151–160 of 253 posts
Without thinking I replied "Alive or dead?".
I followed this up with the logistics around solving the problem in each scenario. Most of the solutions involved "I know some very rural people who will take our money and help us solve this problem."
At no point did it occur to me that they might be speaking metaphorically. I did get the job though.
The only "creative brain teaser" question I've ever been asked was "How would you hide an elephant?" Without thinking I replied "Alive or dead?". I followed this up with the logistics around solving the problem in each scenario. Most of the solutions involved "I know some very rural people who will take our money and help us solve this problem." At no point did it occur to me that they might be speaking metaphoricall…
Worst one I got recently was "What is your perfect number of working hours per week?" I said 40 and the interview process was ended early after the CEO said "oh we put in 50 per week because we know it takes extra effort for a startup". I expanded on how 40 is what works for me, interview got very cold after that. I felt pretty incredulous after that. Especially when the recruiter asked if 40 was a hard requirement.…
"Work is variable. If we are on a super tight deadline with real implications, then people should put in extra hours if they can. Like, if we need to deliver for a major client, let's just do that.
And then other times, you can back off and work at a sustainable pace. It really depends on what makes sense in the situation"
This answer may not please everyone but I think it would resonate with reasonable people. It's worked well for me.
> Have a family/children? How does this affect your work? I'm pretty sure that question is illegal. I do know that asking if someone is married, is illegal (in my state). We got lots of CYA training from HR, telling us to not ask these questions.
How should the interviewee respond to illegal questions?
"I was in a relationship and it broke me, never again. I do not even like cats"
"I like being in a couple where we are both enthusiastic about our work. And I am sterile"
(or something more sensible - but honestly: lie, lie, lie)
> Have a family/children? How does this affect your work? I'm pretty sure that question is illegal. I do know that asking if someone is married, is illegal (in my state). We got lots of CYA training from HR, telling us to not ask these questions.
How should the interviewee respond to illegal questions?
Seems like a polite noncommittal refusal. And if, by some miracle, they have a legitimate reason to want to talk about that topic, then they get a chance to clarify.
> How do you see yourself in five years? Man, this question. I was asked this question in an interview for a startup. I gave the regular answer that was expected of me. The interview went well, and at the end when the interviewer (who was the co-founder) asked if I had any questions, I turned this around on him: "where do you see [company x] in five years?" He laughed and talked about finding product-market fit and g…
It's a fine question to chew the fat with, and there _are_ wrong answers, needn't I go in to those. Probably the best answer: even better off, more happy, more fulfilled, and not worrying about where I will be in the next 5 years.
> I would say, “I’ve got bills to pay, and I know a bit about websites. But you can hire me as an assistant to the system administrator too if you want.” Unfortunately, when you give such an honest answer, you’re asked to get the hell out of the interviewer’s face. So you have to cheat. Don’t make people cheat you. This is important, IMHO. So many companies set a tone of dishonesty and playing-to-the-metrics, startin…
I am surprised by your feedback as we have heard for years that Chinese students cheat all the time. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cheating+chinese+student&t=newext&...
> Have a family/children? How does this affect your work? I'm pretty sure that question is illegal. I do know that asking if someone is married, is illegal (in my state). We got lots of CYA training from HR, telling us to not ask these questions.
A previous boss of mine genuinely preferred hiring people with children, simply because they "feel more dependable".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually disagree on 10, I just estimated the population of New York then looked it up and was off by an order of magnitude. Good chance I'd do worse in an interview situation than sitting at home. A few more estimates with errors of this size and we've learned what? I have a poor grasp of US census data? Unless this is a realistic approximation of the kind of thing your doing with this job, the time in the intervi…
The goal isn’t to see how close you can get to the correct answer, it’s to see the extent to which you’re able to break down a complex problem you haven’t seen before into steps you can take to solve it.