Google's coffee shop interview question has confused and interested candidates.
The unusual question, which doesn't seem related to Google's work, has sparked discussions and debates among job seekers.
Google's coffee shop interview question has stumped most candidates.
According to a former Google employee, known as @hrbitch on TikTok, shared details about the coffee shop conundrum.
The question goes as follows: "There's a coffee shop in San Francisco with unlimited supply and demand. The customer line wraps around the block, and the shop is approximately 500 square feet. How many cups of coffee can this coffee shop produce in one day?"
The question has baffled many interviewees, leading to many answers and discussions on TikTok.
Some people suggested answers like thinking about the lack of workers or calculating the number of cups produced per hour.
Others believed that the demand would match the supply. However, the ex-Google employee explained that there isn't a clear answer to this question.
The shop produces zero coffees. Producing coffee requires the shop and the staff in a combined effort, one user said.
I drink tea so I wouldn’t know, the second user joked.
Answer always comes back to your staff. Depends on the staff. How motivated they are, skills, ability etc. You are only as good as the team you lead, another commented.
Supply and demand it can produce as many as necessary to meet demand, someone wrote.
The purpose behind such a mysterious question, according to the employee, is to evaluate the candidate's problem-solving and decision-making skills.
The ambiguity of the question allows interviewers to understand the candidate's approach and reasoning process rather than seeking a correct answer.
Fortunately, Google has discontinued the use of brain-teaser questions in their interview process, opting instead for work sample tests and structured interview questions.
Google is not the first to have a 'tough' test to evaluate its candidates.
Previously, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, also revealed a question he always asks in every interview to test their problem-solving skills.
In many interviews, Musk affirmed that he does not care about your achievements in college or your experience in the field.
The reason is that these things can be 'fake' too easily.
One of Musk's favorite questions is 'What are some of the tougher problems [you've] dealt with and how [did you] deal with those?'
Besides testing contestants' problem-solving skills, Musk also puts a lot of emphasis on their decision-making process during difficult times.
"What I'm really looking for is evidence of exceptional ability so that they've faced really difficult problems and overcome them.
"And of course, you want to make sure that if there was some significant accomplishment, were they really responsible, or was somebody else more responsible."
