According to a former Microsoft employee interviewed (and inventor of the M&M question) interviews are supposed to identify people who are not only smart but who also get things done. For questions like this one, the candidate should brainstorm, select the strongest idea and add enough detail so the answer has closure. “It is important to conclude with all significant gaps filled and all important contradictions resolved.” Will the candidate who answers correctly be a “Bill [Gates] clone?” Who knows? But a well thought-out answer at least indicates the ability to conceive and communicate complex operations.
# How many cars are there in the USA? (A popular variant is "How many gas stations are there in the USA?")
# How many manhole covers are there in the USA?
The answer that will please an interviewer will have you methodically reasoning, based on population in the USA and the world, how many gas stations you think there are.
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