As for other people saying that this isn't cheating, but rather you just demonstrated that you can solve business problems efficiently: Please don't listen to their justifications. You seem like an otherwise honest person, or at least someone who strives to be that way. Don't let them throw you off your ethical track.
If the rules of the interview -- implicit or explicit -- were that you can't look up things during the interview, then you cheated. Period.
Of course, in the business world, you can use Google. But interviewers don't ask you a question to figure out if you could solve this question in the real world. They ask you to derive some information about you (your depth of knowledge, your problem solving skills, etc). From there, they make a guess at your ability to do the work.
You cheated. You gave them a false impression of your skills because you broke the rules.
Nothing will ever remove the fact that you cheated. It already happened. The only thing you can change is whether you got your job by cheating.
The question is: Do you want this new job so badly that you're willing to sit with the knowledge for the rest of your life that you kicked off your career and got ahead with dishonesty? From what you said, I believe that you're a generally honest person (perhaps even exceptionally honest) who made a mistake. I'd worry that you'd end up being pretty unhappy at this company as you might never really feel right in the role.
The company might still decide to take you if you confess. Maybe. Or maybe they'll decide to just reinterview you. Or maybe you'll wind up somewhere else in the end. None of these are ideal situations, but at least you will have no longer gotten ahead via dishonesty.
If you do confess, I wouldn't use the word "cheating." I would just describe the situation honestly:
Although I'm really excited about the opportunities at <company>, I wanted to be honest about my interviews.
While the interviewers asked me questions, I looked up answers online. I feel that this might have been a key factor in the offer decisions and I feel pretty uncomfortable about this at an ethical level. I worry that my use of the Internet might have made me seem more qualified than I am.
This is behavior is really out of character for me, and I really regret my actions. That's why I wanted to let you know what had happened and see how to proceed.
I expect that you will likely revoke my offer with this disclosure, and I absolutely understand that decision (much as I would be disappointed). Alternatively, if you'd like to give me some additional interviews, I would love that opportunity too.
I assure you that, regardless of your decision, this will never happen again with this company or another. I really value ethics in my personal and professional life, and I'm really sorry that I didn't act in accordance with my own standards.
I can't tell you what to do, but I can say that you'll be much prouder of yourself if you decline the offer -- even if you don't confess what you did.
Good luck.
Read other answers by Gayle Laakmann McDowell on Quora:
- How are acquihire interviews for an engineering team different from regular technical interviews?
- How does an interviewer define the difficulty level of a question?
- Is it considered unprofessional to decline an interview after receiving a job offer?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2hwozBr
