Weirdest interview question?
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I can be as silly as the next person when the situation calls for it but considering that interviews are stressful at the best of times, breaking the tension too much can lead to familiarity (and thus, contempt) if your sense of humour tends to differ from that of the interviewer. I would rather not lose a position based on a differing sense of humour. In my current role, while everyone is pretty open and happy, I need to ensure that I don't open up too much or things will go south for me. I'm just paid to sit here and keep the SQL Server systems running and the socialising can wait until later.
Most stupid series of questions was by some twinkie-HR-goddess-wannabe. Was asking me these questions about how I would describe myself and how would my friends describe me and all sorts of irrelevant rubbish. I answered a few in good faith until she asked another and I said: "I didn't think I was here to write an advertisement for the personals column."
I know it sounds stale and stuffy but she could afford to be flippant and silly as she had her job - I needed one and silly questions don't pay the mortgage.
The question I detest the most is the one that asks: "What will you like to be doing 5 years from now?". You can either answer it in the bum-kissing way of saying: "...doing your job!" or "...being your boss!" or you can be honest and say: "...having made my millions from this great idea I came up with, I would retire and relax on my own private island and travel the world and work a couple of days a week to try and make a difference to those not as fortunate as myself...."
Trust me - that last one is a BAD answer to give. Don't ask how I know - I just know!
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
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We were having a time out recently and this subject came up one colleague was asked if he was prepared to 'do time' for the company.
Not a question but a couple of classic interview moments:
I was interviewing a fellow employee for an A/P role and asked what the current supported version of a particular software product was, he looked away, then opened his briefcase, took out some sandwiches and started to eat them. I didn't know how to react, I watched with bemusement as he finished, got up and went back to his desk. To this day I have never worked it out!
A colleague of mine appeared for an interview at a factory when he was about 18 walked into the interview and was imediately given his notice and manhandled off the premises before he could explain why he was there!
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I had exactly the same question in my last job interview. Really threw me for a few moments
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverabilityWe walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass -
I think there are just as many dumb answers as there are dumb questions, but humour never seems to be a bad thing when faced with a non-relevant question. After all, the silly questions are ONLY there to gauge how quickly you can think on your feet and how you react when faced with a non-certain situation. I think that any interviewer or panel that frowns upon you injecting some light-humour into an interview is a good indicator of a company that I would NOT want to work for.
I've read about some fantastic answers to dumb questions. One I recall was, when asked "What is your greatest weakness?", the interviewee answered "kryptonite". Another answer was something along the lines of "A 5'10" brunette from South Carolina." (or something like that - even though I will acknowledge that my greatest weakness is a 6'1" dark blonde from Germany....
I think the last time I was asked that question, I responded with "My greatest weakness is the opposite of my greatest strength and something that will either put me on my back foot or make me angry. In that regard, my greatest weakness are those who lie, cheat & deceive."
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
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So the cover does not fall into the hole
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If you are asked this question: “If you were any animal, which one would you be and why?”, the correct answer when interviewing for a management position is:
I would want to be a monkey, so I could swing from the high branches and crap on everyone below me.
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Better than any question I ever asked are the replys and questions I have gotten when interviewing potential employees.
My favorites include
the customer service assistant who wanted to know if she had to touch animals if she worked for us (at the humane society);
the licensed veterinarian who asked if they have to kill the peacocks to make the cat toys with the peacock feathers attached;
and the office clerk who responded "I'm not sure, but I think it was about ten thousand" when I asked her typing speed.
I think I might have to try the muppet question!
Jennifer
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That means you want to be in the senior management!
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Not had any majorily weird questions however I used to keep reptiles and I used to put that I had an interest in herpetology on my CV-when I had far less to put on it
- I used to be an analytical chemist and landed an interview on that remark. The guy doing the interview didn't know what it meant and we spent a good 1/2 hour chatting about it, I got the job and he told me afterwards that he'd of asked me to interview regardless of my experience just to find out more about it. I'm still not sure why he didn't just use a dictionary 
Best answer to the "which animal would you be" question I heard from a female friend, the lads in the group came up with the usual White Shark, Eagle, Lion etc she said Panda. When we asked why she said "Because I would be so rare people would look after me"
The round manhole cover makes sense from an engineering point of view. A circle would exert equal pressure on its support as opposed to an angled cover which may concentrate stresses at the corners causing a dangerous failure especially on covers driven over by heavy traffic.. well that's my theory
I like the bath question as well, I might use that
K.
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I especially like the salt-shaker question...I have used "How do you test a toaster?" myself.
If there are any old mainframers out there...they'll appreciate this one...
There is an error code on the IBM MVS operating system called S0C4 (pronounced "Sock-4")...don't ask me what it means anymore, it's been a long time...something to do with datatypes...anyway...The question I was asked was "What is a S0C4?" (pronounced as above) and without missing a beat I answered "To keep your feet warm."
I got the job.
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Darn, I would have failed that interview because I thought they were to keep your shoes from stinking.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore RooseveltAuthor of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning -
OK... this is really scary. S OC4 is a data exception error, usually from trying to assign a value of one type into a a variable of a different type. Generally experienced in COBOL programs.
I would have thought the answer would be 'to prevent shoes from chafing your feet.'
Guess that's why YOU got the job!
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A woman's sister dies of supposedly natural causes. The woman goes to her sister's funeral. During the funeral, she sits next to a man who consoles her quite nicely and she instantly falls in love. After the funeral, she realizes that she doesn't know who the man is. She talks with her father and another of her sisters about the man. That night, she kills the sister she talked to earlier that night.
Why?
I found out that if you answer this question (or one similar to it) correctly, that you could be labeled as "having the capacity to become psychopathic killer". Me? I just thought the answer was logical...
Yes... I answered it correctly --Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally) -
I can get this one right too :
She kills her sister because she expects that man to be at her funeral too!
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Oooooh.... now I know we've got to work together, Remi
--Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
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