Memorable interview questions

A geeky colleague of mine says she asks prospective hardware engineers “what is the colour of the sun?”

If they answer “yellow” then they’re out. Warned a friend about this and he got the job!

I’ve not had any particularly tricky or bizarre ones but I’m sure some of you lot have…..

Well? What is the colour of the sun then?

More orange than yellow.

Back when I was 17 and applying for a restaurant job, I got asked:

‘What political party do you work for?’

Because, well, I used to work for a political party. But the interviewer wasn’t allowed to ask!

*awaits start of lengthy debate on nature of solar radiation*
😆

I don’t know what the correct answer to the sun colour question would be, but would suggest “which one?” or “depends on your distance and velocity relative to the star referred to as the sun”…. something like that anyway

A geeky colleague of mine says she asks prospective hardware engineers “what is the colour of the sun?”

The correct answer is of course ‘wtf has that got to do with the job I’m applying for?’

I thought the sun was categorised as a yellow dwarf?

So basically your colleague is being a smart arse. Can’t be doing with that nonsense, just ask people about the job.

Her point was that the answer “yellow” shows a lack of imagination. Either that or the candidate simply does not meet the required level of geekiness.

“laden or unladen?”

I was asked, tell me something you’re passionate about. Couldn’t bring myself to be 2-faced enough to talk about work, so talked about cycling. After the interview (got the job) I asked for feedback since I’ve not done many interviews, and they said “We were fishing for a genuine answer, most people will give us bullshit about customer service”

There is of course no such thing as colour, only wavelength.

I think.

Having said that, the wine I am drinking definatley appears to be red.

stupid question. It’s yellow, you can see it’s yellow, what colour did the interviewer think? I mean i understand it’s a trick, that’s the answer is something else, but unless you’re applying for a job as a sun scienctist what else do you say? raspberry?

Yellow shows a lack of imagination? Is imagination essential for a hardware engineer? And how would that question tell you anyway? What an eedjit.

it is 42

I was invited as an observer / advisor to interviews for a new director for an arts centre. The chair of the board opened the interview with a question intended to draw out a critique of a contovercial and politically sensitive public art commission that was being undertaken locally, but finished her question with ‘I tell you why I ask……’ then spent the next half hour answering her own question. Eventually the interviewee had to interupt and leave.

I told the board they should offer him the post, and they did. Unsurprisingly he turned it down though.

brakes – Member
it is 42

Yeah, but what’s the question? 😉

It’s more white isn’t it, and the oxygen in the atmosphere scatters some of the blue all over the sky, leaving less blue in the white. Consequently it looks yellow.

Still looks orangey in pictures taken from space though?

Its a yellow dwarf – as most of its radiation is in the yellow / green part of the spectrum.

It looks orangey in the space pictures because they have filters on the cameras to protect them from the brightness, I think.

It is yellow dwarf TJ but I suspect it would still look mostly white if you were to look at it from space.

Define colour? The colour things appear to the majority of humans when they observe it? Or some other, weird, abstract, definition of colour?

Got asked how boxing helps me do maths (or wtte) for a uni interview. Told them it didn’t. Got rejected.

Got asked how boxing helps me do maths (or wtte) for a uni interview. Told them it didn’t. Got rejected

Plenty of practice counting to ten ;3)

Colour of The Sun? The name is printed in red surely, although politically it wanders.

It’s white. I think the reason it appears yellow on Earth is similar to the reason the sky is blue, i.e. certain wavelengths are attenuated by the atmosphere.

I was asked in an interview a really bizarre question which was some ridiculous scenario , the interviewer was rubbish and I had lost the will to live. My answer was “I would tell you to f off”. They offered me the job and declined !

The OP’s colleague sounds like a real wag. I envy anyone who works for her. 😕

I was asked to give an example of thinking ‘outside the box’

I got up and went home, ****!

I was asked in an interview once to tell them a good joke (they were being serious) It was a small company and I didnt particularly like the MD who was leading the interview.

I left.

My degree (and lab experience) was mostly based around invertebrate ecology. However, I applied for a technical post in a molecular biology lab as they were looking for someone experienced with invertebrates. During the interview I was asked if I had any molecular biology experience. I hadn’t, but trying to answer the question in a positive manner (essentially trying to say no, but I would love to learn), I made a foolish, foolish mistake. I tried to use the word ‘Organism’ in a sentence. I tried to say something along the lines of, “Till now, all of my experience has been with larger organisms.” That’s what I meant to say! The stunned silence, grins and sniggers from the interviewers will haunt me forever.

Probably got me the job as well! 🙂

B. 😉

My answer would be its the colour of the elements that make it up as their burning.

You can look at the spectrum of light it gives out to find out what its made of.

‘What kind of animal would you be if you had the choice?’ is a stupid one I’ve had a couple of times.’

Trick questions… I remember being told about a room with three light switches connected to three lights. I can play with the light switches to my hearts content but I can’t see inside the room. I can only go into the room once and then give my answer. How do I work out which switch operates which light?

Another one asked me how would I get hold of the administrator passwords for a system? That was easy, get the administrator drunk and take him to see some enthusiastic prostitutes.

It’s not a question, but my Mum’s partner told me about a mate who would pretend to fall off his chair in an interview, just to see how the interviewee would react. I don’t see what useful information you would possibly expect to get out of that.

What are your weaknesses
to which i replied
Firstly I take on board too much repsonisbility at work and as i am such aa perfectionist i struggle to delegate task
secondly i am prone to inappropriate outbursts of sarcasm.

Stupid qquestion like anyone will tell the truth
TBh I wll do as little as possible and spend all day on STW

when interviewing somoen their phone rang in their back they then answered it and we hear dthe following

Yes I am at the interview now
yes it is going well so far

At this point i shook my head and in a very loud voice said NO it is not.
She still carried on her conversation after that so I got up and left and went and had a brew [ 2 others stayed apparently she chatted for 5 mions]. She got angry that I would not complete the interview.

that lightbulb q is something to do with turning one on for a few minutes then off again, turn another one on and enter the room.

then feel the temp of the light bulbs. one will be on, one will be warm and one will be off?

Do I get the job?

I thought the sun was categorised as a yellow dwarf?

It is, however,

It’s more white isn’t it, and the oxygen in the atmosphere scatters some of the blue all over the sky, leaving less blue in the white. Consequently it looks yellow.

Is correct. It’s white.

What lightbulb question?

“Can you tell me ten things you woudl do with a concrete hedgehog?

Reading from the CV “Did you go to [insert name of school]?
🙄

I’ve had the ‘strengths and weaknesses’ one, and I’ve used it too. It’s a pretty common question.

The trick of course is to come up with a weakness which is really a strength, like the ‘perfectionism’ thing. Except, perfectionism is the “I was expecting this question” response, and a bit of a cliché (which is annoying, because it’s fairly true for me – I tend to focus on minutiae rather than the bigger picture).

As an employer, it can be a real eye opener. I once had a candidate enthusiastically tell us that he had problems with his temper, resulting in him punching out his previous boss. 😯