Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

20 Craziest Job Interview Questions and the Right Answers
MoneyWatch ^ | May 30, 2011 | Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Posted on 08/05/2011 10:53:16 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows

Nobody has to tell you that it’s a rough job market. So when you do finagle a job interview, you’ll want to shine.

-snip-

Procter & Gamble: Sell me an invisible pen.

Facebook: Twenty five racehorses, no stopwatch, five tracks. Figure out the top three fastest horses in the fewest number of races.

Citigroup: What is your strategy at table tennis?

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?

Capital One: How do you evaluate Subway’s five-foot long sub policy?

Gryphon Scientific: How many cocktail umbrellas are there in a given time in the United States?

Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Would you be okay hearing “no” from seven out of 10 customers.

Goldman Sachs: Suppose you had eight identical balls. One of them is slightly heavier and you are given a balance scale. What’s the fewest number of times you have to use the scale to find the heavier ball?

Towers Watson: Estimate how many planes are there in the sky.

Lubin Lawrence: If you could describe Hershey, Godiva and Dove chocolate as people, how would you describe them?

Pottery Barn: If I was a genie and could give you your dream job, what and where would it be?

Kiewit Corp.: What did you play with as a child?

VWR International: How would you market a telescope in 1750 when no one knows about orbits, moons etc.

Diageo North America: If you walk into a liquor store to count the unsold bottles, but the clerk is screaming at you to leave, what do you do?

Brown & Brown Insurance: How would you rate your life on a scale of 1 to 10?

(Excerpt) Read more at moneywatch.bnet.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Humor; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: napl
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 201-205 next last
More questions at source.

In some cases, I can see the relevance of the question to the job. In other cases, I can see that the interviewer doesn't have a clue.

1 posted on 08/05/2011 10:53:19 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; ...
21. Tell me how great you think 0bama is.


2 posted on 08/05/2011 10:54:51 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Would you like Satan fries with that?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

Reminds me of the famous promotion board question: “Sergeant, how many holes are there in a C-Rat cracker?”


3 posted on 08/05/2011 10:57:00 AM PDT by Not A Snowbird (When life gives you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows
Goldman Sachs: Suppose you had eight identical balls. One of them is slightly heavier and you are given a balance scale. What’s the fewest number of times you have to use the scale to find the heavier ball?

Once.

4 posted on 08/05/2011 10:58:52 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows
Suppose you had eight identical balls.

I'd parlay that either into a circus or film career.

Maybe involving Octomom.

5 posted on 08/05/2011 11:00:04 AM PDT by humblegunner (The kinder, gentler version...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandyInSeattle

Was the correct answer “Private, count the number of holes in that C-Rat cracker, NOW!”


6 posted on 08/05/2011 11:00:30 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Would you like Satan fries with that?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

I think that would be a fine answer to the question.

I was never asked that particular one. I recall I was asked a couple of weird things, but not that one.


7 posted on 08/05/2011 11:02:37 AM PDT by Not A Snowbird (When life gives you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows
How would you market a telescope in 1750 when no one knows about orbits, moons etc.

No one? Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter in 1610. Copernicus published "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" in the 1540s. Belief in geocentric orbits of the planets went back before Christ. A question that void of basic knowledge might point out that I wouldn't want to work at that company.

Maybe the marketing slogan could be "Find Uranus before William Herschel does."

8 posted on 08/05/2011 11:02:49 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (The Repubs and Dems are arguing whether to pour 9 or 10 buckets of gasoline on a burning house.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bcsco

I see “twice”. How you figure “once”?


9 posted on 08/05/2011 11:06:04 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ($1 meals: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: KarlInOhio; SandyInSeattle

Whenever I hear an interviewer ask “What three words would you to describe yourself,” I know I’m wasting my time.


10 posted on 08/05/2011 11:06:14 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Would you like Satan fries with that?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

I’ve been asked a couple of questions like this before, and they don’t care what the answer is. They just want to see how creative you are, and how easily flustered you get when dealing with idiots who might ask a question like that. Cops do this also, its not what you answer, but how you answered it that interests them.


11 posted on 08/05/2011 11:06:19 AM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bcsco

Nope, twice.


12 posted on 08/05/2011 11:06:46 AM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: bcsco
Goldman Sachs: Suppose you had eight identical balls. One of them is slightly heavier and you are given a balance scale. What’s the fewest number of times you have to use the scale to find the heavier ball?

You could do it in one if you guessed right. But the question says "have to use". I take that to mean the fewest number where you always end up with the right answer.

If that is the case, I would say three. Split the 8 into two groups of 4 and put them on opposite sides of the scale. Take the 4 on the heavier side and split 2 and 2 and do it again. Then split the 2 on the heavier side 1 and 1. Done.

13 posted on 08/05/2011 11:07:46 AM PDT by Pete (29thday.org Exponential problems require exponential solutions)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner; Squantos; B4Ranch; Pete-R-Bilt; SouthTexas; tubebender; Eaker

I’m so glad I wasn’t at work when I read that. I’m having trouble breathing.


14 posted on 08/05/2011 11:08:07 AM PDT by glock rocks (Primary is a VERB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ctdonath2; Abathar
I see “twice”. How you figure “once”?

I made the balls (I was waiting for someone to ask...:))

15 posted on 08/05/2011 11:08:38 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ctdonath2; bcsco

Once means you grabbed two balls at random, weighed them, and got lucky.

How did you get “twice,” BTW? I thought that the minimum number of weighings guaranteed to find the heavier ball was three.


16 posted on 08/05/2011 11:08:51 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Would you like Satan fries with that?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Pete

See my post #15.


17 posted on 08/05/2011 11:09:22 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: All

Where do you see yourself in 10 years....
My answer: “running this place if that’s the best question you can ask me....”


18 posted on 08/05/2011 11:09:42 AM PDT by Maverick68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows
Procter & Gamble: Sell me an invisible pen.

Why, you already have one in your shirt pocket.

19 posted on 08/05/2011 11:09:42 AM PDT by BitWielder1 (Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

The correct answer to EVERY above question is.... 42.


20 posted on 08/05/2011 11:10:05 AM PDT by fhayek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 201-205 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson