Brainteaser used in Google job interviews that would 'stop candidates being hired'

Brainteaser used in Google job interviews that would 'stop candidates being hired' A woman has shared a brainteaser that Google would reportedly use in job interviews to test candidates - would you have passed their test and secured a role at the company? If you've ever wondered what it takes to land a job at Google, it appears problem-solving abilities and 'thinking outside of the box' are crucial to acing an interview. According to TikTok creator Tanya Zakowich, who goes by @pinkpencilmath on social media, Google used to pose a brainteaser to job candidates during interviews - and wouldn't hire anyone who got it wrong. However, in 2013 Google is believed to have dialled back these questions, with the former chief of Google human resources telling the New York Times they couldn't "predict anything" and were primarily there to "make the interviewer feel smart". In a video, she said: "If you don't know the prisoner hat riddle, you're going to love this one. "It's a super classic brainteaser that was commonly asked in job interviews at Google." Explaining the riddle, she says: "There were four prisoners on a staircase all facing the same direction. A brick wall separates prisoner 4 from the rest." She says prisoner 1 can see prisoners 2 and 3, while prisoner 2 can only see prisoner 3 and prisoners 3 and 4 cannot see anyone. "All four prisoners are wearing hats. They are told there are only two black hats and white white hats. However, they do not know the colour of the hats they are personally wearing. "The prisoners were told to shout out the colour of the hat they're wearing as soon as they know what colour it is." Knowing this, she says the question is: "Who is the first person to shout out correctly - and why?" The rules state that prisoners cannot turn around to look at one another, move out of formation, or remove their own hats. Your thoughts Weighing in on the brainteaser, one user said: "Prisoner two. If both prisoner two and three were wearing the same hat, one would have known that he was wearing the other hat. But since he didn't, two knows that." Another user added: "Two as he can use one's silence to infer that two and three have different colour hats. Since two can see three then two must be the opposite colour of three." A third user said: "Four because he knew no one was looking at him so he took his hat off to look." One more user added: "I used to give this riddle to my math students all the time. It's two because one didn't say anything so they know they're different from three." Answer According to Puzzles and Riddles, the correct answer is prisoner two - referred to as B in their explanation. A statement reads: "If prisoners B and C had the same colour hat on, prisoner A would have know immediately that his hat was the other colour (there are only two hats of each colour). "Since prisoner A was silent, prisoners B and C must have different coloured hats. Prisoner B realised this and knew that his hat was not the same colour as prisoner C, therefore his hat must be black!". Ready for more optical illusions and brain challenges? Previously, only 2% of people can spot all four hidden women in this tricky optical illusion. The sketch was created by Ukrainian artist Oleg Shupliak and features a woman with long, flowing hair - but you'll need to track down the other figures hidden within. On another occasion, an optical illusion sparked a furious debate over the numbers hidden inside. This mesmerising image features a circle filled with swirling black patterns, but what's really set tongues wagging is the mystery of what's actually contained within that circle. See how you get on and let us know in the comments section below...