Ridiculous interview questions 11

[haggis]

What is the most ridiculous question you’ve been asked at an interview? What was your answer?

Here’s mine. I interviewed at a major auto parts paint plant and after the interviewer seemed to be satisfied that I qualified for the job, he asked me what motivated me most to get up in the morning and go to work. I enjoy my work, but who doesn’t have some bad days.

The answer I gave was that I had a mortgage to pay and a family to feed…..a pay cheque!
He looked dumfounded for a moment then asked was that all. I said no, I also get the satisfaction of knowing I’ve earned it.

He said he appreciated my candid answer, hired me and then told me I wouldn’t believe some of the answers he got to that question.

After I got to know him, I realized that had I said something like “for the greater good of the ACME Widget Co. the next candidate would have been brought in. A trick question? Maybe, but an honest answer benefited me that time.

Haggis

 

[HgTX]

epoisses--asking about savings may not be dumb, but like any other question about one's life outside of the office, it's none of their damn business. There are other threads around here about whether they can ask current salary.

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines: faq731-376

 

[MESC1]

I got asked, "what did you do to prepare for this interview?" -this was a board interview with 6 f my future superior officers

I thought the obvious answer was, "I took a shower and got dressed!"

-It wasn't what he was looking for, but he didn't hold it against me either. ;-)
SC

 

[jmw]

How much do you save a month?
Could he have meant this in a work related manner i.e. how much do you save the company a month?
i.e. if it refers to how successful you are at cutting costs.
Of course, it could also be directed at your personal savings but even if you think about this as a work related enquiry i.e. are you prudent (or pad too much) it isn't a good thing.
This attitude of mind could indicate a very cash flow limited company watching their margins.
Don't take the job because they will be cutting margins and overheads everywhich way including your salary.
Companies that are going somewhere usually are doing so by growth. If they are watching margins it also leads to increasing prices without regard to the market price and a whole host of other cretinous policies known only to management.

In fact, one of the most revealing points about this thread is not how much they learn about you from these questions but how much they reveal about themselves.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[McCormick93]

SomptingGuy:
Archimedes Principle says that the weight of water displaced by a floating object equals the weight of the floating object.

When you throw the brick overboard, the boat weighs less, so it displaces less water, and the water level drops, until the brick hits the water.

Assuming the brick sinks, the water level now rises again to make up for the volume of the brick.

So if the density of the brick is greater than water (it sinks) the volume of the brick is less than the volume of water of equal weight. Therefore the water level would would not quite rise to its original level; a net drop in level. (In other words, you have fewer floating objects, therefore less displacement of water.)

If the density of the brick is equal to water, you have no net change in level.

If you have a floating brick, you would still have no net change in level. The weight of all floating objects is still the same & the water displaced is still the same.

 

[SomptingGuy]

McCormick93:

Oops, I meant to write that the level of water would FALL if the brick sank (finger/brain/memory trouble). That part is obvious to anyone who's got high-school physics qualifications. And that part was understood by my interviewer.

It was the "what if it floats?" bit that bugged me.

 

[haggis]

StompingGuy

You should have explained to him that if the volume of the brick material was shaped in a certain fashion it could indeed float.

Archimedes was another famous Scot who's name was misspelt over the years. It was really Archie Medes

 

[HgTX]

The realistic engineering answer would be that in any reasonable pond larger than a bathtub, there would be no significant change in water level. We're supposed to handle real-world problems!

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines: faq731-376

 

[macmet]

I got asked Sens/Leafs at an interview during the playoffs a couple years ago. I said Sens. The guy laughed. I knew a guy that worked there at the time, so I asked him if he knew which the interviewer liked, sure enough...Leafs.

I didn't get the job, I figure coincidence.

Cheers

 

[14159]

"On second thought, one guy wrote an equation on the blackboard and told me to find the Eigen values. Eigen who? I guess they did me a favor by not offering the job."

You're joking right?

I wouldn't hire you either if you're a mechanical engineer and don't know the very most basic vibrations concept. Seriously. I could look over this for an environmental engineer.

I thought this was supposed to be "Ridiculous Questions" not answers.

DES

 

[ivymike]

Believe it or not, system dynamics is an "elective" course of study at many schools (or so I've heard - it was required at mine)...

 

[SomptingGuy]

HgTX:

"The realistic engineering answer would be that in any reasonable pond larger than a bathtub, there would be no significant change in water level. We're supposed to handle real-world problems!"

Whilst I agree with the point made, you have to remember that my interview was with BNFL. For pond, read "cooling tank". For brick, read "spent fuel rod". For water level, read "overflow".

 

[IRstuff]

But then, why would YOU be rowing around on a cooling tank with a spent fuel rod in your boat ? and then throw it overboard?

TTFN

 

[ivymike]

Fishing for that three-eyed-carp from The Simpsons, no doubt.

 

[SomptingGuy]

IRstuff: "But then, why would YOU be rowing around on a cooling tank with a spent fuel rod in your boat ? and then throw it overboard?"

Maybe that was common practice at BNFL inthe 1980's? Otherwise, why the interview question?

 

[IRstuff]

Then, it's probably a good thing that you DIDN't get the job; otherwise, you might be permanently glo-in-the-dark by now ;-)

TTFN

 

[ScottyUK]

An ex-colleague of mine who had, in his words, 'done time' at the BNFL Sellafield plant swore that BNFL was an abbreviation of 'Basically No Future Left'. A true optimist!!





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