Tricky interview question: 2 buckets, 50 white balls, 50 black balls. . .
By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
In this video, big game hunter Jeff Altman provides the answer to this tricky hedge fund brainteaser: You have two buckets, 50 black balls and 50 white balls. How do you set up the ball to maximize the chance that he will choose the black ball.
How many quarters would it take to stack them from floor to ceiling?
You have two buckets, 50 black balls, and 50 white balls.
How to set up the ball to maximize the chance of picking the black ball?
That’s today’s brainteaser. I have more information and more about it at ww.JobSearchCoachingHQ.com and you can contact me to answer your questions and schedule some time to talk with you so we can chat one-on-one for a few minutes to help you find a new job.
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Let’s talk about another great hedge fund brainteaser question. You have a hundred balls, two buckets, 50 black balls, 50 white balls, how do you set up these two buckets of balls to give yourself the highest probability of choosing the black ball, Paul took it, just repeat the two buckets, 50 black balls, 50 white balls, set up the balls in such a way to increase the probability of choosing the black ball.
They ask this question to get a sense of what you were thinking on the spot.
Well, this is how it works.
Take a black ball and put it in a bucket. This gives you 100% possibility. On the other side, you put all the other balls in it. So there are 99 balls in a bucket, 50 of which are white balls and 49 of which are black balls.
There is a black ball in the other bucket with a probability of 100%, the other has a probability of just under 50%, we round it up to 50% (probably closer to 49 and a half, but for purposes of this formula the formula is 50%), one side is 100% and decides there is 50, so the probability is slightly less than 75%.
These are truly the best odds you can get. Of course, this assumes that the way you select your balls is completely random.
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About Big Game Hunter Jeff Altman
Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter is a coach who has been a recruiter for a hundred years. His work spans career coaching, executive job coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the producer and former host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 job search podcast on iTunes with over 3,000 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice on networking more effectively, how to negotiate job opportunities, or leadership coaching? Schedule a discovery call on my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
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Connect with me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/thebiggamehunter
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