The brainteaser job interview is back. Popularized by Microsoft, today s puzzle-intensive job interviews are a far cry from the stress interviews of yesteryear. These problems are designed to identify original, creative thinkers who can defend their creativity. It s less about offering the right answer (which, in any case, is generally wrong), but displaying an alert, supple mindset that thrives on challenge. How would you handle five brainteasers currently making the rounds (short answers below)?

1. Which way should the key turn in a car door to lock it? Clockwise or counterclockwise?

2. How would you weigh a Boeing 747 without using scales?

3. You are in a car with a helium balloon floating in the car. All the windows are closed. You accelerate forward. Does the balloon move forward, move backward, or stay stationary?

4. An Arab sheik tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel comes in second will receive all the inheritance. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advice. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to the city. What does the wise man say?

5. If you had to eliminate one of the 50 states, which one would you select and why?

John Kador is collecting examples of puzzles and brainteasers used in job interviews for his forthcoming book, How to Ace the Brainteaser Job Interview, to be published by McGraw-Hill in 2004. The author welcomes other riddles and anecdotes for inclusion in the book. He can be reached at jkador@jkador.com

Answers

1. Most interviewers say it really doesn t matter as long as candidates defend their decision. But I think there is a preferred answer for right-handed people. The design of the human hand and wrist make clockwise turns easier for right-handed people. The opposite is true for left-handed people.

2. The most elegant response is that you put the jet on a large boat and paint a mark on the hull where the water line is. Now remove the jet and the boat rises. Finally, load the ship with items of known weight until it sinks to the line you painted. The total weight of the items will equal the weight of the jet.

3. The balloon will move forward because the air molecules, like everything else in the car, move back, creating low pressure up front.

4. Have the riders exchange camels.

5. No right answer, unless you re applying for a job with Microsoft, in which case Washington State is definitely a non-starter. The best course is to reframe the question with an emphasis on the citizens at risk. Here s where you show your creativity and values. One elegant answer: I d eliminate Wyoming [you get points for knowing that Wyoming is the least populous state], but only if the natural attributes and people can be relocated to a theme park on the Las Vegas strip.