Discussion on:

Glassdoor's top 25 oddball interview questions for 2013

BTO: Taking Care of Business -- "we love to work at nothing all day."

Sort of like when Microsoft used the Stones' "Start Me Up" for Windows 95, in which the lyrics include "You make a grown man cry."

"I don't want to work; I want to bang on the drum all day."

So, basically, they've already seen that you're fit to do the job, technically speaking. These questions are brilliant to determine what kind of personality you are, how you think, what your MO is, how you cope with whatever comes your way. It tests your flexibility and ingenuity, your wit and your ability to deal with the (seemingly) absurd. I wish these were the sort of questions I'd gotten on some interviews. Or then again: probably not. Happy where I am.

No. The question you must ask is, "Are you really interested in working for a half-witted bunch of idiots?" These guys couldn't do the job themselves for toffee, and they have no idea whether you are capable of doing the job or not. They are just asking stupid questions, like "If you were a button on a calculator, which button would you be?" or "Estimate the number of frogs on a disused railway line from Edinburgh to Manitoba." A candidate can reasonably ask why, for instance, the interviewer hasn't asked them anything about the ability and skills related to the work.

You must realize some of these are from top companies. The fact that they are top companies is no mistake or accident. These questions are unorthodox, but that's why they're so effective. You cannot prepare for "A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?". That's not in any book. Hence, who you really are, your true skills and work ethic, shines through.

Take Google's question: "How many cows are in Canada?". This is for a data evaluator role. Hence, I assume the person will need a strong base in statistics. This is a difficult statistics question, and an unexpected one. They may not expect you to give an answer, but if you can walk them through the process of obtaining the it, then they know you are good candidate.

I cringe at the thought of some run-of-the-mill consultancy asking someone "How many cows are in Canada" type questions. They think that if Google does it then it must be a thing successful companies do and thus their company will be successful if they do the same thing.

If the interviewer is not aware of precisely why this question is asked, what it is trying to determine, and how to evaluate responses, it will all be a waste of time. Most interviewers haven't the slightest clue how to evaluate how a candidate thinks.

Incidentally, that question about the penguin and the sombrero is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. What useful information could you possibly gain from the candidate's answer, other than perhaps to gauge the candidate's ability to convincingly B.S. you. Maybe that's what these questions are really designed to assess. For a consultancy, that would make total sense.

I agree with your first two paragraphs. I think the penguin question is more a way to see your personality than your skills (to see if you fit in with the culture), though I don't really see the point of explaining that he's wearing a sombrero.

The one question I think is kind of dumb is the Jeff Bezos one. If I had a million dollar idea, I wouldn't give it away in an interview.

It shows linear vs spacial focus. Some will fixate on the Sombrero and look for a humourous, mexican comment.

Others will wonder why an penguin from the south pole was in Mexico.

There is no correct or incorrect answer but it illustrates thought process, or lack of it.

None. C.A.N.A.D.A not one O, W or S so there are no COWS in Canada, just the C.

I'd rather be hit with one of these than the contrived standard HR questions - what are your strengths and weaknesses? being the chief offender.

If you can identify on your weaknesses and sell them as a strength, you win every time because most people don't. Most people focus on strengths instead, thinking that knowing your weaknesses is...a weakness.

I always say, my weaknesses are my strengths. I am able to identify my weaknesses and work on them to build them into strengths. In essence, the ability to identify weaknesses is a strength.

After I explain this I always ask, "Out of sheer curiosity, what are YOUR weaknesses?" or "What would you say the companies weaknesses are? This shows that you understand everyone has weaknesses and it's not the end of the world, it's being aware of weaknesses that matters, It also usually becomes a 10 minute segue where you can lower the staunch, professional focus of the meeting and make it a bit more of a conversational interview, which is where you can make the most ground and take control of the interview.

My greatest weakness is that I am too much of a perfectionist.

I struggle to accept that not everyone adheres to my high standards, etc etc...

That your middle paragraph is so contrived and lacking in substance is precisely why I detest the strengths and weaknesses question.

Agree with much of your last paragraph - although I'd never be direct/rude enough to turn it on the interviewer, shifting the conversation back to the company itself is a good shout.

Just so I'm clear, because you don't understand the question being asked, you assume the interviewers and employees are a bunch of half-witted idiots? I rarely go an interview without asking a question along the lines of how many quarter does it take to get to the top of the empire state building or if they have expressed an interest in a particular sport, substitute the empire state building for the cross-bar of a soccer goal or hockey post. I don't care about the right answer. I want to see 2 things: 1) Can you logical think through a problem without giving up using context clues and 2) How do you react under pressure. Both are critical aspects of the jobs my employees perform and if they aren't capable of producing an answer and substantiating it with reasonable thought, they are not a viable candidate.

I'm sorry that you aren't capable of understanding the question being asked, but that doesn't make the rest of us unintelligent.

Shows what exactly. An average 11 year old can do the arithmetic. Or the joke answer the lift is free.

So what have you found out.
Your candidate can do basic arithmetic
Or they read the 25 page paperback, questions you might be asked in an interview.

So what exactly have you said with such a question.

I have only basic arithmetic skills
I find even the simplest exercise in logic so stressful it brings out the best in me...
I have a childish sense of humour
I don't know what I'm doing but I found this book in a waiting room, it's great, better still the writing's really big, there are only few pages, so I read it in the week before I had to start interview.
And most of all
I can't be arsed, I'm just going through the motions

The real problem isn't you being stupid, or us thinking you are stupid, it's you thinking your clever because you are on the boss side of the table.

'How does YOUR brain think' is the question.

you on the roof.
That you don't count the height of the housing for the elevator.
Any signage, target lights for low flying arabs
Radio masts
We are taslking HR people here, you give them an answer that isn't on the answer page they were given, you are wrong..

That's my number, if the interviewer can prove me wrong I will accept it.

In an interview for an IT Managerial position, I was asked these questions:

1. What is your favorite movie? - I always answer "The Lion King" because it's about getting what is rightfully mine.
2. If you were to be President for a day, what would you do? I answered: I would concentrate on education because education is the country's future so we can have better citizens who can do well at their jobs or businesses.

There were many others of these types of questions but I remember these two quite well.

Oh, I did not get the job or even a call back.

Your answer to 2. was good, but your answer to one may raise concerns about entitlement issues.

Well, in the movie Simba lost everything to his mean Uncle Scar who wanted the whole kingdom to himself. Simba grew up and with Nala's prodding decided to go back and claim what was rightfully his, especially after seeing how devastated Pride Rock was after Scar's plundering reign. He was able to rally the lionesses to support him and ultimately overthrew Scar.