The Most Fiendish Interview Questions: Would You Get The Job?

[Will!]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/10889411/The-most-fiendish-interview-questions-would-you-get-the-job.html

1. “How would you describe an atom to a child?” – Asked at Gartner, an information technology company.

2. “How would you react if shot in the head with a Nerf gun?” – Asked at Rackspace, an IT cloud company.

3. “Who could win in a fight, Chuck Norris or Godzilla?” – Asked at Schlumberger, a technology supply company.

4. “You play a game of russian roulette with another person, is it better to go first or second?” – Asked at Codemasters, a video game company.

5. “What is the number of people travelling on a tube per day?” – Asked at Barclays Wealth, the wealth management branch of Barclays.

6. “Is jaffa cake a cake or biscuit?” – Asked at Kerry Group food company.

7. “How many planes are there currently in the air?” – Asked at Investment Technology Group, a brokerage and financial markets technology firm.

8. “Who was the greatest band of all time, Rolling Stones or the Beatles?” – Asked at National Milk Records, a milk recording services company.

9. “Would you support HS2 or Boris Airport?” – Asked at McLagen consulting firm.

10. “How would you sell a fridge to an Eskimo?” – Asked at Harrods department store.

11. “If you were given a million pounds, what kind of business would you start?” – Asked at Schuh, a shoe retailer.

12. “How many ping pong balls fit in a 747?” – Asked at Goldman Sachs bank.

13. “If I write down all of the numbers from 1 to 1,000,000 on a page, how many times do I write down the digit 2?” – Asked at Jane Street trading firm.

14. “If you were a Disney cartoon character, which one would you be?” – Asked at Trend Micro, a security software company.

15. "What makes you angry?” – Asked at Newton Europe, an engineering company.

16. “Count to 11 in 3.5 intervals.” – Asked at Hailo, a black cab app.

17. "How many cranes are in London?” – Asked at Capco, a business and technology consultancy.

18. "What do you consider to be the 'greater good?'” – Asked at ThoughtWorks, a software design company.

19. “Tell me about the last time you had a 'Eureka' moment?” – Asked at Xceed software company.

20. “Calculate the size of the disposable nappy market in the UK.” – Asked at Bain & Company, a management consultancy firm.

21. “How much water flows under London Bridge in 24 hours?” – Asked at Palantir Technologies, computer software company.

22. “What was the craziest thing you ever did?” – Asked at Red Commerce, recruitment specialists.

23. “Everyone at Datasift is brilliant, why are you brilliant?” – Asked at DataSift, a social data platform.

24. “What would you buy to personalise your desk?” – Asked at Red Gate Software, a database tool developer.

25. “How many golf balls would fit in this cubicle?” – Asked at Morgan Stanley bank.

I particularly like the first one. For the others, an interesting mix of mental arithmetic, lateral thinking, faux-insightful and the just plain fatuous.

[erat_forte]

15...."stupid and irrelevant questions".

[Caveat Mortgagor]

26. Why do fat dogs fart? Never asked, but would be a good way to deter a candidate

[Will!]

Whoops, meant to post this in Off Topic. Still, might be a good bellwether for the economy!

[Goat]

Number 4. is interesting and slightly counterintuitive.

Initially I thought that you'd be better off going second and this does hold true provided that you get to reset the chamber before each pull of the trigger, my understanding however is that the game carries on without resetting until the finish.

If you run the maths your chance of surviving the first round is 1/6 if you go first or your chance of the other player not already being dead 5/6 x 1/5 being your chance of surviving your turn, which of course sums out at 1/6.

When you think about it logically, once the chamber is spun and the pistol handed to the first player the game is already decided. The round is either in one of your 3 chambers or in one of your opponents 3, the sequence in which you pull the trigger makes no difference.

Probably better going first, imagine hearing the click on an empty 5th chamber going second.

[Sandwiches33]

Actually I want to add I went through the recruitment process for one of the companies listed here( I wont say which one) and it was that stupid. The interview included 2 two hour exams, two interviews and a host of stupid questions.

I got the job and the same company also set intelligence tests all employees were required to take. They were to identify people for promotion using this technique although after the tests were done and marked they were quietly forgotten as the employees scored considerably higher than the management! The same company also threatened to check everyones internet usage following reports of accessing porn during work hours. When traced back all the porn was also being viewed during work hours by senior management.

My interview question would be..... What exactly is the point of HR departments other than to hire some girls so the equality numbers dont look so bad in male dominated industries?

[Bloo Loo]

Number 4. is interesting and slightly counterintuitive.

Initially I thought that you'd be better off going second and this does hold true provided that you get to reset the chamber before each pull of the trigger, my understanding however is that the game carries on without resetting until the finish.

If you run the maths your chance of surviving the first round is 1/6 if you go first or your chance of the other player not already being dead 5/6 x 1/5 being your chance of surviving your turn, which of course sums out at 1/6.

When you think about it logically, once the chamber is spun and the pistol handed to the first player the game is already decided. The round is either in one of your 3 chambers or in one of your opponents 3, the sequence in which you pull the trigger makes no difference.

Probably better going first, imagine hearing the click on an empty 5th chamber going second.

depends very much on the quality of the revolver...a well oiled gun and the bullet will always stop at the bottom leaving an empty chamber ready for firing.

[Parkwell]

I was once asked 'If we asked your wife what was most annoying about you, what would she say?'

My response: She'd probably tell you to f/ck off.

[winkie]

No word of a lie...went for a job they asked what car I would aspire to drive..a) lamborghini/ferrari bmw/audi c) lada/skoda

You don't have to tell the truth, you only know what one you would have to have picked to get the job.

[Eddie_George]

My question:

What is your opinion on the UK housing market?

Easily separate the wheat from the chaff with that one.

[Hold Fast]

Number 6 is actually a tax issue:

6. “Is jaffa cake a cake or biscuit?” – Asked at Kerry Group food company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa_Cakes#Categorisation_as_cake_or_biscuit_for_VAT

IIRC it hinges on what happens when they go stale. Biscuits go soft, cakes go hard. Or something like that

[okaycuckoo]

Number 4. is interesting and slightly counterintuitive.

Initially I thought that you'd be better off going second and this does hold true provided that you get to reset the chamber before each pull of the trigger, my understanding however is that the game carries on without resetting until the finish.

If you run the maths your chance of surviving the first round is 1/6 if you go first or your chance of the other player not already being dead 5/6 x 1/5 being your chance of surviving your turn, which of course sums out at 1/6.

When you think about it logically, once the chamber is spun and the pistol handed to the first player the game is already decided. The round is either in one of your 3 chambers or in one of your opponents 3, the sequence in which you pull the trigger makes no difference.

Probably better going first, imagine hearing the click on an empty 5th chamber going second.

I think it's second, because it's essential in RR is to spin the drum every go. That's the way I used to play it.

[200p]

Well it's better than having to dance in front of everyone in an interview:

Currys interview 'humiliation' as graduate 'made to dance'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23972952

[Freeholder]

depends very much on the quality of the revolver...a well oiled gun and the bullet will always stop at the bottom leaving an empty chamber ready for firing.

I just tried this with a replica Peacemaker Colt in very good and clean condition. I used a drill round not a live one. There was no tendancy for the loaded chamber to stop at the bottom.

[MrPin]

And you accepted the job? The first hint of that sort of BS and I would have been out of the door. I assume that you took it due to the compensation on offer.

I find the best interviews are just a chat! In fact you hardly realise it is an interview!

[shindigger]

I got asked who i most admired in an interview once.

To which i replied, "Geoffrey Boycott".

Was not hired.

However, seeing as i was being interviewed while the cleaner hoovered around my feet, i wasn't too bothered.

[shindigger]

I find the best interviews are just a chat! In fact you hardly realise it is an interview!

I call it "meeting a client" these days.

Much better.

[MrPin]

I call it "meeting a client" these days.

Much better.

Exactly what it is!

[corevalue]

I was once asked a very technical question at an interview. This led to an argument between me and the interviewer, as he disagreed with my answer. After a minute or so, he stopped, and said abruptly that I'd got the job. Apparently, I was the only interviewee (he'd already seen several) who understood the question.

[AteMoose]

Yes....

Its not the answer its how you go about answering it. These are questions to see if people can think sideways, it doesn't really matter what the answer is.

When I am recruiting I am looking for people who will say no, by having a grown up debate you come out with options. People who want to Say yes and want to give 'the right answer' don't help us get to where we need to go, as they close down options or go with the consensus. The majority of people want to be told what to do keep there heads down, I don't want these people. I want lots of people who come up with options, take risks, and bounce options of other people.

[MrPin]

Yes....

Its not the answer its how you go about answering it. These are questions to see if people can think sideways, it doesn't really matter what the answer is.

When I am recruiting I am looking for people who will say no, by having a grown up debate you come out with options. People who want to Say yes and want to give 'the right answer' don't help us get to where we need to go, as they close down options or go with the consensus. The majority of people want to be told what to do keep there heads down, I don't want these people. I want lots of people who come up with options, take risks, and bounce options of other people.

You have obviously worked for "my lot"!

[Goat]

I just tried this with a replica Peacemaker Colt in very good and clean condition. I used a drill round not a live one. There was no tendancy for the loaded chamber to stop at the bottom.

Yep, the mass of a round is going to be trivial compared to the mass of the cylinder, also the gun isn't going to be held perfectly level which is going to further diminish the importance of the rounds mass.

Finally, in a worse case scenario, assuming that the gun was held level and the cylinder could only rotate in one direction the round would rotate until it didn't have enough energy to reach the 12 o clock position, in which case it may well be the next round in line to be fired.

[happy_renting]

I just tried this with a replica Peacemaker Colt in very good and clean condition. I used a drill round not a live one. There was no tendancy for the loaded chamber to stop at the bottom.

Not really a representative test. It depends exactly at what angle you are holding the revolver. Hold it as if pointing at your head.

Also, drill rounds do not weigh the same as a live round. Try it with a live round.

[supersonic]

I interviewed at Codemasters once upon a time. Don't remember getting any curveball questions, but I do remember having to do some silly IQ-style test while I was there, before they spoke with me.

They told me I did well in the test, although I didn't get the job at the time based on a lack of experience for the role, which was already very obvious from the jobs on my CV anyway.

Dodged a bullet in any case - they're quite the joke outfit among peer companies these days. Oddball recruitment procedures, headed by a bunch of emotionally-stunted nerds. I'm really not bitter! Honest!

[happy_renting]

Does the 'Russian Roulette' question not depend on whether it is a 5 or 6-chamber revolver?

Or perhaps that is one of the roulette 'unknowns' - so there being a remote chance it is a 5-chamber revoolver, it makes sense to go second.