I just finished How Would You Move Mount Fuji? (Amazon Associates link) by William Poundstone and it was excellent. The book takes an in-depth look at the puzzle interview questions (a.k.a., case questions) that have become all the rage. I can say personally that case questions are standard in any MBA job interview. Dell, for example, asked me how many trees there were in Williamsburg. My first answer jokingly was, "Aren't there civil government agencies that track stuff like that?" (As an aside, I satisfied the interviewer with my real answer to that question.)
How Would You Move Mount Fuji? starts with a history of puzzle interviews. He examines the current trend in using them in today's job market, and even comments on how employees should prepare for puzzle interviews and how companies should use them properly (most do not, by the way). But the meat of the book is the collection of puzzles. More than 3/4 of the book presents these logic puzzles. The book is complete with all the answers, but they are at the end, like a high-school textbook. The questions are far from high school-ish though! Fortunately, Mr. Poundstone treats the reader to a simple, logical, and detailed explanation of each and every puzzle. Many I knew, but some I did not, and looking at the reasoning behind each one got me thinking about different ways to look at everything, including problems I solve at work. If you have not done any non-technical reading lately because you feel "guilty" about reading something that is not .NET or technology-related, then this is definitely the book for you.
