/biz/ - Business & Finance

Just another tidbit: You can expect this type of question commonly in both banking, and any type of engineering/CS.

>>1553633
Can the TTH be in any order like THT, HTT?

>>1553651
exact order, you shouldn't ask that question in a real interview, though, because it's pretty defined within the framing/wording of the problem. If order didn't matter, you could be sure they would tell you.

Among these types of scenarios, where you have two competing ideas as to what the logic is defined as, expect the more difficult one to be the one sought after. ESPECIALLY if one of these is trivial as fuck.
If something ever seems too trivial, in a way that seems it's too good to be true, it likely is.

>>1553653
Cool, thanks, working on it now.

>>1553653
How long do they normally let you have for puzzles in interviews?

Is it different dependent on the industry?
I'd assume in STEM they would want you to do it faster than banking/finance?

>>1553657
Of course it depends on the prestige of the company, but it's more catered to Banking because statistics is usually more relevant in that field.

So I would say generally the bankers/quants are expected to answer faster.
I would think 5 minutes is what you might have, maybe a tad more.
But answering faster, correctly of course, will always make you look better.

The answer is no, then ask interviewers why are you asking me stupid fucking questions

>>1553633
Okay, I think I have the answer?

SPOILER*****SPOILER

OP, I think the trick is the in TH.

If, at say x Flips there is a TH, there is a 1/2 a chance of there being a T before the TH making it TTH. If there is a TH and there is a H behind it (HTH) there needs to be a 1/2 a chance of of it becomeing THH.

So 1/2 chance of TTH, 1/2 chance of THH, but, THH becomes obsolete if there is a T before it (TTHH) as it goes to TTH. 1/2*1/2 is 1/4, so I'm thinking it's 3/4 in favor of TTH.

>>1553663
If you can't answer correctly, expect every employer to know you don't know jack shit about basic statistics.

If it's not relevant to your field, why are you being a faggot wasting your own time? Edgy.

>>1553664
>>1553666
I guess I'll never know.

>>1553677
close, very close anon good job. look at your probabilities again.

>>1553678
If I make an slight error in my math but all my theory/knowledge is right will they tell me and give me a 2nd chance to review my idea?

Okay, I'm thinking it's 2/3 in favor of TTH now.

50% chance of the T being before TH and 25% chance of H being before TH and also H after.

Thus/ 50:25, 2:1 odds.... 2/3'rds in favor of TTH?

I am yet to take a stats class at uni.

>>1553680
Good job anon, try and internalize it now. You should be able to 100% reassure yourself of the probabilities, instead of just knowing them to be true.

>>1553633

If I make an slight error in my math but all my theory/knowledge is right will they tell me and give me a 2nd chance to review my idea?


Any good puzzle books like this or websites I should visit to brush up on my problem solving kind of stuff? I love this stuff, but, I struggle to find a constant source of these kids of questions.

>>1553688
Well answering the binary question is more important, of course. Equally probable, or not? You got that right.

Your logic going into the incorrect answer was very close to the maths needed for the correct ones, so they would likely say something like "Look more carefully at the probabilities." or they might have you explain your logic, and stop you when the incorrect deduction is made.

You did good though, just try and think faster. Times really matters. Also, if you don't already know. THINK OUT-LOUD in the interview.

If anyone wants another pretty good one, try this. A tad easier, i'd say.

>You have two ropes, and each takes exactly one hour to burn. How would you use them
to time exactly 15 minutes? Note that the ropes are of uneven densities, so half the rope
length-wise does not necessarily take half an hour to burn.

>>1553688
Well answering the binary question is more important, of course. Equally probable, or not? You got that right.

Your logic going into the incorrect answer was very close to the maths needed for the correct ones, so they would likely say something like "Look more carefully at the probabilities." or they might have you explain your logic, and stop you when the incorrect deduction is made.

You did good though, just try and think faster. Times really matters. Also, if you don't already know. THINK OUT-LOUD in the interview.

If anyone wants another pretty good one, try this. A tad easier, i'd say.

"You have two ropes, and each takes exactly one hour to burn. How would you use them
to time exactly 15 minutes? Note that the ropes are of uneven densities, so half the rope
length-wise does not necessarily take half an hour to burn."

>>1553699
Starting now.

>>1553633
TTH comes up twice as often.

>>1553699
Took me a long time, but, I got it.

The whole time I was trying to make shapes with the ropes that would burn for 15 minutes like circles and stuff and then thought this can't be it because you would only measure the time if you burn at the ends and circles would be the fastest at 30 minutes which is the same as a straight rope.

So, you burn rope 1 at both ends and rope 2 at one end. Rope 1 will take 30 minutes, and there will be half of rope 2 (time wise) to still burn, so once rope 1 is all burned out, if you start burning rope 2 at both ends it should take 15 minutes.

This one took me a while

>>1553699
Thanks for your help by the while.

Refreshing to have this kind of stuff on /biz/

>>1553717
Well done!

>>1553720
Yeah a good anon posted a similar thread a while back, and it got me really interested and motivated.
Trying to return the favor, these are real questions they ask all the time in interviews.

You are pretty good at these, consider trying to get into software, if not already or interested, because that type of thinking structure is really similar to what programming is.

>>1553735
I am in Computer Engineering so I have learnt a bit of Java and learnt HTML/Javascript in my own time.
Thanks.

Do you work in software or a bank or something?

>>1553738
I'm also a fellow computer engineer anon, in last semester. I have worked in banks though, multiple, as an intern.
Interviewing at big four right now, so trying to get back into the interview game.

Also try to pick up some python or c++. Java is really shit and you won't see that until you move away from it.

>>1553744
As a first year, any advice?

I go to a mid tier uni for CE, but, I have lots of connections to banks and accounting firms (I've interned at an accounting firm during winter break).

How likely is it for me to get in to the quantitative side of banking/finance with just a bachelors in CE?
Should I aim to get a masters in quantitative finance or in CE if you suggest I get a masters?

What grades should I aspire to in order to get in to banking? I will have a 3.9 at the end of this semester so I should be able to maintain strong grades during my time at uni.

Sorry for all the questions, I don't know many CE's that ended up in banks, only the more direct quant degrees like math, stats and actuarial.

>>1553633
I like these maths riddles.

This one is a bit more riddley and less computational but here goes.

A monk is on a pilgrimage to a temple at the summit of a mountain. At dawn he sets off from the foot of the mountain and climbs the narrow (read: one dimensional) path to the top. He arrives at the summit at sundown and spends the night meditating. The following dawn he starts off down the mountain following the same path, and because this time he is descending he finishes by noon.

What are the odds that on the two days, he occupied the same point on the path at the exact same time?

>>1553770

100%

Intermediate value theorem

>>1553770
135?

>>1553777
That's not an answer, I'm just susing out if I might know you

>>1553752
First and foremost: INTERNSHIPS are everything. Everything else is secondary.
I have had four all together, and learned way more in each of them than any class or exam ever. Also have full-time offers from these.

Why do you want to get into banking? I've seen how banks work, people are pretty miserable. Would definitely not recommend.
CE/CS is so in demand right now. If you're good, you will be swept up and have the chance to really work on game-changing stuff.

Learn, fucking, programming. It's sad to say but so many of the courses in CE will go to waste.

Also connections mean a ton, people aren't kidding at all when they say that.

>>1553789
Why do I want to go in to banking?

I have an older sibling in IB and they explained to me what they do every day and it sounded really interesting. They said they don't really like it and the 70+ hours are painful, but, I would still like to try it.

I would like to do the same thing but in the more technical, mathematical version of what my sibling does, even maybe quant trading. Unfortunately for me my sibling isn't a STEM graduate so they can't tell me much about getting in to banking as a STEM grad.

Also, the money. I'm very driven by money as materialistic as that sounds.

Your statement about learning more in an internship than in a classroom is absolutely true. Even though I was at absolute pleb level, at my internship my excel skills went through the roof and my knowledge of intro level financial formulas like annuities and what not went up so much as well as understanding ways to minimise tax in a million different ways.

I genuinely enjoyed my snippet of experience interning at financial services stuff.

If you don't recommend banking what do you suggest I do?

The banking/finance industry is very large in Australia and the CE opportunities aren't that great. I'm taking CE because I enjoy it and from what I've heard is relatively easy to end up in finance roles with.

>>1553814
Anon, so much of the banking work will be automated soon. I've seen it start to creep about first hand. What they will want is people programming AI to do the trading, that's already huge. Definitely look into that, only part of banking i'd ever consider full-time.

It's all about software right now. Program. Program. Program. You want to be the one automating, not getting automated. Trust me on this. I regret not going to CS because my programming skills would have been stronger. In CE you take so much irrelevant core eng crap, you'll see this.

I'd recommend getting serious about neural networks/NLP/machine learning. That's the future of tech and all companies already know it. They can't find enough talent to hire though, it's in crazy demand right now.

The kind of engineering done at banks here around NYC is not paid any differently than programming or hardware dev. Also stay the fuck away from any kind of IT that's not development.

The worst part of banks is, tech is ALWAYS secondary/back office. Tech in banks exists to support, not to make money. They don't give a shit about doing anything tech unless they see risk/money around it.

>>1553834
>In CE you take so much irrelevant core eng crap, you'll see this.

I love learning about the 8 different skills of a professional engineer. Did you know that Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains is a stage 1 competency of Engineers Australia. Fucking fascinating and very useful. Worth memorising.

> neural networks/NLP/machine learning
Should I learn these in my own time or will this be somewhat taught in CE and then I further my knowledge at home?

How long will CE/CS be in high demand for? I assume the high demand will fall once lots of students come through only thinking about the paycheck, granted, alot of them will fail because they just don't give a shit about logic gates.

Looks like I should get in to algo trading then. May as well start a fake money account and learn some python, algo is done in python right?

>>1553852
Quantopian is the first website I found that lets me do this

>>1553633
.125 tth vs .0625 thh
Tth is twice as likely

i've never gotten these types of questions in engineering interviews. they've all been either technical or behavioral questions

>>1553852
>I love learning about the 8 different skills of a professional engineer.
Yes I can agree, but it's a double edged sword. As a CE, you will dive into CS, EE, Networking. It's by far the best major to get a broad understanding of computers, not even close.

What semester are you in? Wait till you are taking solid state physics, statics, thermo, chemistry and all of them being totally fucking useless in your future career and sucking up ridiculous time to grind out all the work. You will forget it quickly too because you aren't diving deep, just skimming across subjects until you get to the good CE stuff like microprocessors, data structures, circuit design.

Being able to communicate effectively as an engineer is a HUUUUGE advantage. So many engineers fucking suck at this. If you are likeable and smart in the technical manner you will make it to the top. When you type your emails in outlook, they should be fucking perfect and professional, and pleasant.

You likely won't have an undergrad class in it. So many great tutorials out there though. This one is great. Don't depend on school to teach you everything, that's a big mistake and any succesful student knows it.
http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/chap1.html

If CE/CS drops out of high-demand (for the real talent), than the market must be an absolute disaster with everyone unemployed. It's not going anywhere if you know your shit, the opposite if anything. So many people go into CS/CE because they connected their grandma's wifi and were told they were so smart with computers. Those are the kids crying that CS/CE is shit.

Try and find what you really want to dig into, and work like crazy at it. Personal projects, not school. It will be extremely rewarding and you can put it in your resume.
Good luck, don't fucking drop out or switch to easier major (unless it's CS). CE is absolute god tier degree overall.

>>1553778
I have no idea what 135 means, so no.

>>1553770
i'm not a maths guy so this one gave me a bit of trouble. i'm sure it has some easy mathematical formula to figure it out but i spent a lot of time thinking about it and it was really hard to wrap my head around

but i drew it out on a piece of paper and if you graph his 2 trips there is a point where he will be in the same spot at the same time on both days.
please excuse my shitty mspaint drawing
i guess this only works if he travels at a constant speed each trip

>>1553716
nah it doesn't. you're discounting the first 3 flips where it is no advantage to either side. its 1.9999999999999999999:1

>>1554164
It works anyway. You've just given a sketch proof of the 'intermediate value theorem', which basically says if a line starts above zero, ends below zero and has no jumps ('is continuous'), it must touch zero. (Use "height on day 2" - "height on day 1" to make it cross zero.)

It's false if the monk teleports.

>>1554237
1.9999 repeating = 2.
do you not know this?

>>1553684
>>1553680

except that's fucking wrong

>>1554515
This should be good.

Anon, it's usually a good idea to specify your statements, otherwise they are meaningless.
Please give us the answer and your reasoning.

>>1554522

TTH
THH
or whatever are just numbers.

h= 0, T= 1,

TTH -> 110 -> 3
THH -> 100 -> 1

the highest number is 7, the smallest number is 0.

the probability that you draw a 1 or a 3 out of a bag of 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 is identical.

that's one way of looking at it.

another way of looking at it is basic probabilistics.

the probability of any combo in a coin flip is 0.5*0.5*0.5

since both are coin flips and both are combos of the same length, their probabilities are the same

>BUTBUTBUT WHAT YOU LEARN IN SCHOOL IS WRONG

well then, good sir, run a simulation.

>>1554546
Sweet fucking Jesus.

I'll just leave you be anon, I think you need it. I think I need it.

>>1554560

you need to die :^)

>>1554564
You need to learn critical reading and basic statistics. You're wrong.

>>1554566

explain

>>1554568
I'm lazy so i'll be quick.

TTT is the same win condition as TTH. THH does not have this same luxury of getting "locked in"
Once you get TT, you will either get TTH or you keep getting Ts, TTTTTTTT but you WILL get H and complete the sequence anyways.


T T T(win) + T T H(win)
----------------------------- = 2/3 chance of the TTH win because TTT is the same win
T T T + T T H + H H T

>>1553916
I'm in my 2nd semester lol,
I'm a double degree student (finance) so it will take me a total of 5 years to complete.

Idk how it is in the U.S but lots of people double degree, just takes an extra year basically.

Thanks for all your help

>>1554164
It doesn't matter what speed he is going. The lines must intersect at some point for the monk to finish his way down the mountain granted the line is continous (the monk doesnt just jump off parts of the cliff on his way down)