You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown in a blender. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do? If you were a cartoon character, which one would you be and why? How many golf balls will fit in a school bus? You and your friend are sharing a pizza. How many equal slices should there be to give you the most pizza possible? These are just a few of the seemingly impossible-to-answer questions found in "Are you smart enough to work at Google?". In this twenty-first-century guide to landing your dream job, William Poundstone reveals the history, secrets, and devious interview techniques of today's top companies and guides you through the solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions used today. Discover the importance of creative thinking (and why companies prize it above grades, experience, and IQ), ways to get a leg up on the competition (there might not be a right answer, but there's always a better answer), and what your Facebook page says about you (and how to turn the social nets in your favor). "Are you smart enough to work at Google?" is a fascinating, entertaining, and indispensable guide to solving the puzzle of how to succeed in today's job market.

Outnumbered at the Googleplex: what it takes to get hired at a hyperselective company -- The cult of creativity: a history of human resources, or why interviewers go rogue -- Punked and outweirded: how the Great Recession mainstreamed bizarre interview questions -- Google's hiring machine: how they pick the one to hire out of the 130 who apply -- Engineers and how not to think like them: the value of keeping things simple -- A field guide to devious interview questions: decoding the interviewer's hidden agendas -- Whiteboarding: the art of the visual solution -- Dr. Fermi and the extraterrestrials: how to estimate just about anything in sixty seconds or less -- The unbreakable egg: questions that ask "how would you ...?" -- Weighing your head: what to do when you draw a blank -- Answers -- Websites and videos.