
Ask HN: The unlimited resources interview question - unlimitedpower
It seems this is a common interview question for senior engineers: &quot;If you had unlimited resources and unlimited budget, what would you do?&quot;<p>What are interviewers trying to identify with this question?<p>If you ask this in your interviews, can you explain your motivation?
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goloroden
I think this is asked to see if the applicant has dreams and ideas that go
beyond the status quo. Can they "think big"?

Besides, someone with big goals needs the right motivation. How much more
exciting is someone whose dream is to save the world climate because he loves
polar bears than someone whose dream is to lie lazily on the beach and drink
cocktails?

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chairmanmow
My old manager used this question in interviews and said he only once got what
he considered the 'right' answer , and I know what he was looking for. He'd
ask 'suppose you had unlimited resources and unlimited budget to figure out if
a number was part of fibonacci sequence.'

Most people would hear fibonacci and get into some recursive programming
technique - that was not the right answer. The right answer was since you had
unlimited resources, etc, was just to store all the fibonacci numbers in a
hash table or what not and perform a lookup to see if it existed. Answer was
much simpler than what it appeared on its surface, though I'm not sure why
you'd want to do it that way.

Not sure what that question really establishes about a programmer, to me it
seems like the hypothetical invites the answer "I'd hire the best firm
available to do it for me", but that doesn't seem correct either. Anyways,
when those questions come up it seems like they want an algorithm, but in the
case I cited, it was a trick. Not sure of any other examples to draw on though
- curious if anyone has other examples.

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bjourne
I would answer reverse global warming and I suppose that would put me in the
"idealist" box. :) A lot about interview is just straight up bullshit. Once an
interviewer told me a story about a white South African motorcyclist hiking
through Africa. He got into an accident outside a small village. The
(supposedly black) villages didn't help him at all and instead they just
looted his motorcycle and backpack for valuable items. Then after several
hours with him laying there another (white) motorcyclist comes around and
helps him to the hospital. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was
obviously a test. Would I say something racist? Would I respond with "Oh, how
awful!"? Would I show any emotion at all?

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1996
If I had that, I would resell the unlimited resources (say routers on ebay)
and take a 10% cut. it we talk about CPUs and GPUs, I would simpl mine crypto

Given the unlimited budget, but given that companies only have a limited
outlay, it would cause infinite harm to the company, while transferring me 10%
of the company value in cash.

After that, I would create my company with this money, and hire this
interviewer so he keeps silent.

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whatsstolat
I think the OP wants to know why this asked, not for sample answers

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mabynogy
> Rule the world.

If you're in front of someone asking you this kind of questions, your chances
to be hired are very low.

Some of them used graphology or astrology not very long ago. One day they may
ask a DNA sample to check if it's "compatible".

Let them with their silly questions and focus yourself on serious peoples.

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gitgud
If the interviewer is a part of the company, it could indicate they are
worried about the future of the company. A rephrased version to emphasis this
is:

"What would you do if YOU were in charge?"

Their motivation in this case could be to see if you could save the future of
the company.

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Endy
I've never been crazy enough to ask this; but it's simple - Do you actually
want to be doing this work, or do you do this work because you need to
survive?

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gallerdude
Which answer would you prefer?

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Endy
Well, most recruiters would say "the honest answer" \- but the reality is that
you need to make it clear that you want to be doing their kind of work;
because that way they feel comfortable that you're not going to up and leave.

Honestly, upon some reflection and having done some talking to other people
both currently in and (like me) formerly in recruiting, this question might
indicate a place that's afraid of high turnover - or on a dimmer note, one
where they're worried about the work environment might cause people to leave
if they're not 100% bought-in on the company's methodology.

