for brainteasers.

in terms of answering brainteasers, you really just need to think out loud...your interviewers are NOT looking for 100% correct answers all of the time (though they do help), but rather your thought process and how you actually come to your answer. they want to see that you are able to solve complex problems, and have the ability to think in a complex manner.

 

[quote=Fahmie25]definitely something you can prepare for...heard on the street is an absolutely awesome book for brainteasers.

thanks,...... whats the author if you may know of this book, i would like to get it? and can you explain it a little more, it trains you to have the mindset to answer the complex problems like that.... highly helpful and recommended?

 
Best Response

timothy falcon crack...heres the amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/Heard-Street-Quantitative-Questions-Interviews/dp…

the author compiled an enormous amount of questions DIRECTLY from wall street job interviews...not only brain teasers, which is awesome. it is broken down into 5 sections...off the top of my head theres quantitative/logic questions(brainteasers), finance-related questions, derivatives-related questions, non-finance related questions

he also provides you with an enormous answer key in the back giving DETAILED responses to every question in the book.

overall it is a comprehensive guide to wall street job interviews, with all questions coming straight from wall street job interviews, either from those being interviewed or from the actual MD's/analysts

 

rather than memorizing brainteasers from a book, the most important thing to do, by far, is think out loud. as noted above, you need to verbalize what you thinking, and how you think about approaching the problem. as you mentally make steps towards solving the problem, articulate what you are thinking, and most importantly, why.

as was mentioned, you don't always need to get the exact right answer. but you need to have a good thought process. studying brain teasers is ok, but this is not going to be the focus of an IB interview. if you have time after studying technicals you can focus on brain teasers, but the fit/technical questinos are far more important than brain teasers

 

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