This document provides guidance on how to approach problem solving questions in a job interview context. It includes tips on structuring arguments logically, establishing the scope of problems, considering alternatives, and explaining your thought process. It also provides examples of different types of questions like brain teasers, estimations, and case studies. The document aims to help candidates demonstrate their analytical, quantitative, and problem solving skills to interviewers.

1. GETTING WHAT I
WANT
Knowledge

2. Overview
> To ascertain how you think
through problems
> To determine your ability to
structure a logical argument
> To test your analytic and
quantitative skills
Objectives

3. Focus Structure Explore ConcludeListen
General Hints
> Don't be
afraid to
take notes
if there are
a lot of
facts
> Repeat if
necessary
> Think first,
then speak
> Be as
clear and
concise as
possible
(e.g. 123)
> Establish
level of
accuracy
required
(80-20)
> Be sure you
explain your
thought
process/
logic path
> Establish the
scope of the
problem
before digging
into one area
> State your
assumptions
> Select a
solution
and justify
> Don't
forget
possible
alternative
s
> Make
sure that
the original
question/
problem
has been
answered

4. Types Of Cases
Strategy
Brain Teasers Estimation
Types of Cases

5. Brain Teasers
Example
There are approximately 6 billion people in the world.
Lets assume that a third live in areas where they cannot get credit
cards (rural areas, poverty stricken areas, etc.).
Of the 4 billion remaining lets assume three quarters are adults
Of the 3 billion adults a third don't carry credit cards (they have
bad credit, don't believe in credit cards, are unemployed, etc.).
Of the 2 billion adults who carry credit cards, each carries on
average of 1.5 cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express).
Resulting in 3 billion credit cards in the world.
How many credit cards
are there in the world?

6. If You Get In A Jam…
> Pause to collect your thoughts
Remaining silent is better than blurting out an
incoherent thought
> Recount what you already know to the
interviewer:
By reviewing what you know about the case,
the next step often becomes more clear
> Don't give up:
Interviewers are judging your poise and
maturity as well

7. Business Cases: Do's And Don'ts
Do’s Don’ts
> Ask smart questions
> Establish a problem-
solving structure
> Show grasp of detail
without losing sight of
the ‘big picture’
> Find practical
approaches
> Draw sensible,
supported conclusions
> Be patient and thorough
> Recognize a wrong turn
> Ask irrelevant or no questions
> Embark on a random-walk
> Lose sight of the forest for the
trees
> Adopt simplistic or over-
complicated approaches
> Over-generalize
> Jump to conclusions
> Dig yourself deeper into the
mud

8. There is no single “right”
answer…
> Force-fitting a
framework that just
doesn't work
... but there are
inappropriate approaches
> Ignoring or forgetting
important facts
> Defending impractical solutions

9. Statistics You Should Know
Population of the world:
7 billion
Population of India:
1.22 billion (52% male)
Number of adults in India.:
16 crores < 7 yrs
More than 50% < 25 yrs
30% < 14 yrs
Number of cars per
household:
0.25
Number of households in India.:
250 million approx. (175 rural)
Minimum wage:
approx. Rs 250 per day

10. India’s Population – by age
30.8
64.3
4.9
0-14
16-64
Over 65

11. More about India
 Rural Population - 72.2%
 Median age - 25.1 years
 Birth rate - 21.76 births/1,000 population
 Literacy rate - 71.7% (Age 7 & above)
 Population under the poverty line - 22%
 Unemployment Rate - 7.8%
 Sex ratio - : 1.08 males / female (2011 est.)
 Life Expectancy at birth: 69.89 years

12. Estimation questions
 How many fuel pumps in Delhi
 How many resumes does Google
receive each year for software
engineering?
 How many pianos do you think there
are in India?

13. Logical questions
 Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum
numbers guesses needed to find a specific number if
you are given the hint “higher” or “lower” for each
guess you make
 What is the temperature when it’s twice as cold as
zero degrees?
 How many times a day do a clock’s hands overlap?
 A lily pad doubles in size every day. If on the 60th day
the pond is totally covered with the lily pad, on what
day is the pond half covered?

14. More questions of logic
 In a country in which people only want boy…every
family continues to have children until they have a boy.
If they have a girl, they have another child. If they have
a boy, they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls
in the country?
 You’ve got a 10 x 10 x 10 cube made up of 1 x 1 x 1
smaller cubes. The outside of the larger cube is
completely painted red. On how many of the smaller
cubes is there any red paint?
 You are given a 3-gallon jug and a 5-gallon jug. How
do you use them to get 4 gallons of liquid?

15. More questions of logic
 You have two ropes, each of which takes 1
hour to burn. But either rope has different
densities at different points, so there's no
guarantee of consistency in the time it takes
different sections within the rope to burn.
How do you use these two ropes to
measure 45 minutes?
 How many times a day does a clock’s
hands overlap?
 How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

16. So tell me…
 There are three boxes, one contains only
apples, one contains only oranges, and one
contains both apples and oranges. The
boxes have been incorrectly labeled such
that no label identifies the actual contents of
the box it labels. Opening just one box, and
without looking in the box, you take out one
piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how
can you immediately label all of the boxes
correctly?

17. Plain weird
• Imagine I am blind. Describe blue to
me.
• Explain a database in three sentences
to your five-year-old nephew.

18. Case study questions
 Your client is a ski resort. Global warming
has made it such that natural snowfall has
been reduced by 50%. They client is
concerned. What should they do and why?
 Your nephew runs a lemonade stand.
Yesterday was Monday and he was open
from 2pm – 5pm, and sold 2 cups. What
could he do differently tomorrow?

19. How to approach a case
study
Define Analyse
Generate possible
solutions
Find best
solution

20. More cases
 An offline business wants to go online, what is your
advice?
 An airline finds that, while its revenues are at an all
time high, the company is still operating at a loss.
What is going on?
 You are contacted by ABC Pizza to help them develop
a plan for entering the home delivery market in a
community where XYZ Pizza has the dominant
position. As lead consultant to ABC, what would you
do?

21. More cases
 Hindustan Trevor, a leading FMCG
giant, wishes to enter the ayurvedic
creams market. How long would they
take to break even? Should they enter