How to answer problem solving interview questions

How to answer problem solving interview questions When you’re going on interviews in the hopes of landing a new job, you may invest some time in practicing how you’d handle the sorts of questions you think you might encounter while you’re in the real thing. The truth is, it’s impossible to predict how an interview will unfold. However, one thing you can expect during most interviews is the â€Å"problem-solving question,† in which you’ll be asked about how you’d either handle a hypothetical on-the-job problem from beginning to end or how you handled a real-world problem during your previous work experience.What’s the best way to handle a problem-solving question if it comes up? Keep reading!Stay positive and confident.When you’re hit with a problem-solving question on an interview, you’re being evaluated before you even open your mouth. Your body language and facial expressions are on full display while you’re listening to the interviewer either describe a problem-solving scenario or ask you to dig an example up.When the question comes up, do you cringe and swallow hard, with sweat forming at your brow as you squirm in your seat? Or do you appear relaxed, measured, and confident, and sit up straight and tall? Clearly, the second option will reflect more favorably on your perceived ability to confidently face a challenge.Of course, what you say and how you respond to a problem-solving question is crucial, and you want to reflect an aura of positivity and confidence. For starters, pay attention to the tone of your voice- is it measured and unwavering or do you sound nervous and hesitant? Which one do you think will make you seem like an ace problem solver to hiring managers?Resist the urge to go negative- a problem-solving question may pose a truly tough challenge or dredge up a horrific past experience that you’d just as soon forget forever, but don’t let that affect your composure during an interview. Resist playing the blame game on a company or colleague, talking about how impossible the problem is or was, and don’t play â€Å"hot potato† and pass off the problem to someone else as fast as possible. Problems arise at every job, and interviewers want to see if you’re the sort of person who will face them in a positive and confident manner.Demonstrate teamwork, leadership, and innovative thinking.Problem-solving questions are great opportunities for you to demonstrate some of the qualities that make you a great employee. Think about how you and others have handled a problem well, at work or elsewhere. It’s often the case that that those who demonstrate leadership, as well as an ability to work well with others and come up with innovative solutions, really shine when facing a work challenge. Make sure that your response to this question in interviews reflects your ability to boldly confront a problem, come up with new and creative ways to solve it, and work with colleague s towards an effective solution.Show an eagerness to meet challenges head-on.A good employee doesn’t shy away from problems in the workplace- but a great employee is eager to face challenges head on. When a problem-solving question is presented to you during an interview, you should respond in a way that demonstrates that you enjoy tackling problems head on and are a good resource to have on staff when issues arise- because they will.Are you ready for the challenge?You should treat every interview you go on as an opportunity to demonstrate your value to a potential employer, and what’s more valuable to a company than having a confident and effective problem-solver on their team? Use these strategies for answering problem solving questions and you’ll be sure to demonstrate your value as a prospective employee.

Composite Volcano (Stratovolcano) Facts

Composite Volcano (Stratovolcano) Facts There are several different types of volcanoes, including shield volcanoes, composite volcanoes, dome volcanoes, and cinder cones. However, if you ask a child to draw a volcano, youll almost always get a picture of a composite volcano. The reason? Composite volcanoes form the steep-sided cones most often seen in photographs. They are also associated with the most violent, historically-important eruptions. Key Takeaways: Composite Volcano Composite volcanoes, also called stratovolcanoes, are cone-shaped volcanoes built from many layers of lava, pumice, ash, and tephra.Because they are built of layers of viscous material, rather than fluid lava, composite volcanoes tend to form tall peaks rather than rounded cones. Sometimes the summit crater collapses to form a caldera.Composite volcanoes are responsible for the most catastrophic eruptions in history.So far, Mars is the only place in the solar system besides Earth known to have stratovolcanoes. Composition Composite volcanoes – also called stratovolcanoes – are named for their composition. These volcanoes are built from layers, or strata, of pyroclastic material, including lava, pumice, volcanic ash, and tephra. The layers stack on each other with each eruption. The volcanoes form steep cones, rather than rounded shapes, because the magma is viscous. Composite volcano magma is felsic, which means it contains silicate-rich minerals rhyolite, andesite, and dacite. Low viscosity lava from a shield volcano, such as might be found in Hawaii, flows from fissures and spreads. Lava, rocks, and ash from a stratovolcano either flow a short distance from the cone or else explosively eject into the air before falling back down toward the source. Formation Stratovolcanoes form at subduction zones, where one plate at a tectonic boundary is pushed below another. This may be where the oceanic crust slips below an oceanic plate (e.g., Japan, Aleutian Islands) or where the oceanic crust is drawn below the continental crust (e.g., the Andes mountains, the Cascades). Subduction occurs when two convergent tectonic plates collide with each other. jack0m / Getty Images Water is trapped in porous basalt and minerals. As the plate sinks to greater depths, temperature and pressure rise until a process called dewatering occurs. Release of water from hydrates lowers the melting point of rock in the mantle. Melted rock rises because it is less dense than solid rock, becoming magma. As magma ascends, lessening pressure allows volatile compounds to escape from solution. Water, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and chlorine gas exert pressure. Finally, the rocky plug over a vent pops open, producing an explosive eruption. Location Composite volcanoes tend to occur in chains, with each volcano several kilometers from the next. The Ring of Fire in the Pacific consists of stratovolcanoes. Famous examples of composite volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens in Washington State, and Mayon Volcano in the Philippines. Notable eruptions include that of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum) and that of Pintaubo in 1991, which ranks as one of the biggest eruptions of the 20th century. Most composite volcanoes occur in a region called the Ring of Fire. Gringer To date, composite volcanoes have only been found on one other body in the solar system: the planet Mars. Zephyria Tholus on Mars is believed to be an extinct stratovolcano. Eruptions and Their Consequences Composite volcano magma isnt fluid enough to flow around obstacles and exit as a river of lava. Instead, a stratovolcanic eruption is sudden and destructive. Superheated toxic gases, ash, and hot debris are forcefully ejected, often with little warning. Lava bombs present another hazard. These molten chunks of rock may be the size of small stones up to the size of a bus. Most of these bombs dont explode, but their mass and velocity cause destruction comparable to that from an explosion. Composite volcanoes also produce lahars. A lahar is a mix of water with volcanic debris. Lahars are basically volcanic landslides down the steep slope, traveling so quickly that they are difficult to escape. Nearly a third of a million people have been killed by volcanoes since 1600. Most of these deaths are attributed to stratovolcanic eruptions. Semeru Volcano in Indonesia is an active stratovolcano. Photography by Mangiwau / Getty Images Death and property damage arent the only consequences of composite volcanoes. Because they eject matter and gases into the stratosphere, they affect weather and climate. Particulates released by composite volcanoes yield colorful sunrises and sunsets. Although no crashes have been attributed to volcanic eruptions, the explosive debris from composite volcanoes poses a risk to air traffic. Sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere can form sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid clouds can produce acid rain, plus they block sunlight and cool temperatures. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 produced a cloud that lowered global temperatures 3.5  °C (6.3  °F), leading to the 1816 year without a summer in North America and Europe. The worlds biggest extinction event may have been due, at least in part, to stratovolcanic eruptions. A group of volcanoes named the Siberian Traps released massive amounts of greenhouse gases and ash, starting 300,000 years before the end-Permian mass extinction and concluding half a million years after the event. Researchers now hold the eruptions as the principal cause for the collapse of 70 percent of terrestrial species and 96 percent of marine life. Sources BroÃ… ¾, P.; Hauber, E. (2012). A unique volcanic field in Tharsis, Mars: Pyroclastic cones as evidence for explosive eruptions. Icarus. 218: 88. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.11.030Decker, Robert Wayne; Decker, Barbara (1991). Mountains of Fire: The Nature of Volcanoes. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-521-31290-6.Miles, M. G.; Grainger, R. G.; Highwood, E. J. (2004). The significance of volcanic eruption strength and frequency for climate (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 130: 2361–2376. doi:10.1256/qj.03.60Sigurà °sson, Haraldur, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-643140-X.Stephen E. Grasby, Hamed Sanei, Benoit Beauchamp.  Catastrophic dispersion of coal fly ash into oceans during the latest Permian extinction.  Nature Geoscience, 2011; doi:10.1038/ngeo1069