OT: Interview Questions

saracelica

saracelica

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saracelica
Went to a class about how to do resume and interview questions. (My job is being outsourced to India) :(

So I was wondering what sort of obscure questions have you received that maybe I should be prepared to answer.

If you want to go on a tangent you can answer the one I heard: What would you do if you didn't have thumbs? (I said No more peeling a banana)
 
If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?
 
We interview quite a few people each week; mostly technical types. I can tell you as an interviewer and a business owner we don't ask stupid questions like the ones above.

What we (I) am looking for is the right attitude. Dress professionally, sit up straight, be engaged, ask good questions that demonstrate prior knowledge of the company and your profession (if you haven't even reviewed the company website I'm done), and demonstrate passion for the job.

If I walk into an interview room and the person is slouched in their chair the interview is over before I ask my 1st question.:no:

Interviewing is just as hard if not harder the being interviewed. If you make the interview work for both parties you are already way ahead of the game.
 
1. Do you enjoy working outdoors or indoors? Job was for a position at the San Onofre Nuclear Plant with a very vague job description. I flubbed it. Didn't want the stupid job anyway.

2. Do you enjoy sharing details of your life with friends and family? GS position requiring a top secret/SCI clearance. You KNOW where that was going. And that was before social media became prevalent. I could truthfully answer "no" to that without setting off their BS meter.

3. Do you like thunder? Military placement test but not the asvab. No, I don't want to go in to artillery. But I don't want to push paper either. Results weren't binding anyway, not sure of the point of the test.

4. What's your favorite breed of dog? Presumptive A-hole, we haven't even established whether I like dogs or not. Job was at FMC. They make tanks, armored vehicles, and food processing equipment. I suppose they make a machine that grinds dog food too, who knows. Or perhaps it grinds dogs in to food. Maybe that was where the question was going.

5. Can you read and write in the English language? Dude. Really. You have my typed resume and printed application form on your desk, and you are looking at me and talking to me. Are your observation skills that bad? Job was with a newspaper, grunt labor position in the production area. Job didn't entail writing, or reading more than "danger" and "keep out." Which, interestingly enough, wasn't even placarded in English outside of the press area. Oh, yeah, there was the big red "stop" button on every machine, at every occupied station.

Okay Sara, how would I answer the question of what would I do without thumbs.

1. I wouldn't apply for a job that involves approval authority.

2. I would never have to worry about being accused of sitting around with my thumb up my ass.

3. I would have to eliminate hitch hiking as an alternate means of transportation.

4. I'd buy an Ipad.

5. Haha baby, that's not my thumb!
 
All good points.

One other favorite is: "Describe one failure you've had, the consequences, and what you learned." That's pretty open-ended, but the goal is to find out whether they learned something from their failures and whether they're likely to make the same mistake again.

A good interviewer wiill ask you about personal likes/dislikes - they have to tread carefully to avoid prohibited questions, but their interest is in whether or not you would be a good fit in a team environment. They'd also want to assess your chance of success if the role is one of individual contributor.
 
How often do I refer to being a pilot and the training? I swear I learned more about myself and my weaknesses/strengths in flight training then anywhere else. :)
 
saracelica said:
How often do I refer to being a pilot and the training? I swear I learned more about myself and my weaknesses/strengths in flight training then anywhere else. :)
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I would say, if you were asked a leading question regarding your strengths and weaknesses, you could segway it in, otherwise, drop it or they will think you're too self promoting. Kind of like if you're a guy at the bar talking to a chick, and you drop the pilot card too quickly or unnecessarily.
 
Baron2PG said:
We interview quite a few people each week; mostly technical types. I can tell you as an interviewer and a business owner we don't ask stupid questions like the ones above.

What we (I) am looking for is the right attitude. Dress professionally, sit up straight, be engaged, ask good questions that demonstrate prior knowledge of the company and your profession (if you haven't even reviewed the company website I'm done), and demonstrate passion for the job.

If I walk into an interview room and the person is slouched in their chair the interview is over before I ask my 1st question.:no:

Interviewing is just as hard if not harder the being interviewed. If you make the interview work for both parties you are already way ahead of the game.
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:yeahthat: Especially the second item. If you don't know anything about the company you want to work for, I would not want know a lot about you either. :nono:
 
Sac Arrow said:
I would say, if you were asked a leading question regarding your strengths and weaknesses, you could segway it in, otherwise, drop it or they will think you're too self promoting. Kind of like if you're a guy at the bar talking to a chick, and you drop the pilot card too quickly or unnecessarily.
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Unless it's a job in aviation, it is probably not a good idea to wear dork bars to the interview... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::D
 
Something I've always suggested that might serve you well (did once for me).

Once you've gotten the interview with the company, do all that you can to research the company, mission, vision, culture, people, products, etc. Find out all that you can.

This arms you with the information to know IN ADVANCE that you are a good fit and you can frame your answers to fit their frame work of what they do and what they are looking for.

Even better, bring to the interview a business plan or project proposal for something you are capable of heading up that will bring the company additional profits. Be thorough, outlining cost budget, resources needed, timelines, milestones, and proposed profit. Make it such that you're willing to risk your employment to see this come to be in exchange for a cut of the rewards. But leave out enough so they realize they need you to get the complete picture and the profit rewards.

Even if they have already considered the idea in the past and rejected it, they still might be suitably impressed that you went to the effort to prove you want to come in ready to make them money and profits (versus being someone that increases their payroll costs) and that your being well prepared to take on that responsibility.

Turn the interview into a sales pitch for your idea, and more importantly, you. As in, "I'm proving that I am a valuable person to higher and you cannot afford to not hire me".

I'm current interviewing for 2 positions. The ones that come in unprepared, I quickly figure that out and quickly end the interview. The ones that are prepared and demonstrate they might be an asset, we continue to explore if they will be a fit.
 
saracelica said:
Went to a class about how to do resume and interview questions. (My job is being outsourced to India) :(

So I was wondering what sort of obscure questions have you received that maybe I should be prepared to answer.

If you want to go on a tangent you can answer the one I heard: What would you do if you didn't have thumbs? (I said No more peeling a banana)
Click to expand...
Withoutthumbsallyourwordswouldruntogethersinceyoucan'thitthespacebar.

What kind of job are you interviewing for?
 
Be nice to everybody you meet in the process. If you're a jerk to the receptionist or the HR rep, I'll hear about it and you're doomed.

Don't fake it. Unless you're really desperate, if you're not a fit, you don't want the job anyway.

I completly agree with all who said do your homework about the job & position.

To directly answer your question, I'll have the job description in front of me and will ask questions about each of the critical elements. If it's a technical position, be prepared for a "case study" type question. i.e. I'm going to put you on a team that's been chasing a memory leak for weeks. How would you go in find and fix the problem without pi$$ing on the existing team.... It's a combination tech & fit question....

The "what kind of tree" questions are silly....you don't want to work there
 
"So, Mrs.... Celica. Please have a seat."

"You can call me Sara."

"I see from your resume that you're applying for a position in web forum administration."

"Yes."

"You realize the position is in India, right? Are you open to relocation?"

"Umm.... no, actually I didn't. The reason I'm applying is because my previous job was outsourced to India. But, I could use the income. I guess I would consider it. Do they have general aviation over there?"

"You mean like privately owned little airplanes?"

"Yeah."

"Not really. No. But they do have civil aviation, and no real rules or standards, so, I guess you could fly if you wanted to."

"Oh, yeah. Okay, I'm in then."

"Well great let me start off by asking..."

"Can I ask you one quick question?"

"Um, sure."

"What kind of food do they, you know... eat over there?"

"Indian food."

"You mean like cactus roots and agave?"

"No, no... wrong Indians. I mean like rice and curry."

"Oh, okay. Yeah. We had one of those in Toledo once. Closed down a few years ago. Never did catch on."

"Okay, sorry to hear. Now, back to the questions, let's say..."

"Okay I have ask just one more question. Sorry. But you know I have to ask. Why are you a... you know....a..."

"Polar Bear?"

"Yeah. That."

"Basically, because, I was part of a litter of polar bears that were created by a mommy Polar Bear and a poppy Polar Bear. That's basically how that kind of thing works. Why, do you have something against Polar Bears?"

"No, not at all. It's just that I would normally expect to find you in a..."

"Zoo?"

"Yeah, one of those."

"You know, the only reason. The only, freakin' reason. The ONLY reason I invited you in here for an interview is because you have a Midwestern accent. We desparately NEED people with Midwestern accents to do our telephone support here in the U.S. But what we DON'T need is your Midwestern ATTITUDE about wildlife discrimination. All you people think that animals are for keeping in a zoo, running around in the yard chasing sticks or roasting in a barbecue. We are a forward thinking company. You need to realize that if you're going to fit in here."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Now. Let's say you are administering an Internet forum website. Pick a field."

"Oooh, ooh... can we do aviation?"

"Fine. An aviation forum. Let's say you set up several aviation related sub forums and one non-aviation general topic forum. And let's say someone precedes their topic headline with either 'N/A' or 'OT' indicating that is other than aviation. What would your response be?"

"Uh, I dunno. I'd do it myself."

"Um, ok. Next question. Let's say..."

"You know, you're asking all the questions here, can I have one?"

"This is an interview. You understand the interview process, right? I ask a question, you answer, at the end, I ask you if you have any questions, and you respond with some intelligent, pointed questions that indicate that you have researched our company and that you fully understand the position."

"Yeah, yeah anyway, um, in India, they use like Euros or something like that. Am I going to get paid in Euros?

"They use Rupees. You will be paid in Rupees. But you can cash them in for dollars at the bank if you want."

"Ok, cool. So how many, Rupees, no, dollars after I cash them in can I expect every two weeks?"

"Let me grab a calculator. Based on prevailing wages for your job classification, cost of living adjustments... let's see... about... ten dollars."

"Oh, not so cool."

"Anyway so..."

"Oh, one more thing, why don't YOU go to India?"

"I'm a Polar Bear."

"I thought you were like in to Polar Bear equality or something. You're too good for India?"

"Do you know what would happen to me if I went to India? I would be hunted, shot and killed, my fur made in to a custom rug, and my liver ground in to a paste that reportedly cures impotency. Plus, they eat mostly bread and rice. They're vegetarians. Okay for people. Polar Bear, not so good."

"I never thought of it that way."

"In this job you have to think. So. What do you want to be doing in ten years?"

"Sitting on a beach in Tahiti drinking Margaritas."

"I mean work wise."

"I don't want to be working. I want to focus on flying."

"Um, okay, how about five years?"

"Your CEO's job."

"How about next year?"

"Your job."
 
saracelica said:
I don't know yet. In a year from now I'll be desperate so I wanted to arm myself with what I should think about.
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Suggestion for you. A book that is high recommended by some friends and has even earned Dave Ramsey's endorsement. (Image is linked to site to provide you more information)




Some Additional ones discussing striking out on your own and becoming an entrepreneur and your own boss:

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saracelica said:
I don't know yet. In a year from now I'll be desperate so I wanted to arm myself with what I should think about.
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If it hasn't been mentioned already, remember that a job interview is a two-way street. They are interviewing you, but YOU should also be interviewing THEM. Have several good, solid questions to ask about the culture, work environment, expectations, challenges, upward mobility, etc. Not only does it show that you're interested in the job and company, but it also shows that you're as interested as they are in ensuring that you are a good fit. I've been offered jobs and turned them down because I knew that the employer or environment wouldn't be a good fit.

Compensation and benefits can always be negotiated after they decide that they like you. If they are going to decide whether they like you based on how much you cost (they're cheap), you probably don't want to work there. I always defer questions on compensation requirements by stating that I would expect something that is market competitive.

You don't want a miserable job if you can avoid it.


JKG
 
I love the 48 days book. I own a copy and hope to crack the binding on it after I get laid off.
 
saracelica said:
I don't know yet. In a year from now I'll be desperate so I wanted to arm myself with what I should think about.
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Don't wait a year. Get out and look for a job. Make looking for a job a job. Decide what kind of job you want and tailor a resume and cover letter for that job. Make different resumes based on what options you might have.
BUT DEFINITELY DO NOT SIT AROUND.
Even if you get a severance, getting a job when you do not have one is probably the hardest (kind of like getting a loan when you really need one). The longer you are NOT WORKING FOR PAY the harder it will be.
And knowing about the company you are interviewing with is a great idea.
Do interviewers really ask such inane questions or is it some kind of test to see how quick you are.
 
silver-eagle said:
Don't wait a year. Get out and look for a job. Make looking for a job a job. Decide what kind of job you want and tailor a resume and cover letter for that job. Make different resumes based on what options you might have.
BUT DEFINITELY DO NOT SIT AROUND.
Even if you get a severance, getting a job when you do not have one is probably the hardest (kind of like getting a loan when you really need one). The longer you are NOT WORKING FOR PAY the harder it will be.
And knowing about the company you are interviewing with is a great idea.
Do interviewers really ask such inane questions or is it some kind of test to see how quick you are.
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Excellent point. Sometimes the specifics may alter the decision tree - for example, a hefty retention bonus and/or severance may alter the timing.

The old rule-of-thumb was that it would take a month for every $10,000 of salary to find a new job. The timeline has increased lately, and being out of work when you're looking essentially doubles it.

There are some misguided employers that will not even consider a candidate unless he/she are currently working.
 
Looking for a job while I'm employed is out of the question. Not going to quit my current one to go work somewhere else and miss out on the severance package. I need a break. I've worked 20 years straight sometimes with two jobs.

I appreciate all the advice so far. Keep it coming!
 
If applying for a pilot job go in there wearing a pilot uniform complete with captain epaulets. Shake their hand sit down and say, "It's your job to take these bars off. Now, what's the first question?"
 
Something to consider.

Since you can see them storm clouds out there on the horizon, start adding to your long term cash emergency fund. Figure out what is your monthly bare bones survival beans and rice budget is, add a smidgen to that for unexpected emergencies, then multiply that number by 6 and possibly 9.

Now use the next 12 months to build up that fund.

This way when your current job does end, you will be at a greater level of peace about it because you planned ahead financially.

If you find a better job before 6months goes by and you still have a large amount of that savings left over, then you can apply it to something else as wise such as long term debt (aka house) or long term investments.

I've built up a 9 month fund even though my job situation is very stable and if I run the yard right, I'll never need to touch it. But the peace of mind that it is there is awesome to have.
 
Captain said:
If applying for a pilot job go in there wearing a pilot uniform complete with captain epaulets. Shake their hand sit down and say, "It's your job to take these bars off. Now, what's the first question?"
Click to expand...

You wouldn't happen to know a guy who appeared on the red board unde the nom de plume of "TonyAir" would ya?
 
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