HELP! Unusual job interview questions you have heard.

[disneyeveryyear]

After being employed at the same business for 18 years, I am now unemployed and searching for a job.

I have had two interviews. The first went very well and I was actually offered the job, but unfortunately things fell apart in negotiation. This interview was what I was expecting, asking me about my job history, skills, explaining their business, etc.

The second interview didn't go very well. As opposed to asking me the type of questions referenced above, the questions were much more abstract.

"What is the most difficult decision you have had to make in the past two years?"

"Tell me about the most recent time you have had to work 'around the system'?" (I worked in a law office, and dealt very heavily with client trust funds - you DO NOT work around the system, and that is what I told them.)

I didn't even get a call back for a second interview for this job.

I have another interview scheduled in 10 days and I was wondering what type of questions you have heard lately, or are asking your applicants (if you are in HR).

TIA

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I read an article in the newspaper the other day about the strange questions being asked in interviews these days. Apparently since so many people are applying, they throw in some real kickers to identify the people who can think on their feet. One question was: how would you describe an orange? Another was: estimate the number of garbage collectors in the state of California, and: what is the total volume of water on the earth? None of these questions had anything to do with the actual job, they were just looking for people who can think creatively without getting flustered.

The article said this is the way things are going in the job market. My DH had a phone interview the other day and he was giving a crazy math problem to solve. He got it right (smart guy!) but was wondering what the heck it was for. I don't envy anyone who is interviewing in this job market. Good luck!

 

[Belle0101]

This was a couple years back so it may not be all that unusual but it did catch me off gaurd.

#1 "Tell me what you didn't enjoy about your last job."

#2 "Name one character flaw that you have or weakness with your personality."

#3 "Name your best character trait."

I was interviewing for job serving meals to seniors in a community center type setting. No preparing of the meals was involved. It was for 3 hours a day / 5 days a week.

I expected questions about having worked with seniors before or serving meals but not a single one was asked.

I guess I don't even know myself very well because I don't have any idea how to answer those.


Best of luck to you!! I hope you can find something that you like!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I've had both, the conventional and the philosophical type. The purpose behind the seemingly subjective ones are to determine what sort of "fit" you will be with the current culture of the employer. There are no wrong answers, simply your answers, and either you fit or you don't. Sometimes, there will be a preponderance of the "fit" questions when the decision to fill the vacancy has already been made and the employer is conducting further interviews to cover that fact. (Not cover up, mind... cover).

The most interesting question I've had was, "who are your two most favorite people and why? The implication was public figure of any sort, not personal figure (which may not give the interviewer an adequate frame of reference).

I thought that was pretty unique.

 

[barkley]

we used to ask one that we had to do a set up on with our receptionist. when each candidate arrived, the receptionist would ask them their name, and then instruct them to read a paper posted on the wall next to her desk. the paper welcomed the candidate, instructed them to ask the receptionist for a copy of the job announcement, read it and have a seat in a designated area where they would wait until the interview.

during the oral interview we would ask each candidate a couple of questions about the job they were applying for-what were the job's duties, what were the minimum qualifications.

since they had supposedly just read the announcement they should have known these answers no problem, but the percentage of people who could'nt because they just skimmed the paper (because they had likely read it before making an application) was significant. there were also always some who did'nt even bother to ask the receptionist for the paper. our purpose was to see if a candidate would follow oral and written directions. esp. those given by a person whose job was likely in what a candidate would perceive as a lower level position of authority.

 

[Pakey]

We hire over a thousand seasonal employees every year and the question we always ask is "can you describe a situation where you didn't agree with your supervisor and how you handled it".

We get some very interesting answers. It weeds a lot of people out for us.

 

[bomzar]

Years ago, I worked in a deli in a food court and we'd have people asking for applications all the time. If they had to ask to borrow a pen to fill it out, my boss would throw their application away after they returned it. He said, if they're not even prepared enough to bring a pen with them when they"re filling out job applications, they obviously weren't responsible enough to work there.

 

[happygirl]

Years ago, I worked in a deli in a food court and we'd have people asking for applications all the time. If they had to ask to borrow a pen to fill it out, my boss would throw their application away after they returned it. He said, if they're not even prepared enough to bring a pen with them when they"re filling out job applications, they obviously weren't responsible enough to work there.

Your boss sounds great I also hate when people bring in there kids to fill out applications

 

[kamik86]

I read an article in the newspaper the other day about the strange questions being asked in interviews these days. Apparently since so many people are applying, they throw in some real kickers to identify the people who can think on their feet. One question was: how would you describe an orange? Another was: estimate the number of garbage collectors in the state of California, and: what is the total volume of water on the earth? None of these questions had anything to do with the actual job, they were just looking for people who can think creatively without getting flustered.

Engineers and computer scienctists have been seeing this kind of questions for a while I'm not surprised others see them too. For us the reason is to see how you go about thinking about a problem, becasue 90% of our jobs is figuring out how to break down a problem into questions we can answer, guess at, or go find the answer to. At least for us if the question is something like "HOw many basketballs would it take to fill this room" a good starting point would be to ask if the furniture is still in the room when your filling it with basketballs.

Most of the interviews I have had were a bit more abstract with the "Tell me about a time where...." I had one for this job about a time where a team member wasn't pulling their weight. Told them about my senior project since at the time the team and advisors were having meetings to decide if the team was willing to give one student a second chance (he really should have failed but since that would force him to graduate a year later we decided to give a second chance, give an incomplete and have him sign a contract that if he didn't meet certain goals he would fail both quarters).

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Thanks for the ideas.

Any more unusual questions out there?

Honestly, as an number cruncher, I am not the greatest at abstract ideas, so anything I can think of in advance can only help.

 

[kamik86]

Your boss sounds great I also hate when people bring in there kids to fill out applications

could be worse I have heard of people bringing kids to their interview.

My company also had issues with students that they called to offer positions not just saying that they want to think about it and get back to us (this is smart) but that they wanted to talk to their parents about it first. Yeah ok you may want to but you probably shouldn't tell your new employer that... espeically in an indrustry that once you start working you may not be able to talk about your work to much (Government contractor)

 

[kamik86]

I have also seen things like "Tell me about a time you failed at something." (Whatever you say make sure to include how you fixed it and/or what you learned from this) or "Tell me about some areas of your work that need improvement."

To continue with stupid things to do in an interview... my manager had one student last year start telling her why all of her interview questions were stupid.

 

[Dee77]

"Who is your hero?" was a question I was asked many years ago, I got the job and according to my then boss, it was because of my answer to that exact question. I answered, my Dad, everyone else picked a superhero from fictional TV shows or movies etc. I always think back on that and wonder if my boss wasn't a father himself if things would have turned out differently.

Good luck!!

 

[daughtersrus]

After being employed at the same business for 18 years, I am now unemployed and searching for a job.

I have had two interviews. The first went very well and I was actually offered the job, but unfortunately things fell apart in negotiation. This interview was what I was expecting, asking me about my job history, skills, explaining their business, etc.

The second interview didn't go very well. As opposed to asking me the type of questions referenced above, the questions were much more abstract.

"What is the most difficult decision you have had to make in the past two years?"

"Tell me about the most recent time you have had to work 'around the system'?" (I worked in a law office, and dealt very heavily with client trust funds - you DO NOT work around the system, and that is what I told them.)

I didn't even get a call back for a second interview for this job.

I have another interview scheduled in 10 days and I was wondering what type of questions you have heard lately, or are asking your applicants (if you are in HR).

TIA

DD had one where they asked her what "social network" sites she participates in and to provide them with access to the account.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

DD had one where they asked her what "social network" sites she participates in and to provide them with access to the account.

This one would scare me. I am not sure they would want to hire a middle-aged suburban mom who has the most boring FB page in the world.

 

[Caropooh]

we used to ask one that we had to do a set up on with our receptionist. when each candidate arrived, the receptionist would ask them their name, and then instruct them to read a paper posted on the wall next to her desk. the paper welcomed the candidate, instructed them to ask the receptionist for a copy of the job announcement, read it and have a seat in a designated area where they would wait until the interview.

during the oral interview we would ask each candidate a couple of questions about the job they were applying for-what were the job's duties, what were the minimum qualifications.

since they had supposedly just read the announcement they should have known these answers no problem, but the percentage of people who could'nt because they just skimmed the paper (because they had likely read it before making an application) was significant. there were also always some who did'nt even bother to ask the receptionist for the paper. our purpose was to see if a candidate would follow oral and written directions. esp. those given by a person whose job was likely in what a candidate would perceive as a lower level position of authority.

I really like that!

 

[mtdevine615]

I always ask the lime jello question, as in "What do you think of lime jello? There's no right/wrong answer. It's just a way of throwing people off guard a little and it's fun to hear the answers.

 

[goofyernmost]

I have been around a lot of years and I must say that the new trend in abstract questioning is a farce.

What is really accomplished by asking a question like "describe an Orange" unless you work in an orange grove.

Who's your hero? I've been around too long to have a "hero". Life is what it is. If you can wake up in the morning and really feel good about yourself then you have nailed it. If you can honestly say that yesterday I hurt no one, I earned my keep, I didn't use someones weaknesses to enhance my own agenda then you can do the best you can possibly do, unencumbered by guilt.

The real problem with this corporate silliness is that no one that asks the questions is remotely qualified to interpret the answer. They just don't know what a particular answer means, they can only guess based on their own opinions...not a solid structure, I would think.

I have found that in the corporate structure egos are in full rage. Employers ask these questions because they are so full of themselves that they actually really believe that they have found the one question that opens all the doors to the inside of someones mind. They are wrong.

On a lighter point, as one gets older the answers can become more fun. The biggest, and in my opinion, the dumbest of all interview questions is..."Where would you like to be in 5 years." You just walked into this place. The only thing you know about it is the location and what little bit of highly spun info that you were able to glean from the internet. There is no way to comfortably or even logically answer that question. As I have gotten older, I have actually answered that question with the single word, "alive". Still got the job.

 

[VisionPilot]

I have been around a lot of years and I must say that the new trend in abstract questioning is a farce.

What is really accomplished by asking a question like "describe an Orange" unless you work in an orange grove.

Working in IT as more than just a heads-down coder, I could see this as a very valid question. It would help to see how someone thinks and can describe something abstract to someone else. I've had plenty of on-the-job situations where I've had to describe an abstract process to a non-IT user and the programmer than can talk to non-technical people in a way they understand without talking down to them is a very valuable senior developer. That being said, I've never been asked to describe an orange, but I have been asked to explain some technical concepts in layman's terms.

I've also lived in and worked in an orange grove and never thought about describing them then.

I think the most unusual questions I've been asked were "Have you seen Office Space?" followed by back-and-forth quotes from the movie. And the same question dealing with some Monty Python movies.

The most popular question I get is "what's it like working in IT at Disney?" even 6 years and many contract/consulting jobs later, I always get asked that one.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I have been around a lot of years and I must say that the new trend in abstract questioning is a farce.

What is really accomplished by asking a question like "describe an Orange" unless you work in an orange grove.

Who's your hero? I've been around too long to have a "hero". Life is what it is. If you can wake up in the morning and really feel good about yourself then you have nailed it. If you can honestly say that yesterday I hurt no one, I earned my keep, I didn't use someones weaknesses to enhance my own agenda then you can do the best you can possibly do, unencumbered by guilt.

The real problem with this corporate silliness is that no one that asks the questions is remotely qualified to interpret the answer. They just don't know what a particular answer means, they can only guess based on their own opinions...not a solid structure, I would think.

I have found that in the corporate structure egos are in full rage. Employers ask these questions because they are so full of themselves that they actually really believe that they have found the one question that opens all the doors to the inside of someones mind. They are wrong.

On a lighter point, as one gets older the answers can become more fun. The biggest, and in my opinion, the dumbest of all interview questions is..."Where would you like to be in 5 years." You just walked into this place. The only thing you know about it is the location and what little bit of highly spun info that you were able to glean from the internet. There is no way to comfortably or even logically answer that question. As I have gotten older, I have actually answered that question with the single word, "alive". Still got the job.

I like your perspective.