I recently had a phone interview (which did not lead to an actual interview) and they asked, for example, what initially got me interested in geology, and what specific aspects of geology I’m interested in.

I understand that the answers to these questions could potentially be revealing about the candidate, but there’s only really one way to answer correctly, and that’s to lie about it. Many people go into geology for the money, but you can’t say that; I’m in it because I’m genuinely interested in the science and want to go back into academic research when possible but you can’t really say that if you’re interviewing for an industry job because it’s obvious you’re not going to stick around very long.

Next, the aspects of geology I’m interested in are not the things I’d be doing at that job – very few people are particularly interested in those things, but it’s a very common job in the field. So you can’t say what you’re actually interested in, but if you say you are interested in what the job entails, you’re probably lying.

FWIW I gave completely honest answers. In my mind, what my interest level is in that particular aspect of geology is completely irrelevant to my ability to perform the job functions well. To rule people out based on their answers to such questions is ridiculous.

“I’ve never had a job, because I’ve never wanted one”

They will be giving tarot readings next.

I agree with rebdav and knoxblox- questions like that are a Milgram experiment. If I thought the person who asked them was going to have any day-to-day control over my working environment, I’d walk out the door that second.

(And for my answer to your questions: Have worked for the same company for 14 years- there are no cubicles, we wear what we personally think is professional, and jeez- torrents, are you kidding? Don’t you want to work in an atmosphere of mutual respect?)

I call bullshit, but then I’ve only been in the workforce for 25 years, so I can’t say I’ve seen everything.

It shows nothing about whether the person is capable of doing their job, can interact with people, and is honest.

Why not through a math question related to the job?

I would freak out around the interviewer if they brought up the subject of guns. It would kill (hah!) the interview if you as an interviewee asked a gun question, even as a hypothetical.

Even the toy question is stupid. What if you grew up poor? What if your favourite toy was a ball for 5 years because you liked football, but are a girl. Choosing someone’s suitability for a job on a creative or standard answer for a toy signifies nothing.

If it’s a skill testing question, are you really going to rely on someone as a psychopath who can crib the notes from the previous interviewees. If it’s an interview, do you really expect people to switch from being a civil person with high social skills to a math wonk?

After the second interview, I just ended it. As an interviewee, you hope to get the job….but you have to think too, when you start interviewing people for said companies, do you really want to see people squirm for stupid answers on what their favourite toy is?

It’s disgusting. Another reason why google actually circumvents it’s own HR rules to get the right candidates, if the manager wants them.

That’ll get you a piece-work job though…as a sperm donor.

So much BS. Ask me a question which has little relevance on my potential job and I’ll do my best to answer it, but don’t expect me to pull sunshine out of my ass. I don’t like HR, I have an engineering background, things are more logical than this.

Playing mind games with someone is nice and all, but asking them questions that are irrelevant to their future job is just adding pressure to an already stressed situation. (And that might be alright if you are going for a high pressure job, but a lot of these things are becoming more common. Just like that artist closed caption thing you had up earlier.)

This one is easy. I’d tell them I wouldn’t want to work for a company that wasn’t able to use Google to find out that orbits and moons were both discovered in the early 17th century.

Once got the question – “Who’s your hero?”
“Ghandi.” I responded
“Why?”
“I admire him cause he helped people.”

Then the guy started writing something down on
his notebook. I imagined him and the other interrogators
laughing at this answer later on, as they sneered
at my poor sql and C# skills.

That was Frontier airlines in Denver. I didn’t get the
job and I’ve been rooting against the company ever since.

All these HR questions here are baffling, but are actually kinda tame compared to some of the rude and highly inappropriate things I’ve been ask.

Heights around table: if they were in a line, 1 out of 5!. Since the first person can sit in any of five places, 1 out of 4!. If they can go in either direction (I don’t think they can, since it specifies ascending), 2 out of 4!. Yes?

A.111000001 Which is 225 written in binary. 225 is divisible by itself. No number smaller than 225 is divisible by 225. 11100001 is a way of representing 225 in all 1′s an 0′s. Therefore 11100001 is the smallest number divisible by 225 that consists of all 1′s and 0′s.

I played the James Burke card on this one, saying that context is everything, and it would impossible to name just one person since history is a vast web of connections, but if pressed I’d have to point to the person who invented the plowshare.

2. In what ways are you inferior to this person?
I have not invented anything profoundly world-changing.

3. In what way are you superior to this person?
I’m not dead.

What kind of questions would you ask for a job where the role consisted of mathematical R&D? Where the common task was to have some person give you an underspecified (but presumably useful) idea, and have you formalise it mathematically and then solve it, in tight time constraints?

Obviously thinly-veiled combinatorics questions are complete BS for a job in quantitative finance or other algorithm-heavy roles.

Either that or you should avoid applying for jobs when you don’t understand why the questions are relevant.

Google: You are climbing a staircase. Each time you can either take one step or two. The staircase has n steps. In how many distinct ways can you climb the staircase?

Clearly the answer is 1. You climb the stairs the same way if you take them one step at a time or two steps, by placing one foot in front of the other.