Brainteaser Elon Musk Asks Job Applicants To Solve Leaves People Scratching Their Heads

According to the 49-year-old's official biographer Ashlee Vance, the question really puts people on the spot.

"You're standing on the surface of the Earth. You take a walk one mile south, one mile west and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?"

Errr. Don't think I'll be applying for a job at SpaceX or Tesla anytime soon.

But I'm not the only one. Dozens of others have also been left stumped by the riddle.

Commenting on the post, one perplexed user said: "I'm here in the interview."

Another wrote: "I'm on Earth."

A third sighed: "My home because he is not going to hire me."

Now, there are two possible answers, the first being the North Pole - which some people managed to get in the comments.

"You're standing on the surface of the earth, so if you walk three miles a different way and come back where you started, it is the North Pole," wrote one clever clogs.

However, for those candidates who do get it right, Mr Vance says, there would be a follow-up question: "Where else could you be?"

Mr Vance explained: "The other answer is somewhere close to the South Pole where, if you walk one mile south, the circumference of the Earth becomes one mile.

"Fewer engineers get this answer, and Musk will happily walk them through that riddle and others and cite any relevant equations during his explanations."

Luckily for the more simple among us, there's not much to worry about.

Apparently, Musk doesn't really care what you say, it's just a way of seeing how your brain works.

Mr Vance adds: "[Musk] tends to care less about whether or not the person gets the answer than about how they describe the problem and their approach to solving it."

Good luck if you end up face to face with the man himself.