The economy is not going well and an unemployed engineer desperately needing work is nervous about an upcoming accountant job interview. The interview goes well,but as the engineer stands up to leave the manager says,“Oh just one more question. How much is four times eight?”Puzzled,the engineer responds that in all calculations,even simple ones like that,he never relies on his memory. He always uses a calculator with a paper printout,and double-checks his answer.“Fine,”says the manager,“but I just want you to tell me the answer anyway from memory without using your calculator.”“Sure,”says the engineer.“Four times eight is,uh,thirty-four.”After saying goodbye and leaving the building,the engineer hurriedly pushes up four times eight into his calculator and curses when he sees the answer.
Nonetheless,he gets the job. Six months later,when he’s doing well and feels confident enough,he walks up to his boss and asks him.“Sir,I’m curious. Why is it that out of all those engineering candidates,you hired me,when I gave you the wrong answer to four-times-eight?”His boss looks up and says,“Your answer was the closest.”
經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況非常糟糕,一位失業(yè)的工程師拼命想得到一份工作。他申請(qǐng)了會(huì)計(jì)的崗位,對(duì)于即將到來的面試,這位工程師感到忐忑不安。面試進(jìn)行得倒挺順利,當(dāng)工程師站起來準(zhǔn)備離開的時(shí)候,經(jīng)理對(duì)他說:“還有一個(gè)問題。4乘以8等于多少?”工程師有些疑惑,他回答說對(duì)于所有的計(jì)算題,即使像這道題那么簡(jiǎn)單,也從來不依賴自己的記憶,而是使用一臺(tái)能打印的計(jì)算器,并且對(duì)于計(jì)算出來的答案總是再三檢查。“很好”,經(jīng)理答道,“但我希望你就憑記憶告訴我答案,而不是用計(jì)算器。”“當(dāng)然可以,”工程師道,“4乘以8等于,噢,34 ?!彼蚪?jīng)理告別。出了大樓以后,趕緊在計(jì)算器上按4乘以8,看到答案后,不停地咒罵自己。
但是,他竟然被錄取了。6個(gè)月以后,工作已經(jīng)做得很順利了,他也有了足夠的信心,于是走到老板那兒?jiǎn)査骸敖?jīng)理,我感到有些奇怪。為什么在所有那些工程師候選人當(dāng)中,您偏偏選中了我?要知道“4乘以8“那道題,我給的答案是錯(cuò)的?!崩习逄痤^,說道:“你的答案是最接近的?!?