Strange questions in an interview

[Mikkel]

"Can you name all four Beatles?"

Sad but true, though, I failed. I know John, Paul, and Ringo but I can never remember the fourth. You know, the one that played the saxophone and ended up suing them.

George

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Careful that you do not confuse the misguided wrongs men do in the name of a religion for the religion itself.

[Ryu]

*edited by Luna

This post edited by Luna as it referenced already edited material.

[Rapscallion]

Just as a general reminder, we shut down threads that go even into civil debate over matter of faith and politics - they end up incivil within seconds, give or take.

Let's get back on topic.

Raspcalion - about to do some editing...

[Ree]

slightly

I once had this question asked of me - "Could you sell ice to an eskimo?"

I just looked at the guy with a WTF expression on my face. Moron.

I'm beginning to see why you may be having a problem finding a job. You missed your chance to shine by giving a knock-his-socks-off response to that question.

What he was asking was, "Do you have an irresistible selling style?"
Obviously, Eskimos are surrounded by ice, and have no need of more, so if you were able to sell them some, then you have superb and unexcelled salesmanship that makes a person think they really need what you are trying to sell.

If you had understood the question, you could have "sold yourself" to the interviewer and got the job.

[Brighid45]

It wasn't exactly an interview question, but I did one of those idiotic tests where they ask you "Would you steal items from the storage closet?" and "Would you goof off on company time?" I had to really resist the urge to say "HELL YES!" to both.

Actual interview question from long ago: "What kind of animal would you like to be?" My answer: "Hedgehog." And I got the job for that answer too.

[Gurndigarn]

slightly I'm beginning to see why you may be having a problem finding a job. You missed your chance to shine by giving a knock-his-socks-off response to that question.

It should be fairly easy to sell them ice, or at least refrigerator/freezer combinations. Otherwise, they have to head off to the glaciers to carve their ice out. And those glaciers seem to be getting further away each year.

[Broomjockey]

It would take forever to make an igloo out of ice cubes from trays! and the walls would be so thin! You'd have to do at least two layers, with snow between for insulation!

[bean]

The oddest question I've had was today. In the middle of a lot of technical questions, they ask "Do you play World of Warcraft?"

I told him no, he said "oh thank god" and asked what games I did play (Quake, Unreal Tournament, and CounterStrike). He plays pretty much the same ones.

[Fera Festiva]

A couple of odd ones from applications:

My boyfriend applied for a job at a new-age-witchcraft-crystal-healing type shop - the application form required him to fill out his astrological chart and point out the bits that meant he was suitable for the job ("the moon is in the seventh house, therefore I love working with people", that sort of thing).

(I guess the point of that question was to assess whether the applicant knew about astrology, since they'd be selling stuff relating to it and giving customers advice on it, but it still made me smile - what if your chart showed you were an outcast who hated the public, if they didn't employ you because you were Gemini would that be discrimination, etc. )

A place I once applied for had a question consisting of a line like this:

Van Halen ---------------------------------------------------------- S Club 7

You had to put an X on the line to represent your musical taste.

[Banrion]

The stranges question I ever got was "Who is your favorite superhero and why?" Not being one for generic Superman or Spiderman, or any of the x-men as they had ALL been made into movies in the last 3 years, I went with GEM. Well of course interviewer geek manager guy hadn't ever heard of her, so I had to explain it, no biggie.

To this day I do not understand how superheroes in any way shape or form apply to accounting.

[JustADude]

Actual interview question from long ago: "What kind of animal would you like to be?" My answer: "Hedgehog." And I got the job for that answer too.

Because a hedgehog can't be buggered at all? Bonus points if anyone gets that reference.

My strangest question was "What movie featured the tag line 'In space noone can hear you scream'?" Of course, that was after saying my favorite movies were old sci-fi and horror flicks. If you can't guess from other posts, I got the job.

[stormtreader]

Because a hedgehog can't be buggered at all? Bonus points if anyone gets that reference.

"The Hedgehog Song" from the discworld books - too easy

[AforElephant]

"The Hedgehog Song" from the discworld books - too easy

goes on:

You can bugger a whale if you fancy a swim,
or an orangutan if you hang from a limb,
You can take time with a snail if you slow to a crawl,
but the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

With regards to the question about the most enjoyable aspect of customer service...i think the answer would be "customer satisfaction"....personal opinion and open to debate really.

[BrassCowboy]

The interviewer took his watch off and told me:

"Here you go. (hands me watch) Now sell me my watch back."

I didn't get the job.