this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2025
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Programmer Humor

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Op doesn't have time for interviews (lemmy.ml)
submitted 4 days ago by danhab99@programming.dev to c/programmerhumor@lemmy.ml
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Post:

You have three switches in one room and a single light bulb in another room. You are allowed to visit the room with the light bulb only once. How do you figure out which switch controls the bulb? Write your answer in the comments before looking at other answers.

Comment:

If this were an interview question, the correct response would be "Do you have any relevant questions for me? Because have a long list of things that more deserving of my precious time than to think about this!

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[–] mech@feddit.org 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There is no correct answer. The interviewer wants to see how you approach the problem. You can have the correct answer but still make a bad impression, or you can fail to find the standard solution and still ace this test.

[–] TDCN@feddit.dk 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think of the interviewer ask this specific question they aren't sophisticated enough to expect anything else than the "correct" answer. The question is so old, stupid, and irrelevant that anyone smart enough to ask actual good interview questions would never lead with this.

[–] mech@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago

IMO questions like this only make sense if you slightly modify them to make the "standard" answer impossible.
Then you see how the candidate reacts to curveballs.
I still think it's more useful to ask the candidate for a problem they've solved in a creative way.