Modern employers make rather high demands on applicants: professional, educational, external, etc. That is why the process of selecting employees is becoming more complicated - in their team, employers want to see only the best representatives.
Due to increased requirements, quite often during an interview, in addition to answering standard questions, as well as providing a well-written resume, the applicant must solve one or more logical tasks.
Why do you need to solve logic problems when applying for a job? What types of similar tasks exist? How to prepare for an interview? You will find answers to these and some other questions in our material.
Why do we need tasks?
Logical tasks at the interview - it is a means of assessing the intellectual level of the applicant. Currently, even regardless of the education received by the specialist, as well as work experience, many HR personnel continue to doubt the competence of specialists, therefore, they arrange various additional checks for them. Most often they take the form of those very logical tasks.
In fact, the logical tasks that are proposed to be solved at the input interview, quite rarely require outstanding knowledge, skills. Their task is to assess the quick wit and creativity of a person, as well as to observe him under stressful conditions and try to understand the strategies of behavior most characteristic of the candidate.
Often the main goal of logical tasks is to assess the candidate's stress tolerance. Therefore, try to stay as calm and confident as possible, do not be nervous.
Kinds
Due to the fact that logical tasks among employers are becoming more and more popular and they are increasingly used for interviews, experts have developed their classification. Today, the principles of separation are quite diverse.
So, there are quite easy tasks for general knowledge, which are designed to assess your level of intelligence, as well as to understand how a person will act in an unusual environment for him.
In the same case, if you are applying for a prestigious position and high position, then you need to be prepared to solve more complex exercises on logic.
Common is the professional classification of logical tasks. For example, typical mathematical examples are used for the system administrator, analytical tasks for the analyst, and programming examples for programmers. Thus, before you go for an interview, it is important to set yourself up in a professional manner, remember the specialized concepts you have learned and prepare for possible tricky issues.
Besides, many employers prefer to check the personal qualities, characteristics and behaviors of applicants. In this regard, the so-called ethical dilemmas that can arise not only in the process of working at a particular enterprise in a particular position, but also in real life, which is not associated with a specific labor activity, have recently become widespread.
The logical tasks that you will encounter in a working interview will not always have a definitive final answer (although there are such examples). In many cases the employer's task is to trace the logic of your thoughts.
Therefore, even if you did not manage to solve the problem as a whole - do not despair, all is not lost.
Examples
During the interview, you may be offered tests with several answers, tasks for percentages, examples of algorithms, hypothetical work or life situations, etc. Consider several popular examples.
Very often at interviews they ask a task about the rope and the equator. Its essence lies in the fact that our planet is tied with a rope along the equator. At the same time, the one who holds the rope gradually increases its length to 10 meters. The immediate question is whether a living creature can crawl into the gap that formed between the Earth and the rope.
If we talk about tasks that require mathematical knowledge, then it is worth mentioning an example with buckets. The conditions are as follows: there are 2 buckets, one of which is five-liter, and the other is three-liter. Your task is to use these buckets to measure 4 liters of water (in the example, another liquid may be suggested).
Another popular puzzle is the problem of 8 coins. The applicant is invited to imagine that he has 8 coins, but 1 of them is counterfeit, it weighs less than the rest 7. Moreover, the task is to determine which one in just 2 weighings.
The above examples are classic. They are quite common and known, so their use in interviews has declined. However, at the same time, newer and improved tasks are quite similar in structure to their construction.
Therefore, if you can cope with the solution of the examples we have given, then be sure to answer those questions that will be asked to you in the interview.
Preparation Recommendations
In order to successfully cope with the logical tasks that will be put before you at the interview, it is important to approach the process of preparation for the interview with special attention and thoroughness.
So, first of all, it is recommended to solve typical logical tasks that relate to the professional field where you plan to work.Despite the fact that each task is unique in itself, there are general principles for constructing logical examples. If you carefully analyze such structural principles, then the solution of many examples on logic will be easier.
If possible, talk with company employees or people who work in the same industry. Surely they will be able to tell you more about the process of solving logical problems in an interview. The thing is that a job interview in itself is a rather stressful event, and solving complex problems only increases difficulties. In this sense, it is important to take care not only of one’s intellectual readiness, but also of a confident psychological mood.
In the process of solving problems directly, it is important to clarify the details, and also not to be afraid to express your assumptions out loud. Thus, the employer will be able to evaluate you most comprehensively.
