Unusual interview questions......

I had dinner with a group of ex colleagues last night - one of those get togethers that happens once every 2 - 3 years and where you spend all evening catching up on what happened to so and so etc. Was great fun but, I was reminded of something that made me laugh regarding unusual interview questions and I thought I'd share it.

One of the guys who still works with this very well known american technology company said that he had got divorced just a year or so ago. He felt that he had become a bit anally retentive as one of the things that annoyed him about his ex partner was the way in which she stacked the dishwasher!

On comparing notes with a work colleague, he asked her (note the mix of genders here making sure that it is not sexually discriminating) her attitude to stacking the dishwasher. Surprisingly, her technique mirrored his and on exploring this with other colleagues, a pattern emerged that suggested that employees of the said company had a common approach to stacking the dishwasher.

So, it has now become part of the interview questionnaire leaving potential recruits at somewhat of a loss to understand how dishwashers are relevant to the legal department of a large US multinational.

At the risk of triggering a controversial thread here, what's the most unusual interview question that you've heard woven into practice?

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Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on March 30, 2011 at 2:06pm: @ paul is they were square they would fall in...

Comment by pam claughton on March 30, 2011 at 5:18pm: I'm not a fan of questions designed to put people off-guard or that are so bizarre that there's no good reason to ask them except for the entertainment of the interviewer.

Ilona, I really like your question about common misconceptions. That's one that could generate some useful information you might not discover otherwise.

Comment by Andy Lucas on March 30, 2011 at 8:47pm: @Pam - when people are off-guard, they start getting honest and stop giving you their rehearsed answers. It's a very effective tool to use when you're interviewing salespeople, marketing people, or others who tend to ... 'embellish' a little. I'm not in the room to be entertained, I'm there to find out more about someone, and whether they'd make a good employee. If you want bizarre - you should search "Google Interview Questions." A good, bizarre question can be very informative about the humor, personality, and intelligence of the candidate.

Comment by Jason Monastra on March 30, 2011 at 10:08pm: Paul - that is classic! I was going to use the same one about manholes. I was asked the same question during an interview years ago - I got it wrong but had a strong reasoning for my answer. FYI - if anyone wants to know, the answer is to prevent the manhole cover from ever falling down the manhole. Might help someone if they ever get asked.