Curveball Interview questions
 

I came across this link

CurveBall Questions

and can't remember ever having a question like this during an interview. Has anybody on here had a wierd question during an interview which made you think - WTF ?

How did you answer ?

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

Not in Canada but did once in the UK. A recruitment consultant asked me what I though my three best qualities were, then what my friends thought my three best qualities were, and then what my wife thought my three best qualities were.

I think the look I gave him said, "I fire idiots that ask stupid questions," even if I came out with some suitably trite answers.

I didn't get the job.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

:)

I'd love to go in for an inteview and not be that fussed if I got the job or not and give some really straight to the point answers to see their faces.

Like from your question above. What does my wife think my 3 best qualities are

1. Size of my penis
etc.

:D

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

Back in my early 20s, I went for a job interview and the interviewer asked me, "Why do you want to work for XXX, and what can you bring to the company?"

I was genuinely stumped. I suspected that the only answer I had (I need the money, and you surely don't expect me to bring very much for the money you're offering) wasn't the expected response.

Mumbled something half-heartedly about enthusiasm and willingness to learn, but you could tell we both knew that this interview was neither of our finest hours, and we cut it short.

Didn't get the job, thank God.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I was asked which book I had read most recently and I answered "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawkings (this was in the mid 90's). That lead to a 20 minute discussion about the book, out of an interview of only 30 minutes. Coincidentally the interview was for an office role (completely unrelated to astrophysics and particle physics) with a leading and well known Canadian corporation .... and I did get the job! :D

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I had just been fired for, allegedly, parking on the grass.

I didn't know that my interviewers knew. I sat nervously on a high stool facing a panel of stern looking people, one of whom spoke grandly. He pointed out that the location was downtown "there is no grass here, could you manage in such a place?".

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

As a 21yr old female engineer I was genuinely asked if I minded getting my hands dirty. I was inwardly smirking my head off but replied appropriately.
Admittedly the interviewer was an older guy, but really :D

It wasn't that long ago either, we'll ok, the last century :D

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I was asked what made me cry? I replied peeling onions.
I didn't get the job.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

In the RAF in the late fifties I was asked, as were lots of others, if I would be interested in a commission as an armaments officer. Being fairly well qualified I was sent to RAF Jurby on the Isle Of Man for assessment and interviews. Things were moving along swimmingly until the final day and the final interview. I was asked what my fathers profession was. My answer didn't go down very well as I replied, " He cleans milk bottles for the local dairy." Needless to say I remained an NCO.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I was once asked "What are you drinking?" The interview was very informal and took place in the pub. Obviously I took the job. :thumbup:

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

When I was about 25 I interviewed for a job with the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique in Orléans.

The director, from SW France, did the interview (in French of course) and he had an accent which my limited ability left me unready to deal with.

His first question was "Dites-moi pourquoi vous êtes un génie". (Tell me why you are a genius).

Unfortunately I understood him to have said "un ingénieur" (engineer) not "un génie" and proceeded to explain that I wasn't an engineer but rather a chemist.

That was the only job I've ever applied for that I didn't get offered.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I think what really happened was thet you tried to explain that you were a "big famous chemist", and proudly told him you were "une grande femmes chemise". ;)

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I wasn't famous then. :sneaky: But you're along the right lines.

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I was once asked in an interview for a policy analyst position to rate my writing skills on a ten point scale. In good Spinal Tap fashion I answered 11, I didn't get the job. :)

Re: Curveball Interview questions
 

I might have launched into an explanation of Aladdin and some forty thieves. :rofl: