Asking For Trouble?
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Good:
These aren't the toughest questions in the world, but they can tell you a lot about a candidate. If you're hiring for a position in which punctuality and reliability are extremely important, pay close attention to the answer to No. 5. 1. Why did you apply for this job? 2. Did you improve the work environment in your last office? How? 3. Describe a conflict you had with a previous boss and how you dealt with it. 4. Name three good things your former co-workers would say about you, and three bad ones. 5. How many times have you missed work in the last year? Bad:
Some of these are illegal, and some, like the first, simply won't get you the information you want. Rather than ask if someone's a team player, ask them to give you an example of a time they helped the team pull something off. 1. Are you a team player? 2. How old are you? 3. Do you have any kids? 4. Are you married? 5. Have you ever been arrested? Weird:
Odd-ball questions can be a helpful way of testing a candidate's poise and problem-solving skills. But you run the risk of intimidating your interviewee to such an extent that he or she will run screaming from your office. So use with caution. 1. If aliens were invading Earth and they captured you and asked you to take a position in their fleet, which would you pick? Answer Hint: Obviously, there's no right or wrong answer here. The key is for the candidate to remain calm under pressure and to turn even an absurd question into an opportunity to sell herself. For example: I'd be the captain, because I'm a natural leader. (From Quint Careers) 2. If you look at a clock and the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and the minute hands? Answer Hint: It's not zero! The hour hand moves too, which means it would be a quarter of the way between the three and the four, or a quarter of a twelfth of 360 degrees -- or seven and a half degrees. (From the Vault.com.) 3. How many gallons of white exterior house paint are sold each year? Answer Hint: You're not looking for a precise number here. Just a good guesstimate. Vault.com suggests starting with these three assumptions: that there are 270 million people in the U.S., and half live in houses; that houses are painted on average every 10 years; and one gallon of paint covers 100 square feet of wall. Vault's final answer based on this logic: 80 million gallons. (For a more complete explanation, click here.) 4. Do you believe in Leprechauns? Answer Hint: We'll hope the employer, who reportedly asked this of an Irish job candidate, wasn't trying to be insulting or discriminatory, and was instead trying to test whether the candidate had a vivid imagination. (IrishJobs.com) 5. If you could have dinner with any person living or dead, who would it be and why? Answer Hint: Again, there's no right answer, but you'd be looking for the candidate to take the question in stride and perhaps offer up a personality that told something about the candidate's own values. (From Quint Careers)
Good: These aren't the toughest questions in the world, but they can tell you a lot about a candidate. If you're hiring for a position in which punctuality and reliability are extremely important, pay close attention to the answer to No. 5. 1. Why did you apply for this job? 2. Did you improve the work environment in your last office? How? 3. Describe a conflict you had with a previous boss and how you dealt with it. 4. Name three good things your former co-workers would say about you, and three bad ones. 5. How many times have you missed work in the last year? Bad:
Some of these are illegal, and some, like the first, simply won't get you the information you want. Rather than ask if someone's a team player, ask them to give you an example of a time they helped the team pull something off. 1. Are you a team player? 2. How old are you? 3. Do you have any kids? 4. Are you married? 5. Have you ever been arrested? Weird:
Odd-ball questions can be a helpful way of testing a candidate's poise and problem-solving skills. But you run the risk of intimidating your interviewee to such an extent that he or she will run screaming from your office. So use with caution. 1. If aliens were invading Earth and they captured you and asked you to take a position in their fleet, which would you pick? Answer Hint: Obviously, there's no right or wrong answer here. The key is for the candidate to remain calm under pressure and to turn even an absurd question into an opportunity to sell herself. For example: I'd be the captain, because I'm a natural leader. (From Quint Careers) 2. If you look at a clock and the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and the minute hands? Answer Hint: It's not zero! The hour hand moves too, which means it would be a quarter of the way between the three and the four, or a quarter of a twelfth of 360 degrees -- or seven and a half degrees. (From the Vault.com.) 3. How many gallons of white exterior house paint are sold each year? Answer Hint: You're not looking for a precise number here. Just a good guesstimate. Vault.com suggests starting with these three assumptions: that there are 270 million people in the U.S., and half live in houses; that houses are painted on average every 10 years; and one gallon of paint covers 100 square feet of wall. Vault's final answer based on this logic: 80 million gallons. (For a more complete explanation, click here.) 4. Do you believe in Leprechauns? Answer Hint: We'll hope the employer, who reportedly asked this of an Irish job candidate, wasn't trying to be insulting or discriminatory, and was instead trying to test whether the candidate had a vivid imagination. (IrishJobs.com) 5. If you could have dinner with any person living or dead, who would it be and why? Answer Hint: Again, there's no right answer, but you'd be looking for the candidate to take the question in stride and perhaps offer up a personality that told something about the candidate's own values. (From Quint Careers)
