how is this for an interview question.

[OutHouse]

So while my boss is on vacation he has tasked myself and the unix guy to interview the 15 people he has selected from the hundreds of resumes we received for the sys admin job.

I am also going to massage school and one of my classmates is the division manager for the training division for SUN. She told me that for every interview she asks this question.

"you go down to the break room to get a soda or snack and notice the coffee pot is overflowing. what do you do"?

so far we have interviewd 9 of the 15 and only ONE has said turn off the pot and clean it up, and he almost has a doctoate in history.... the other answers i have heard were,

Ignore it
get the lady at the front desk
call facilites to fix it <<most popular answer. :disgust:

Anyway, it think that is a damn good question. Its simple and gives a good idea how they will deal with everyday things. Oh the dudes who said ignore it or get the lady at the front desk, will not work here.

 

[ojai00]

That sounds like a really good question. I think I would have said clean it up also but I guess the situation is different when you're interviewing.

 

[TallBill]

that is awesome Unfortunatly we all know the answer now and your gonna get some loser from ATOT working for you

 

[Beattie]

I read the question and was like, "clean it up of course. What else could they possibly say" and then I read the answers you were given and I would agree. Those morons dont deserve the job.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Umm, yes I would turn it off. Not sure about cleaning it up - is it just a small coffee pot or one of the large industrial types?

 

[JetBlack69]

Good question

 

[TallBill]

i probably would have replied with "RUN" and got a good chuckle with the interviewer.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Umm, yes I would turn it off. Not sure about cleaning it up - is it just a small coffee pot or one of the large industrial types?

doesnt matter, all im looking for is what you would do.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: Beattie
I read the question and was like, "clean it up of course. What else could they possibly say" and then I read the answers you were given and I would agree. Those morons dont deserve the job.

Kinda like the people that fill out the questions that you have to answer for a retail job with "yes, I have stolen small things from employers in the past"

 

[RagingBITCH]

Shoot it and watch it explode.

 

[gopunk]

jeez, you would have thought "turn it off and clean it up" would be obvious. and "ignore it"???? wtf? i mean at the very least you should lie on an interview and say you would clean it up...

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Umm, yes I would turn it off. Not sure about cleaning it up - is it just a small coffee pot or one of the large industrial types?

Rofl, you failed the test too.

 

[Ameesh]

well in all reality, i would turn off the pot and probably in the interview i would say clean it up but i would probably just turn off the pot and email facilities. the company pays janitors to clean up messes like that, i probably have other things to do.



what if you saw an overflowing urinal/toliet, would you clean it up? get real.

 

[Brutuskend]

Quick, call 911!

Do I get the job?

 

[Krazy4Real]

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts

Originally posted by: Beattie
I read the question and was like, "clean it up of course. What else could they possibly say" and then I read the answers you were given and I would agree. Those morons dont deserve the job.

Kinda like the people that fill out the questions that you have to answer for a retail job with "yes, I have stolen small things from employers in the past"

Yea... I've always wondered who would actually put that down as their answer.

 

[Yaotl]

i would be amazed that a coffee pot could overflow, but i'm only accustomed to the kind that only have a pot's worth of water in the system

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Yaotl
i would be amazed that a coffee pot could overflow, but i'm only accustomed to the kind that only have a pot's worth of water in the system

uh.. but what happens when thres already a half of a pot of coffee in the pot when you start brewing again.. lol

 

[StageLeft]

What idiots that they can't even answer that. Very simple question!

 

[Yaotl]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: Yaotl
i would be amazed that a coffee pot could overflow, but i'm only accustomed to the kind that only have a pot's worth of water in the system

uh.. but what happens when thres already a half of a pot of coffee in the pot when you start brewing again.. lol

then i would find the person stupid enough to do that and make them clean it up, while rubbing their face in it and saying "bad co-worker, bad!"

 

[Blieb]

I would say ...

"well, I would clean it up." ...

BUT, if I walked in, and no one was in there, and no one saw me see it ... I'd run like hell so I wouldn't have to clean it.

An answer is just an answer.

What you need to do is stage this in the waiting area for the applicants.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
well in all reality, i would turn off the pot and probably in the interview i would say clean it up but i would probably just turn off the pot and email facilities. the company pays janitors to clean up messes like that, i probably have other things to do.



what if you saw an overflowing urinal/toliet, would you clean it up? get real.

At my first HelpDesk job I was promoted to offsite consultant precisely because I didn't ignore or try to get out of things like that.

I worked weekends and noticed the toilet was running because of a broken component in the tank. I went to Walmart on my break and bought the parts to fix it. Did so and e-mailed HR. I also had to arrange for a plumber to come in because one of the toilets overflowed.

I didn't HAVE to but I did becuase I COULD and if I DIDN'T one of the managers would have had to work.

I am of the philosophy that our characters can be measured by our smallest actions. I do not walk away from problems.

 

[phreakah]

When I worked at Compusa a few years ago, one of the interview questions they asked me was: If you saw your friend in the store stealing things, would you tell a manager?

She said I was the only one who answered YES! I mean, even if you DON'T plan on telling anyone you should answer YES for the sake of the interview and getting the job!

 

[LordSnailz]

My first thought would be, yeah turn it off and clean it up, but after some thought, depending on the size of the sucker, it might be wise to call facilities to clean it up, not because I'm a lazy ass and I'm better than that, but because it can be a safety issue ....

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
well in all reality, i would turn off the pot and probably in the interview i would say clean it up but i would probably just turn off the pot and email facilities. the company pays janitors to clean up messes like that, i probably have other things to do.

what if you saw an overflowing urinal/toliet, would you clean it up? get real.

Heh. Yeah, toliets...I'm out of there.

Yesterday I accidentally poured a little to much water into our coffee machine and it actually DID overflow a small amount. I didn't even know that it could do that. Of course I cleaned it up, it was my mess.

This is really what I would do, I'd turn the pot off definately. Then I'd probably just soak up most of it with a paper towel and go back to what I was doing. No, its not my problem really...but that doesn't mean I shouldn't at least stop things from getting worse. Besides, I probably went to the break room for some coffee anyways.

 

[CPA]

Wow, I can't believe HR okayed that question.

We used to be able to ask cool questions like that, now we have standard fare for the sake of liability.