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If you interviewed for a job as a customer service representative at one company you may be asked this question: "If you were in the movie 'The Wizard of Oz,' which character do you most relate with and why?"
“Why are manhole covers round?”
Most of us are prepared for standard job interview questions such as “What’s your biggest weakness?” and “Are you a people person?”
But what happens when you get hit with a bizarre and unexpected question from a hiring manager such as:
“How can I get to some gold in the middle of the Amazon in the cheapest way possible?”
This question was asked of a job seeker who interviewed for an associate project manager position at Google in Mountain View, Calif., and it’s No. 1 on the Top 10 list of oddball interview questions asked by hiring managers. The list — compiled by Glassdoor.com, a jobs website where people post their job-hunting experiences — was culled from thousands of questions submitted by job seekers this year.
While unusual questions have always been part of the interviewing landscape, things have gotten increasingly weird in the employment trenches during the tough economy, said Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor’s career and workplace expert.
With more than 8 percent unemployment, some human resource professionals may think you guys are willing to put up with a lot.
Given that power seems to have shifted from the employee to the employer, Rueff said that some interviewers “take advantage of some people and there can be a little hazing that goes on. That’s not fair, but it is what it is.”
In many cases, he added, employers just want to see how creative you can be, and whether you can think on your feet and not get flustered by a curveball question.
His advice: “Put your best foot forward, roll with the punches and don’t get angry.”
He suggested talking out loud through complex and strange questions so a hiring manager can hear your thought process.
For example, if you’re asked, “Why are manhole covers round?” you should take a deep breath and think to yourself, “Why are they round?” Then, answer the question out loud in several parts if need be, such as: “They’re easier to move, or stake. And they could be round so they can’t fall through the hole.”
Bottom line, he stressed, you can’t prepare for such questions so don’t sweat them.
Or you can just write off hiring managers who ask such crazy questions, suggested communications consultant Mark Jeffries, author of "What's Up With Your Handshake?"
“If you’re asked how to get to a pot of gold in the middle of a jungle it’s time to say bye-bye,” he said, adding that employers are going through so many job candidates these days that they’ve “gone insane. Do you really want to work with a company that approaches employment like that?”
Here’s the rest of Glassdoor's Top10 oddball question list:
- “Tell me the restaurant where you dined last night?” – Ernst & Young consultant candidate (location n/a)
- “Do you feel you had a normal childhood?” – Gentex mechanical engineer candidate (Zeeland, Mich.)
- “If you can grow anything on a tree, what would it be?” – Red Frog Events event coordinator candidate (Chicago, Ill.)
- “If you were in the movie 'The Wizard of Oz,' which character do you most relate with and why?” – National Contract Management Association customer service representative candidate (Ashburn, Va.)
- “Would you rather be ranked No. 1 in the office and hated by everyone or No. 15 in the office but well-liked?” – ADP outside sales representative candidate (location n/a)
- “If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you?” – Cisco Human Resources manager candidate (location n/a)
- “Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?" – Amazon product development candidate (Seattle, Wash.)
- “My clock is nine minutes slow every hour. At noon, it tells the correct time. After how many hours will it again tell the correct time?” – Bloomberg L.P. financial applications engineer candidate (New York, N.Y.)
- “If you had five red balls that contained four red balls and those red balls contained the original five red balls, then how many sets of sets of balls would I take to have a double set of red balls of varying sizes inside each next largest red ball?” – Goldman Sachs investment banking vice president candidate (New York, N.Y.)
Have you been asked an odd interview questions recently? If so, what was it?
Leave a Comment:
How much astroturf is there in the world? and How much does a 747 weigh?
Siemens Medical back in 2004
"Human Resource Professional" is an oxymoron. Emphasis on the "moron" part.
The department who thinks they're in charge of everyone and is actually in charge of no one.
Seems to have???
.
""Given that power seems to have shifted from the employee to the employer,""
I was asked how would you go about calculating how many gas stations there are in the city of Chicago?
I once had a job interviewer admit he hadn't done an interview in a very long time and then asked me what questions I would ask.
Just reply with a question: "How does this relate to the desired job qualifications?" 99% of oddball interview questions result in no useful information to the interviewer about the candidate, yet they keep asking these questions.
I was once asked if I 'jogged, swam, rode bikes, or played tennis.' Apparently the interviewer was looking for someone to spend time with after hours.
"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent!"
James G. Watt -- Secretary of the Interior 1981-1983
I got asked (on an application), "What is your BMI? BMI over 25 need not apply." Then it made me list my height and weight so they could calculate BMI themselves.
Despite the fact that I have 19% body fat. But because I have a high amount of lean body mass (close to fifty pounds more than the average woman of my height) my BMI is over 30.
Re: To the question asked by the interviewer at Goldman Sachs: I have a double set of balls. You don't have any.
That's good. My response would be, if you have that much time to contemplate such an idiotic question, you don't have enough work to do.
hmm I'm one of the Chicks who was working assembly line of Grooming Everybody to go see the Wizard lol
and I had a Female Psychiatrist ask what book I would recommend for her to read lol I told her go read about the Mayan-Aztec Prophecy...and to do it on-line ...buying a book wouldn't be necessary ;) dang she didn't even do *JUNG* lol
During a recent interview, I was asked if I had ever abused or committed any bestial act swith domestic or wild animals. I literally laughed out loud. With an expressionless, straight face, the interviewer looked at me and asked if I always laugh at questions of this nature.
I could only respond, "Is this a common problem with employees here? If it is, I understand why you are hiring. Secondly, I've just decided that I don't want to work here. Thanks for your time."
Got up and walked out.
This was for a government job working at a juvenile detention center.
Still looking for work.
Yep! I couldn't agree more!
Working from a mobile phone...couldn't erase the comment after this was accidentally entered. Haha.
Q: Why are manhole covers round?
A: Because manhole openings are round.
More to the point of the question, a circle is the only shape that won't let the cover fall through, no matter how you maneuver it.
If you want to embellish, add the fact that it's excessively heavy, and that it was designed that way so you wouldn't have to employ a crane when it fell in...
I thought maybe it is because they'll cover the hole exactly turned at any angle, as opposed to a square where you'd have to twist it into place to make it fit, which would be awkward given their weight.
No...D-1519975 is right...it's so that the cover will not fall into the hole.
After a career inspecting sewers, I'm so tired of this supposedly clever question used to weed out innovative thinkers... because the answer is not absolutely correct... the qualifier is whether or not it's a solid-circumference lid. Common lids have a "pickhole" in their rim, to allow levering them open (and to serve as vents), and that pickhole is about 2 1/2" across, just enough to perfectly accomodate their supporting ring. Drag 'em back, never roll 'em.
If you really try, or you're unlucky, the imperfectly "round" lid can slip inside. Usually when the boss is watching.
They can be rolled, they don't easily fall in, they're easy to replace...
Just say, "because they were made to be efficient" and leave it at that.
Potential employers love the use of the word "efficient". ;-)
My former boss would ask people what their favorite book or movie was, and if he hadn't heard of the answer, he would ask 'what's that', or 'who's that'? I finally excused myself from helping out with the interviews, it was too embarrasing.
The oddest interview question I've ever been asked:
"Why shouldn't I hire you?" - Eisbrenner Public Relations
Here are some answers (joking):
- Because I may eventually replace you.
- I'll make you look stupid.
- Because I laugh a stupid questions like that.
Oddest question I've ever been asked: "What would you say if I told you that there are alot of girls who live with their parents on Park Avenue who would take this job for free" -- Fairchild Publications, whose flagship journal is Women's Wear Daily
I'd reply ... "You get what you pay for".
I would work for free too if I didn't have to pay for food, clothes and rent!
I'd reply and I'm sure you'd want them for their brains.
HA! cgtrav, you're cracking me up! Good ones!
I was recently on a phone screen for an educational program manager job in which the recruiter asked if I had read their "No A**hole Policy" on their website. Except the recruiter didn't bleep herself, and had to repeat herself 3 times because I couldn't believe what I was being asked. I think companies can have policies like this, but this is yet another example of the bad job outlook and just what recruiters can get away with in their screening "techniques". Suffice it to say, I said thanks for the interview but took myself out of consideration.
There's a popular business organization book titled "The No A**hole Rule" which I assume she was referencing. She probably could have phrased her question more clearly and eloquently...
My interviewer told me he wanted to test how observant I was. What's the first thing you notice when you enter a Wal-mart?
(I thought, gee what a stupid question, I'd be at Wal-mart to shop not to do an investigation.)
However, to please my interviewer I gave an answer, "The meeter greeter".
Apparently I was wrong as he informed me it was the board of missing children.
Yep, HR is tip top.
If that's how the question was phrased then you could not have been wrong no matter what your answer was. I personally would've said "the door" though.
"Good night... ding, ding, ding, ding. Good night... ding, ding, ding, ding. FIVE... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE!!!!!"
Manhole covers, and openings, are round because it is the only shape than will not let the cover fall into the manhole, given a beveled edge. Any other geometric shape will not work, or would be too expensive to manufacture.
I think it's a great interview question.
Do I get the job?
They try to find peeps that don't fit into a square hole.
I was doing a phone interview for business analyst position with a web based education company. I was asked "what is it called with an actor affects the system?" Do any of you know what it is called. The guy was a jerk and just let me keep guessing and saying 'No that is not it". I guess that question stopped me from getting the job.
In case you need a smile to go with all this.