February 11, 2011 at 6:35 am
I'm just being curious. What is the oddest (or most startling) interview question (for any position) that you've ever asked or been asked during an interview?
More startling than odd... Someone mentioned to me once that he likes to ask "How would you react if I told you that so far, your interview is terrible?"
February 11, 2011 at 7:02 am
At one place I interviewed at, I had a good preliminary interview with a couple of people, one a manager, and the other an HR-type, but it was all high level, and there were no real technical questions to see if I was a paper phony or someone who really knew what I said in my resume. When they asked me if I could come back tomorrow, I assumed it was for a real test of knowledge interview, but they had a new employee package of forms waiting for me instead. That really threw me off.
Lowell
February 11, 2011 at 7:19 am
Most unexpected for me went like this:
At the end of the interview, as a final question, I asked, "Am I leaving you with any questions or concerns about my ability to do the duties you desire for this position?" (I always end off that way.)
The response was, "You come across as really arrogant. Have you ever made any friends?"
I have to admit to being surprised by that one.
(I'm used to coming across as chatty and/or pedantic. Arrogant is less usual, but can sub in for pedantic. It was the question that surprised me.)
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
February 18, 2011 at 6:24 am
Yeah, recently I was asked
"if you could be any tree, what would you be?"
This was for a Business Intelligence Developer position!!! LOL
February 18, 2011 at 6:29 am
DemonicKat78 (2/18/2011)
Yeah, recently I was asked"if you could be any tree, what would you be?"
What was your answer? @=)
February 18, 2011 at 6:47 am
I was asked what my favorite animal was. I answered cats. The interviewer was a dog lover and stopped the interview right there.
Another strange one was when I was asked if I had any trouble working for a woman. I said no. He said that he wouldn't hire any man who could work for a woman.
February 22, 2011 at 2:04 pm
I was asked in an interview :-
1)Tell the 5 uses of a pen.
I had to really scratch my head for tht...:)
2)Tell 5 words starting with letter 'F' within 5 seconds
I was about to start with 'F***'...lol
i know its easy to tell 5 words but I was very nervous and couldn't think of !!
3) What is the angle between the minute hand and the hour hand of a wall clock when the time is
3:40
i did that... then they asked me to write a code for that, which i wasn't able to do 🙂
Huh !! surprisingly, these all questions were asked in a technical interview ...
Regards,
Sushant
Regards
Sushant Kumar
MCTS,MCP
February 23, 2011 at 4:43 am
SKYBVI (2/22/2011)
1)Tell the 5 uses of a pen.
Call me Ms. Literal, but I'd be asking them if they meant pen or pin. @=)
SKYBVI (2/22/2011)
3) What is the angle between the minute hand and the hour hand of a wall clock when the time is3:40
Yeah, that one would catch me off guard. At that point, I'd have to do the math to add (90 + 180) - 30 (I don't know the angles off the top of my head). For the second part of the question, I'd tell them I hadn't used SQL's mathmatical functions in a while and I'd have to look it up in Books Online.
But I can actually see the point of the third question, especially if the employer dealt in manufacturing, construction, or architecture. It's a clever way of getting your mind off the technical interview then pulling it back in an unexpected way. Anyone who can switch gears that fast deserves some major kudos.
Has anyone noticed how often that happens in RL? You get a BU asking about stuff that have nothing to do with IT or programming, then suddenly they're turning into a project you have to develop?
February 23, 2011 at 5:59 am
The one that threw me off the most as the starting question on an interview was, "Can I get you a beer?". Later, "Do you drink?". Seeing as how I had accepted the offer of beer earlier and was 2/3 of the way through my bottle of Keith's, I thought it was a redundant question.
February 23, 2011 at 6:07 am
Ian Massi (2/23/2011)
The one that threw me off the most as the starting question on an interview was, "Can I get you a beer?". Later, "Do you drink?". Seeing as how I had accepted the offer of beer earlier and was 2/3 of the way through my bottle of Keith's, I thought it was a redundant question.
Should have said "no" on the question about drinking, while taking a sip from it. Just to see their reaction.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
February 23, 2011 at 6:11 am
"What do your parents do for a living?"
I just remember thinking - what in god's name has that got to do with anything?
February 23, 2011 at 6:23 am
Crazy 😉
M&M
February 23, 2011 at 7:06 am
skcadavre (2/23/2011)
"What do your parents do for a living?"I just remember thinking - what in god's name has that got to do with anything?
It's good to have an answer that puts you in the best light:
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential... very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds- pretty standard really. At the age of twelve I received my first scribe..."
My apologies to Dr. Evil
February 23, 2011 at 7:58 am
Yeah, recently I was asked
"if you could be any tree, what would you be?"
What was your answer? @=)
My answer was a pear tree as they are nice and juicy!!! LOL
I later found out the real meaning to that question, Which is the tree is how you see yourself, so my answer wasn't quite what they were after.
The "what favourite animal question" is what you look for in a potential partner! 🙂
February 23, 2011 at 8:00 am
SKYBVI (2/22/2011)
3) What is the angle between the minute hand and the hour hand of a wall clock when the time is3:40
Not going to lie, I saw this and immediately picked up a pen and pad and started solving.
I'm assuming that it's a standard analog clock that has the hour-hand move gradually as the minute hand moves, so the position of the hour hand (relative to 12:00) would be 90 degrees + (8/12 * 30) since each number on the clock is 30 degrees apart and the minute hand is 8/12s through its revolution. The minute hand would be at 8 * 30 = 240 degrees relative to 12:00.
So the final math is 240 - (90 + (8/12*30)) = 130.
To contribute to the thread, the oddest question I got was whether or not I was a Clemson Football fan, as about 1/3 of the folks who work here are Clemson grads (I'm in South Carolina) and another 1/3 are hardcore Clemson/USC fans. Not sure what that has to do with SQL, but I just assumed they knew something I didn't about table structures and its relationship to college football win/loss percentage...
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