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Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#11

I hate the "What is your greatest weakness?" question. It's a great question for a politician, not so much for a software developer. My answer is usually "heroin"...just to see their response.

"My honesty."

"I don't think that's really a weakness."

"Nobody cares what you think."

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#12
In addition to being asked whether she'd really be able to handle the demands of an IT job AND be an adequate mother, my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company.

I wish I could get my brain to dial in on all the stupid tech puzzle questions me and my friends used to devise for interviewers, but when I think "bad interview question" now, I have a hard time getting past the abuse my partner took in these farcical wastes of time.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#13
post #12

In addition to being asked whether she'd really be able to handle the demands of an IT job AND be an adequate mother, my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company. I wish I could get my brain to dial in on all the stupid tech puzzle questions me and my friends used to devise for interviewers, but when I think "bad interview question" now,…

"... my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company."

Holy hell. Is this not sexual harassment?

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#14
post #13
post #12

In addition to being asked whether she'd really be able to handle the demands of an IT job AND be an adequate mother, my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company. I wish I could get my brain to dial in on all the stupid tech puzzle questions me and my friends used to devise for interviewers, but when I think "bad interview question" now,…

"... my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company." Holy hell. Is this not sexual harassment?

Not to be too much of a jerk about it, but do you think that every time harassment happens, the sky opens up and the hand of God smites the perpetrator?

Something else might have smote him, but I was in a different city when this happened. I'll never forget who he is, though.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#15
post #14
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"... my wife Erin was (in a different interview) also asked to diagnose a welt on the naked ass of the owner of a hosting company." Holy hell. Is this not sexual harassment?

Not to be too much of a jerk about it, but do you think that every time harassment happens, the sky opens up and the hand of God smites the perpetrator? Something else might have smote him, but I was in a different city when this happened. I'll never forget who he is, though.

>something else might have smote him

probably that un-diagnosed welt!

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#16

"Do you brush before you floss, or do you floss before you brush?" I was so stunned and self-conscious that I might have had something stuck in my teeth to the point where after the interview I spent about a good 2 minutes looking at my teeth in the bathroom mirror. I still don't know why they asked such a question. What would they have asked the next person? "Do you fold or scrunch toilet paper" ?

Probably exactly why the guy asked. To destabilize you and see how you handle the rest of the interview.

At one of my ex-gf's interview, the guy asked if she was a virgin (which is exactly the same word as the zodiac virgo in french). She answered that of course not; she was in fact a Capricorn :).

This type of questions might or might not be relevant dependent on the position you apply for though. . .

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#17
I find asking a developer to write code on a whiteboard or word document to make not much sense. I was asked how many bytes are there in x amount of space, which i find as not much to do with competence in software development.

A follow up question is, whats the point in asking these questions, any idea on what the goal is? There has to be an intention behind it.

Re: Ask HN: What is the worst interview question you've ever been asked?

#18

One interviewer trotted out the old Microsoft "Why are manhole covers round?" question. Another one asked me "how do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Both major gaming companies.

http://www.careerfaqs.com.au/careers/interview-questions-and...
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