Discussion on:

Glassdoor's top 25 oddball interview questions for 2013

that we have some desire to perform for some berk who googled these off the internet.

Go type How many cows in canada in google...

A fermi type approach to solving the problem didnlt get a mention.
Have to wait until their robot goes through TR and finds these posts...

I mentioned that was a Fermi question yesterday myself.

Love me some Fermi!

Isn't working for someone, regardless of whether you enjoy it or not, performing for someone? The employer just wants to get an idea of what type/quality of performance you will give. Not entirely dissimilar to reading a review on a play. Sadly, there aren't scores of critics lining up to review all potential employees. So they rely on creative questions to get a feel for candidates.

Regarding the Fermi approach: just because it didn't get a mention doesn't mean it isn't accurate. Also, see BFilmFan's comment.

the interview, that's different.

Everything around this article reeks of the presumption that the candidate acknowledges the inferiority of their position.

If what you want is a blow job, find a prostitute, don't presume that I want to work for you so badly I brought my knee pads and some viagra, so you can have two!

They are interviewing me, I'm interviewing them. At least one us is failing badly.

Only a few of those questions were for software dev positions.

Regarding your comment below, it's still a question most wouldn't expect.

To address the comment I'm actually replying to: you may not be getting paid for the interview, but (to continue my previous example) you don't pay for a movie/play review either. Your resum may say that you have X or Y skill, but that's pretty meaningless until I see it in action for myself. That's the purpose of some of the questions.

Also, just because you have the ability to work somewhere doesn't mean you'll fit in. That is the purpose of most of the other questions (like the penguin question).

Meanwhile, it seems you feel like answering these questions makes you inferior (or rather makes the interviewer feel superior), but I don't think that's the case. Why would you feel that way? I'm quite curious... Answering a difficult or unorthodox question does not put you in an inferior position, it's simply a means to find out more about a candidate.

Finally, regarding the bj example... WTF?

You started your response to me with you have to perform in an interview just like you would if you were working there.

No I don't. You want me to perform, you first. I can lend you some knee pads I bought much earlier in career.

Ah, I see. You have an interesting concept of what an interview should be. Regardless, I think this discussion proved my point. If I asked you one of these questions (most of which I thoroughly enjoyed), you would've probably been annoyed and would've given an annoyed answer (if you answered at all). Hence, I would know that, while you may be a talented developer, you're not the kind of person I'd enjoy working with. I wouldn't know that until I hired you if I just asked cookie cutter questions. That doesn't make either one of us better than the other, just different. It would NOT mean you aren't qualified for the job, but if there were someone else with your talents and who gave me what I considered a better answer, I'd hire them.

No matter what your personality, we all usually react to cookie cutter questions with cookie cutter answers. With unorthodox questions, skills AND personality shine through. In fact, it's these questions that have revealed a difference in our personalities and, in doing so, have fueled this discussion. We have different opinions and that's fine (beautiful, even). That's, in part, why there are different types of corporate culture and why it's so important to find people who fit in with your culture.

P.S. Also, props for staying civil. A lot of people would have devolved into an obscenity spouting, screaming pile of hate by now.

Unless your trying to find one of those fluffy programmers that doesn't know any code, but can ace an interview.

If you asked me these sorts of questions, I'd know I wouldn't enjoy working for the company.

The mistake these questions really make is they are an imposition.

There are no expected adult responses to them, and that I won't tolerate, more to the point I don't have to, and 'you' haven't given me a reason why I should.

My that was a bit controlling parent wasn't it?
Tip to communicate effectively you now have to respond as child.

The worst of the lot is the million dollar idea one.
The question you ask say a lot about you.

I mean we've all read the list of questions a candidate shouldn't ask at an interview, haven't we?

How long are the lunch breaks and how many of them are there?

Some of these should be on the list of questions you shouldn't ask a candidate

Or the answer doesn't matter?
But the answer always matters! (in my mind)
What would you do with a million dollars?
Pay off debt of course, its the logical answer.
I could say, I'm going to use it to build cheap housing for the homeless. But neither says much about me, its a useless question.

Unless they are looking for a illogical IT worker....

You consider the questions an imposition. Fair enough. We simply have different opinions on this one. Meanwhile, why the down vote?

I interview the employer as much as I LET the employer interview me.

You can completely turn the interview around if you want and put you in the seat where the employer is qualifying his company for you instead.

The questions, while silly do have purpose though, IF the interviewer knows why he's asking them. I get of easy though, I can have all kinds of answers that will see me fit for my roles, in fact, the more bizarre the better.

I asked our programmer a few and he took quite a while as he was working out a mathematical solution. His mind is very boxed in the sense that it is step by step problem solving.
"Well the Empire state building is 443 metres, as for the quarter...is it Canadian or American, flat or on edge? etc.

I could rabble off a half dozen completely different answers to each question without any thought at all, and yet that fits my roles. Mathematically they would all be incorrect but I am not hired for my math skills.

If I asked one of them for a developer/programmer type role.
I'd expect a bunch of questions in response. the only way to give a direct answer (short of reading it unside down from teh interviewer's notes) would be to make a huge number of assumptions. That would disqualify anybody except a junior, and put a junior right at the bottom of the list.
It's another age old problem, do you give the inquisitor the answer you think they want, or the answer you think they need. I tend to go for the latter straight off, unless they are dressed in red and talk latin.

Google asked the question. At least the first page of hits on Google was about the question not the answer.
Which is an other problem isn't it?. You aren't surprising a candidate with it, you are now getting a canned answer.

Might as well ask why manhole covers are round or what are your strengths and weaknesses.

Its so the ninja turtles could fit through them easily.

That isn't the same as there is a right answer, a few valid and logical reasons actually.

What are your strengths and weaknesses shows a persons ability to self analyze and focus on self improvement.

Tony, much like myself, you go to an interview to qualify the company to hire you. I have walked out of more than one interview, if they make it past my phone screenings too. I find these questions do have purpose when properly used but I also find many companies just ask to see what kind of answers they get with little or no idea of why they are asking the question to begin with, making any answer irrelevant.

Living in Canada you have no idea how many start ups I see here that follow US lead and crash and burn in the process. I've had recruiters call me to pitch a job for Canadian start up that had based it's payscale on US laws. By the end of the conversation I was giving him contact info to friends at the BC Employment Standards branch so he could report them (they weren't adhering to Canadian employment laws, but to US laws which don't fly here because they favour the employer and screw the employee). That's happened twice actually, even the recruiter didn't realize they intended on breaking provincial employment laws. With the second one, the company decided to operate their 'Canadian offices' out of the US because they couldn't get away with screwing over Canadian employees the way they can in the US.

It's also fun to ask the employer a few similar questions. After the interviewer has drones on aimlessly for a while and asks is there anything you want to know about our company?

"Why do YOU work here?"
"What do YOU feel the company's greatest contribution to its employees is?"
"What are the company's strengths and weaknesses?"
"What type of car do I get, my outside image is very important to my success."

I have fun with it, I'll even ask typical interview questions like these just for a shitsngiggles, if I've decided I don't want to work there anyway, the questions get more creative until the interviewer is at a loss for words . That's IF I get stuck with an interviewer, usually it's with the owner and they have a much better sense of HA HA when it comes to silly recruiting questions.

1: Considering the economic problems in the USA. I would suggest selling Alaska to Canada or russia.
2: None, can't make Canada into a cow.
3: Well I would need to know the height of the tower and the thickness of a quarter. Also I would have to cement each one together and shape them in a triangle formation. otherwise they will just fall over.
4: The penguin says nothing, penguins can't speak. Maybe he is the iKea penguin?
5: Fake it by Seether.
6: Pay off mortgage, that's about a million dollars now in todays money.
7: Gas mileage.
8: Good
9: Just a second while I use my phone to google that.
10: Yes but I am applying for a programming position.
11: Whatever was in the fridge since you came without notice.
12: In a perfect world, they would use that magical universal translator from star trek.
13: With a can of tuna, some mayonnaise, and some bread.
14: What sort of Vacations do you and your wife like? Driving (road trip), beaches? cold? scenery?
15: I would have them exercise their skills and their weaknesses.
16: What defines a window?
17: I have no favorite song, but I am a metal head so you really don't want me to try and perform.
18: 35 degrees
19: No
20: I can't, I prefer my current parents. They are celebrities to me.
21: Spork, I usually like to scoop things but occasionally I need to stab it.
22: Just a moment while I rip the battery out of this thing.
23: 7
24: I'd still be me, just a richer and better looking version of me.
25: I would ask them how they want their omelet cooked and instruct them in the method that will give them the results they want.



So how did I do?

you need some diced onions.

#18 would be closer to 5

1 Florida. Why not?
2 As many cows as there are in Canada.
3 A lot.
4 He's here to ask you "What have you been smoking, dude?"
5 "Maniac"
6 Not before you sign a non-disclosure agreement.
7 Driving.
8 What was the question?
9 Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa, Aung San Suu Kyi
10 No.
11 Something edible.
12 Telepathy.
13 Slice a tuna lengthwise, insert lettuce, tomato, onion, seasoning, some lemon juice, slice in half and fasten with a long toothpick.
14 What kind of places do you and your wife like to visit?
15 I don't like to cook.
16 Are you talking about the Operating System or architectural?
17 "The Sound of Silence" ...silence...
18 Large hand approx. 350 Small hand approx. 357
19 No. Why? Are some missing?
20 No thank you. My parents were perfectly good.
21 I wouldn't.
22 Sorry...gas.
23 I'm sorry, but I don't rate on the first interview.
24 No one else, because then I couldn't be me...and I like being me.
25 I wouldn't. Cooking an omelet is a personal experience, best kept personal.

"My best entrepreneurial idea is the one I'm working on with Patent Pending that will put you out of business"

"When I was in my car on the way here, I was thinking how stupid this interview could be and you just proved it"

"On my last job I worked for IT where two managers were married to each other in violation of the law against conflict of interest and an IT Director whose last words to me were, 'I don't know what I am doing' -- so my question to you is, do you have adults working here that have one shred of integrity?"

"If you came to dinner, I would serve you Fugu, but I have to warn you, it's my first time preparing it"

"Why would I steal a pen at work when I have my own perfectly good Parker and an advanced mechanical pencil?"

"There are as many cows in Canada as there needs to be"

"In a perfect world, what need would there be for communication?"

"The three Nobel Prize winners before me? Why would I bother after I got the prize?"

"I rate you a big fat zero"

"I would get rid of the state of confusion, but unfortunately, the administration has a lock on that one"

"I wouldn't want to be anyone else, particularly I wouldn't want to be you"

"Omelet? Omelet? I'd tell them how to make the perfect Souffl -- you people don't have much vision or imagination, do you?"

"I'd tell you who I'd pick for celebrity parents, but you've never heard of them"

"My memory is better than yours: I'll remember this long after you've forgotten me -- but that shouldn't be hard seeing as how I've noticed that you have to keep consulting your note cards to remember the questions"

Actually, I would say, "I'm retired; you are the weakest link! Goodbye!"

You have to know I like the "Fugu" answer best... subtle.

LOL, I remember those, do people actually still use them?

It was for an electronics degree course, not a job, and was aimed at seeing if I could think on my feet:
You have a plastic sphere. A hole is bored right through the middle of the sphere. The hole is 4 cm long. What is the volume of plastic remaining?
I needed one hint and then came up with the correct answer (a number times pi). I didn't try to do the multiplication by pi in my head! I subsequently used the question when interviewing a candidate for a software development job. The candidate not only had no idea how to tackle the question; he didn't even understand the solution when I explained it to him. He was not suitable for the job.
A question I was asked during a job interwiew was "What car do you drive?" When I replied "A Toyota Corolla", the interviewer said "Isn't that what taxi drivers in Luton drive?" I replied "It could well be" and made no further comment.
The same interviewer asked "Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?" I replied "Still doing the job rather than moving into Sales or Management but having more say in decisions affecting my work." I thought this showed sufficient ambition without threatening the existing management structure. I got the job but was laid off 7 years later, and then 6 months on was asked to come back!

Otherwise, I'd say all the sphere was remaining as you only have a 1 dimensional hole.

But seriously, you take the whole sphere, drop it in water to see how much the water rises. Then you cut out the hole and repeat. The difference in the water rise is how much was removed.

If the sphere is heavier than water you should only have to do it once. Fill the container with water. Put it in another container and drop in the sphere. Measure the water in the larger container.

If it's lighter than water, you're screwed.

To get the diameter of the sphere, double the radius

To get the radius, use a measuring tape.

If it's lighter than water, push it down. As long as you push it down the same amount both times, the results will be the same.

Why do you think we'd make a good employer?

Okay, it's a lie...

I always make sure the employer knows I am interviewing the company at the same time. I have prepared questions and take notes while in the interview to add those I haven't thought of.
I have been asked, "So, did we make the grade?"
"I'm not too sure yet, unless your portion of the interview is over."

Still haven't had to take my mittens off to count the number of times it's happened though.

I'm not saying that I am in such great demand that I check company references (well I do, but not obviously) but it has come up.

I can't actually count all my fingers and toes, there's a bunch of them that's all I know. But it has happened and reading your post made me remember it. I was actually offered three jobs once day, after several weeks of hard core hunting, and I got the pleasure of replying with "Thank you for your offer but I've chosen to go with another company at this time. Hopefully I will still be considered if I feel it is a more suited opportunity in future."

What a power trip that was. It's not always that way but it's really nice when it is.

In total, or just the ones currently living, Also, would you count heifers?

Just before retiring these stupid questions became the vogue. Luck for me I had worked long enough in the computer industry to be fairly well known. After a couple of interviews like this I began telling the interviewer politely to shove these questions where the sun doesn't shine and to get on with it.

I remember one instance where the interviewer got his nickers in a knot and dismissed me out of hand. On my way out the VP (a friend of mine) asked me how it went and I laughed telling him I wasn't hired and why. Well, the next day the VP called me and asked me to come to work, which I did.

After a couple of days there one of my friends who worked at the company ran across me and recounted what happened after I had left the first time. The VP of the division and the President, and HR held a meeting with the hapless project manager and verbally peeled the hide off this guy and fired him after recounting some of my history and why he should have listened to me.

It seems that not only had the VP worked with me, but about half the people in the work group I was going to work in had worked with me and let it be known they were unhappy, not only with the results of the interview, but with the current project manager.

Needless to say I was hired and after looking over my experience (since I had known my friends at various locations) I ended up with the late great project manager's job.

In parting I will recount one of these questions that I did answer before I started refusing to play this game.

You have to get across this chasm and you have two short ladders and all the rope you want. How do you get across. Well I asked how much rope and they said all you want. So I said I would fill in the chasm with rope and walk across. Now the "answer" was some techincal whiz bang solution I found out later. It was at this point I said to myself, "I am not going to participate in this stupid song and dance again."

Well, that's nice to know, but everything is about circumstances:

1) You were well-experienced and well-known and
2) In connection with the above, you knew someone in the organisation that mattered.

Take someone like me, for instance:

1) No work experience and no connections to people that matter
2) Now setting out to find a job after completing a degree

Well, you can be sure that I will play their games and endure whatever is thrown at me. At this point, being hired is a privilege and I am being given the opportunity to prove my worth to the organisation. Failing that, the opportunity will be taken as easily as it was given.

Many people are in no position to do what you did. For us, that's simply the way it is.

With an attitude like that the only positions you'll get will be walkover, doormat and dumbass. That sort of thing becomes a habit. Before you know where you are you are working an extra 40 hours a week for no pay, because that's the way you get on. Rest assured noneof the people who just took advantage of you, would do it.


This is a straight value for money proposition.
Okay you can't claim a great value yet, but you aren't asking and more to the point they aren't offering.

You've got skills, qualifications and potential.
They don't....

As for answering these sorts of questions when you've no option but to do the performing seal bit.

Be natural, is the best advice I can give. That's what the question is for.

I've actually been asked #24 ("What well-known person would you be?"). They were serious, and thought it was a good way to get to know what kind of person I thought I was and what kind of person I wanted to be. Fortunately, it was something that I had thought about (not as an interview-prep question, however) so I didn't panic.

Unfortunately, there is a "right" answer to many of these (even the 'opinion' ones), so if you don't provide what they have decided is the "right" answer, they can reject you "objectively"

"BEHIND YOU"

1 million up. It's the simple ideas that are the best.

I was going to come up with selling someone the same product again, but in a different format, but some bloke called Jeff staked that one out already.

My first answer to this question would be my bank account number. I'ma propeller head because I like it, not because I'm too dumb to understand Business 101

Well my math isn't that strong, so I'd have to think about that, then check it, and check it again.

so 6 pies + / - a 12 th
...

Stupid question, stupid answer..

Could you repeat that?

don't seem to get it. I have never worked a single day in HR but I can see the point in these types of questions. It is not to show the interviewer how the interviewers stayed awake last night to think of something totally stupid to ask. The point of the questions is to see how the interviewer thinks on their feet to a completely unpredictable situation, also to gauge the interviewers cleverness.
Some people cant see that? For real??