Hardest interview question you've ever been hit with?

[AreaCode707]

Aside from technical questions, which are more or less hard based on your knowledge, what are the hardest/worst/most unexpected interview question you've ever been asked.

Mine: "If we decided not to give you this job, what would the reason be?"

 

[rivan]

That one's tough. I've never had a good/proper answer to the questions regarding my ambition... the 'where do you see yourself in 5 years' ones.

 

[jdini76]

What did you say?

 

[broon]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Aside from technical questions, which are more or less hard based on your knowledge, what are the hardest/worst/most unexpected interview question you've ever been asked.

Mine: "If we decided not to give you this job, what would the reason be?"

The best answer to that would be:
"Because you lost the funding for the position."

 

[Platypus]

Mine: "What's the worst mistake you've ever made at work and why did you make it?"

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: broon

Originally posted by: HotChic
Aside from technical questions, which are more or less hard based on your knowledge, what are the hardest/worst/most unexpected interview question you've ever been asked.

Mine: "If we decided not to give you this job, what would the reason be?"

The best answer to that would be:
"Because you lost the funding for the position."

Because you chose.......poorly

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Aside from technical questions, which are more or less hard based on your knowledge, what are the hardest/worst/most unexpected interview question you've ever been asked.

Mine: "If we decided not to give you this job, what would the reason be?"

this is not a tough question, it's basically asking you for your weaknesses. you name some bs thing and talk about how and what you are doing to overcome this weakness.

 

[illusion88]

It's 2AM, you're at Dennys, what do you order?

The correct answer is Moons over My Hammy.

(That's an actual cisco question, no joke)

 

[jtvang125]

I noticed the majority of your posts are HR related. You must really love your job.

 

[Jeeebus]

lol not necessarily the worst question ever, but under the circumstances, it did cause me to not get a job. In law school, interviewing for positions with a firm. Had interviewed at about 15-20 places prior to this firm, all of which in some form or another asked "why did you decide to move to DC?"

This time was a little different. It was late in the process, I was a little burned out. She asks, "So, what brought you to DC?" to which I quickly, reflexively replied "An airplane." I thought it was hilarious, but the rejection letter I got the next day seemed to disagree.

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: illusion88
It's 2AM, you're at Dennys, what do you order?

The correct answer is Moons over My Hammy.

(That's an actual cisco question, no joke)

The answer is Meat Lover's Skillet

 

[spidey07]

"If you could only bring one thing to a client meeting what would it be?"

Thought a bit...."my ability to listen"

 

[amish]

one of my friends was asked to tell a joke during his interview. being caught off guard he told the following:

so a girl inquizitively asks her "boyfriend" what a pedophile is. he thinks about it really quick and states, 'my thats a big word for a ten year old.'

needless to say he didn't get the job.

 

[Glavinsolo]

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[NathanBWF]

"Do you like me?"

Yes - [ ]
No - [ ]
Maybe - [ ]

 

[Ktulu]

Originally posted by: Turin39789

Originally posted by: illusion88
It's 2AM, you're at Dennys, what do you order?

The correct answer is Moons over My Hammy.

(That's an actual cisco question, no joke)

The answer is Meat Lover's Skillet

You're hired!

 

[mugs]

My least favorite interview question - what is your biggest weakness. Because everyone lies anyway, and I don't like to lie. But if I don't lie, it makes me look bad compared to the people who do lie.

My favorite interview question comes from Citrix - You go into the kitchen/break room and see the coffee maker is running and the pot is overflowing. What do you do?

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
I noticed the majority of your posts are HR related. You must really love your job.

I just have HR on the brain. It's a sickness.

 

[Zolty]

Originally posted by: Glavinsolo
What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or european?

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: jdini76
What did you say?

I said it was because I might not look on paper like I had the experience they were requiring (3 years versus 5 years). I got an offer I later declined.

My friend, who had the same interviewer on a different job, told them they'd be stupid not to hire her. She got the job.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: HotChic
Aside from technical questions, which are more or less hard based on your knowledge, what are the hardest/worst/most unexpected interview question you've ever been asked.

Mine: "If we decided not to give you this job, what would the reason be?"

this is not a tough question, it's basically asking you for your weaknesses. you name some bs thing and talk about how and what you are doing to overcome this weakness.

No, they asked the weaknesses question separately. Plus, you can usually talk about weaknesses unrelated to the job when you answer that one. In this question, you have to pick something core related to the job.

 

[Aikouka]

Usually questions asking about your weaknesses can be hard, especially if they want more than one!

One question that I received once that I've never had before was, "What do you think was bad about your college education?" referring to the actual education portion, not anything like housing, etc. Although, this was a bit easy for me, as I sent an e-mail to the main comp sci professor the last semester I was there detailing an issue I had noticed about efficiency not being enforced highly enough. I noticed that after doing an assignment in Automata dealing with FSMs and my FSM had 14 states and other people had about 31, and we all received the same grade as long as they worked.

 

[Mermaidman]

"Your cousin has grown into a hottie and is hitting on you. What do you do?"

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: illusion88
It's 2AM, you're at Dennys, what do you order?

The correct answer is Moons over My Hammy.

(That's an actual cisco question, no joke)

I would answer with, "Denny's? That chain is still open!?"

It's not really a hard question, but I don't like the ones dealing with how you handled a tough situation at a previous job. I tend to remember details very well and this can be interpreted as a sign of you making it up or lying.

 

[Auggie]

My friend went to a med school interview in San Antonio and was asked point blank if he'd perform abortions or not.

FFS, how do you answer THAT?