A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?
If you were to get rid of one state in the U.S., which would it be and why?
What kitchen utensil would you be?
That's a sampling of Glassdoor.com's Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions for 2013, a list gleaned from job candidates at Google, Kraft Foods, JetBlue and other companies over the past year.
Other offbeat questions on the list include "How many cows are in Canada?" (asked at Google) and "Pick two celebrities to be your parents" (asked at Urban Outfitters).
In some cases, the website also published readers' suggested replies, such as these possible retorts to the penguin-in-sombrero question:
- The penguin says, "Stop asking stupid interview questions."
- So, you don't do drug testing here, huh?
To read the full list of weird questions, click here. And, in the comments section below, tell us the strangest thing a job interviewer ever asked you. Can you top Glassdoor's list?
And to show that I am very objective and fair, I would want to get rid of California since it is a huge financial drain on the rest of the union and promotes dangerous social mores. I probably wouldn't get the job - but the laughs would be very rewarding. The important thing in any job interview is to tell them what they want to hear, even if it goes against your grain or is even untrue. For that's the American way!
Darn facts getting in the way again JustUs.... The last data is from 2005 (taxfoundation.org), but for every dollar the state of California sends to the Federal Government, it gets back $0.78. What state is the biggest "drain"? #1 is New Mexico @ $2.03 , #2 is Mississippi @ $2.02, #3 is Alaska @ $1.84 and #4 is Louisiana @ $1.78. (Virginia, North Virginia, Alabama are also way up there as debtor states that take much more than they pay in), So, that "huge financial drain" you talk about is "California giving the Federal government more than we take". Yep, liberal bias in the numbers. Just because creditor states are "blue" in an electoral map and debtor states are "red" doesn't mean much either. So, I agree, you wouldn't get the job. But the reason is because what you said was 100% untrue.
"I simply refuse to believe such nonsense" does not stop the facts from being facts. If you want to believe something that is clearly not true, then you have every right to do so. What you don't have the right to do is promote your belief as factual when the actual data doesn't support your fantasy. Now, if you want, feel free to go out and do an independent analysis of the data. Then present your research to the world and take you lumps in public just like taxfoundation and the Economist have done. But putting your fingers in your ears and screaming "nya-nya-nya I can't hear you" at the top of your lungs doesn't mean that you get to create your own set of facts. Sorry.
Back on topic, I ask an offbeat question myself when interviewing prospective employees. It helps me understand how they think on their feet, their creative thinking skills (or not) and how well they can articulate said creativity (or not). It's a good tool to utilize and usually leads to a more informal chat that helps me see more of their 'non-nervous' personality.
Data? I saw 5 numbers assigned to each state with absolutely zero data to substantiate those numbers. Is 'The Economist' the holy grail of financial information we must accept when they put a number to paper? Sorry. I don't operate that way. I am not from Missouri but "show me" anyway. If one is going to slap a number on a screen then show me how you arrived at that number. Is that asking too much? Only in a totalitarian society.
Thousands of dollars for a non-partisan study, lot's of details. Widely used because of it's accuracy... but you don't believe it. Why? Because it conflicts with your fantasy. Next you'll moan about how high illegal immigration is, even though all the numbers point to more leaving than coming in. If it conflict with your blind faith, it must be wrong.