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

 

[quark]

This issue was discussed sometime back in thread164-57348

I would go with Ivymike. Hotwater pipe should become a coldwater pipe before freezing.

If two freezers work at constant load and if hotwater freezes faster, this indicates less heat(because it works for lesser time) is removed from hotwater yet temperature is lowered down.

 

[Sparweb]

"what ever happened to Erasto Mpemba?" maybe when he dies he'll be frozen...

Seriously now, I think we're all way off track.

I haven't a ridiculous question to contribute, but a very astute one:
"What is a drawing for?" My answer got me the job.


Steven Fahey, CET
"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout

 

[SusTestEng]

The question I hate to answer is: What are your weaknesses?" How the heck are supposed to honestly answer: I'm late for work most days, I surf the net a lot, and some days I just don't feel like working!

 

[DRWeig]

I, too, despise the barbed question, "What are your weaknesses?" I answered it in one interview by saying that as far as the requirements of the job were concerned, I didn't really have any weaknesses. There are things I could improve upon, such as keeping a cluttered desk, but they're not weaknesses. Well, I got one job that included that answer but I didn't get another...

Anything else I've heard seems contrived ("I work too hard," "I'm a perfectionist," "I put the job ahead of my personal life," etc...).

I certainly can't answer that one completely when it comes up, since my major weaknesses involve females, Italian food, and fine cigars. That just would't do.

Good thread!

Old Dave

 

[SnTMan]

greglocock, what does one do when the lugnuts are down the drain? (got an interview coming up)

I know people who think their water pipe split when it THAWED.

 

[haggis]

SnTMan,

Borrow a lug nut from the three other wheels and drive to the nearest service station and buy some more.

Haggis

 

[SnTMan]

So this is the "approved" answer?

Not: 1) Walk across the parking lot to the parts store.

2) Get some spares out of my toolbox.

3) Choke the crap out of the dunce that kicked them down there.

4) Since they were in my pocket, I 'm down the drain too, and have bigger things to worry about.

 

[techmaximus]

I have co-worker who got his first engineering job about five years ago with a different company than we are at now and he tells about his experience like this: Upon graduating from college he interviewed and got a job with a smallish civil engineering company. During the interview the owner of the company seemed very interested in whether or not this guy could take of himself now that he was out of school and “on his own”. The owner asked him all kinds of questions on was he prepared for life in the real world and that kind of thing. On his first day on the job he was getting settled in when the owner of the company showed up at his cubical and announced that the two of them would be going out to a job for a site visit. The owner said that he should be ready to go at 2pm. So he was pretty excited to be going out on his first real engineering site visit but his boss takes him to the grocery store. The boss grabs a buggy and commences a two hour hands-on tutorial on how to properly shop for food and how to prepare the same! He just stands there dumbfounded but listens intently and even pretends to be soaking in all of this fascinating advice. He just figured that the guy had never hired someone right out of college and played along.

Techmaximus

 

[casseopeia]

good website for dealing with difficult interview questions

http://jobs.asiaco.com/resources/quickinterviewquestions.shtml

 

[corus]

The site is good, casse, and reminds me of an interview question asked of a woman. Asked what she would be doing in 5 years time, she replied - married with 2 kids. She never got the job.

corus

 

[ischgl99]

I interviewed with a Japanese company right out of school that was about 30 miles away from home (I was still living with my parents at the time) and the guy asked what would my parents think about me working so far away from home? I answered they would be happy to get me out of the house! I didn't get that job LOL

 

[vonbad]

plasgears & DrWieg maybe I missed the issue on the cream and coffee question. If you wanted it to be as hot as possible.

Wouldn't the correct answer be not to add any cream at all.

 

[weh3]

You only have two choices. In which case will the coffee-cream mixture be warmer in 15 minutes:

1. Adding the cream now. Even though the cream is colder, the coffee is cooling more quickly;
2. Waiting 15 minutes; the cream will warm up, but the coffee will be cooling more slowly.

The answer is a definite "It depends (on a second-order nonlinear partial differential equation with variable coefficients)." Vide supra.

Regards,
William

 

[MElam]

The coffee question was in the GlobalSpec newsletter a while back.

Go to

http://www.globalspec.com/newsletter/ViewIssue?Vol=Vol5Issue3&Pub=1&id=-427855472

and check out "The Challenge"

 

[SnTMan]

A lot of assumptions in that answer.

 

[Rob45]

I agree about that "What are your weaknesses?" question.

I always have to make something up!

 

[justroln]

Thanks for the link MElam, i love those kinds of questions. Is there a post on here already with links to more of those questions? If not maybe someone should start a thread with them.

 

[MikeyP]

Q: "What are your weaknesses?"
A: "My only weakness is that sometimes I am too modest."

--
Dr Michael F Platten

 

[jmw]

The interesting point coming from this thread isn't the ridiculous questions but the commonly asked questions.

Seems like there are some common questions in interviews as if these guys all have the same play book:
"What are you weaknesses?"
"Why do you want to work for us?"

You know that buyers often get sent on sales courses just to learn the tricks they will come up against?

In the job interview arena we don't have the advantage of going on a training course for recruiters and we don't go to that many interviews.

But a thread like this can help if we don't just focus on the most ridiculous interview questions (just have to wing those) but if we do identify the most commonly asked questions and are able to prepare our answers.

MickeyP, i like your last but did you ever use it or just wish you had?



JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[Sparweb]

Q "What do you consider to be your weaknesses?"

A "Since every interviewer who asked me that question in the past hasn't hired me, and every interviewer who had better things to ask about did hire me, my answer must be 'Next question?'."


Steven Fahey, CET