An impatient interviewer swore to test a job applicant who seemed to answer all technical questions correctly.
“So Mr. Josh, what would you prefer, 10 easy questions or one difficult one? It’s your choice.”, said the interviewer.
The applicant answered after a small pause, “One difficult one”. “So tell me what comes first, the egg or the hen?” questioned the interviewer.
The applicant seemed to mentally decipher with the interviewer’s occasional grin at posing a question that he certainly can’t answer.
“It’s the hen, sir”, replied the applicant.
“Can you explain” was the interviewer’s curt reply
“Well, it’s an answer you’ll have to find for yourself as I didn’t choose 2 difficult questions!” exclaimed the newly hired Josh.
Job interviews can go from being tricky to utterly technical. There’s no set of formulae for nailing it, but the ingredients seem clear- Presence of mind. Sometimes, people with little knowledge end up getting better jobs than their nerdy and probably more intelligent counterparts.
A study conducted by Anderson and Shackleton states that in a survey of 2000 employers, 33% of the interviewers know within 30 seconds of meeting someone whether or not they will hire them!
30 seconds is absolutely little time to convey what you really need to. Just before getting into the drill of interviews, we play out the different versions of us mentally, but what version really thrusts itself in the interview is something different. So how do we ace others in the interview race?
The secret is to calm those nerves and pop in a pill of humor.
Here are some of the many recent Q&A’s of reputed companies that don’t really think technical knowledge is the only thing that matters
Position 1: An attorney at Airbnb
Q. How lucky are you and why?
A. Define “lucky” please.
Position 2: Specialist at Apple
Q. If you were a pizza deliveryman how would you benefit from scissors?
A. Apple delivers pizzas! Even so I’d use it the same way my interviewer would. Feel free to ask him.
Position 3: Account Manager at Dell
Q. Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer ?
A. I hunt the gatherers, and steal from the hunters.
Position 4: Sales Associate at Bed Bath & Beyond
Q. If you were a box of cereal, what would you be and why?
A. Chances are, I’d be cardboard. Because that is what cereal boxes are typically made of.
Position 5: Executive Assistant at Allied Telesis
Q.How honest are you?
A. How honest do you need me to be?
Position 6: Programmer Analyst at Goldman Sachs
Q. How many square feet of pizza is eaten in the US each year?
A. Pizza is not served in square feet in the U.S.
Position 7: sales Associate at Urban Outfitters
Q. You’re a new addition to the crayon box, what color would you be and why?
A. I can be any color, I just want to be sharp.
Position 8: Project Manager at American heart association
Q. What’s the color of money???
A. I’ll make it whatever color you want me to say it is. After all…..It’s only money!
Position 9: Product manager at Google
Q. You want to design a phone for deaf people- how would you do it?
A. Turn off the volume and put it on vibrate. Download skype for calls. Needs no new invention!
Position 10: Analyst at Twitter
Q. Why should we not hire you?
A. You’ll eventually strike out that question after you hire me.
Some of the quirky answers to the most definitely crazy questions!
[Image Source: Shutterstock.com]
