Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Australian Air Force's Recruiting Puzzle Shown To Be Unsolvable

Posted by timothy on from the we-meant-to-do-that dept.

KernelMuncher writes "Australia's Royal Air Force has been left red-faced after a job ad asked applicants to solve a complex math problem that was revealed to be unsolvable. The service posted the puzzle in a bid to attract the country's best minds to its ranks. 'If you have what it takes to be an engineer in the Air Force call the number below,' it read, above a complicated formula which candidates had to crack. But there was a slight difficulty: The problem had typos and ended up not giving potential operatives the correct contact information."

25 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. I know where they got the idea by cold+fjord · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe its a test of character?

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    1. Re:I know where they got the idea by bkmoore · · Score: 4, Funny

      I prefer the Muppets version. It almost makes one want to sack France.

  2. It's the Kobayashi Maru! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's the Kobayashi Maru!

  3. You're in the army now by HeadOffice · · Score: 5, Funny

    When people pointed out two key typos, the military bosses thanked them and said they were 'exactly the kind of people they are looking for.'

    "Eh, sarge, I think this war is a mistake..."

  4. If you can solve the un-solvable... by anyaristow · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and contact us at our secret phone number, we *really* want you.

    1. Re:If you can solve the un-solvable... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

      . . . and I was thinking that they were looking for someone for Australia's Area 51, someone whose father was an alien, who met a lovely, lonely Australian girl on a brief stopover on his travels through the cosomos, with alien math problem solving ability, who can fly the spaceships buried by the Aborigines during The Dreamtime, etc . . .

      . . . does Australia have an Area 51 . . . and will iMaps take you there . . . ?

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  5. How they found out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Several potential recruits complained after getting error messages from the Wolfram web page that reduces integrals.

  6. To: Royal Australian Air Force Recruiting Command by cold+fjord · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your problem may be solved by means of a most ingenious proof I have, which the margin of your ad is too small to contain.

    I have to go lie down now, I'm not feeling well.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  7. Re:Reminds me of high school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    One thing I love about fresh water school of economics, not only do they claim they can write an equation describing a modern industrial economy, but solve it too.

  8. Metaproblem by gmuslera · · Score: 2

    You find out that they are mistaken. So, you don't solve it, do a fake solving, or report them that they made a mistake? Considering how they approach to vulnerability reports the last option could get you in prison, while the problem will still have the same mistake.

  9. It was solvable by Hentes · · Score: 2

    It was solvable, just the solution wasn't the intended phone number.

    1. Re:It was solvable by stewsters · · Score: 2

      I think they were looking for an answer in the form of:

      for(PhoneNumber number : allPhoneNumbers){
      if (satisfies equation){
      autodial from google voice
      }
      }

    2. Re:It was solvable by lxs · · Score: 2

      Ghostbusters!!!

  10. A strange game ... by BenBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... the only winning move is not to play.

  11. They only think it is impssible to solve by gsgriffin · · Score: 2

    You just need a cocky young man that can reprogram the test and then casually win the test while eating an apple.

    --
    jsut athnoer menagiensls ltitle psrhae for you to dcoede. Why do we wtsae our tmie dnoig tihs?
  12. Re:Wrong demographic by Hentes · · Score: 2

    Mathematicians don't bother with such low-level expressions. This is indeed a problem for engineers. A good engineer would know how to load the problem into Matlab (or whatever symbolic solver engineers use), and lean back while it computes the answer.

  13. Obviously they need brighter people by gweihir · · Score: 2

    And in particular people that know the limits of their own skill. Dunning-Kruger effect at work. People that know the limits of their own skill get help when faced with something beyond them. People that do not know these limits mess it up.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Obviously they need brighter people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      And in particular people that know the limits of their own skill. Dunning-Kruger effect at work. People that know the limits of their own skill get help when faced with something beyond them. People that do not know these limits mess it up.

      Or, the put things a little differently, perception of ability approaches infinity as actual ability approaches zero.

      There's no excuse for not knowing your limits. That's why L'Hôpital's Rule was invented.

    2. Re:Obviously they need brighter people by gdeles · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A wise person knows what they do not know. I used to interview entry level programmers. I would ask harder SQL questions until they could not provide a good answer. Usually "what is a left outer join". The best non answer was "I am not sure, it is similar to this, and I know were to look it up". The worst answer (in a valley girl voice). "It is like a regular join, except like outer.".

    3. Re:Obviously they need brighter people by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Indeed. Good test. In this day and age, you cannot know everything, and how you deal with not knowing becomes critical for actual ability to solve problems.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    4. Re:Obviously they need brighter people by TapeCutter · · Score: 2

      I've used the same technique myself, it's a very effective way to screen out bullshitters.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  14. Re:and the prize is? by hawguy · · Score: 2

    WTF does Australia do with its Air Force anyway? They're hopefully not teaching algebra.

    Apparently they don't have to teach algebra since they seem to be looking for candidates that already know Algebra and Calculus.

  15. Actually: by Hartree · · Score: 2

    They were looking for someone with enough common sense to not bother solving it and just look up the recruiter's number in the phone book or on the web.

  16. Re:Wrong demographic by imjustmatthew · · Score: 2

    A good engineer would know how to load the problem into Matlab (or whatever symbolic solver engineers use), and lean back while it computes the answer.

    This. Most of what I'll -- for lack of a better term -- call applications engineering is done this way. You learn the math in high school and college so you understand the problems, not so you can solve them in your head. Even in research fields it's unusual to solve equations of this size by hand.

  17. No wonder.... by countach · · Score: 3, Funny

    No wonder I kept getting a Chinese take out joint.