May 9, 2008
Huh? If I Were a Dog?!
I’m in exams this coming week, so I’m in the mood for something funny. Do any of you have stories about down-right weird interview questions?
One of my previous departments was interviewing an on-campus candidate many years ago and the interview had gone pretty well. At lunch we were getting a little silly and somehow we got to going around the table describing each other in terms of dog breed. As I recall, I was a golden retriever or a border collie (pretty good breeds for a department chair). One of my colleagues looked straight at the candidate and said, “So, if you were a dog, what kind of dog would you be?” The look on that poor woman’s face was priceless. Fortunately, after she regained her composure, she gave a great answer that defused what had suddenly turned into a tense moment.
Of course, I have a touch of dyslexia, so I sat there pondering “If I were a god, what kind of god would I be?” That might be a good question too, though it would definitely qualify as a weird question.
So, any weird questions out there that seemed to have come out of left field?
By Gene C. Fant Jr. | Posted on Friday May 9, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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The weirdest question I was ever asked in a job interview was whether I prefer dating women or men. I am single, but to this day I can’t figure out what the heck that had to do with the job! The look on my face was probably pretty priceless, too.
— porcelain May 9, 04:52 PM #
I was asked for my philosophy of life. (No, this was not a philosophy position.) I said I thought it would take longer than the time allotted to describe but that I would be happy to continue the conversation after the session.
— AK May 9, 05:36 PM #
I’m an academic librarian. I was asked what I would do if put in charge of the library staff Christmas party. Apparently this was a standard question from this particular person. I got the job. He said one previous candidate had suggested everyone research a country and dress as a native and bring food from the country.
— GMJ May 9, 05:54 PM #
The weirdest question I was ever asked was had I truly done all the things I had included on my resume. Since I wasn’t comfortable with the inference I asked to be removed from the short list of candidates for this particular teaching position.
— Kate Hyde May 10, 01:21 PM #
The best question I was asked was: “Do you know any limericks?” My answer was, “No, but that will certainly go down as the best interview question I’ve been asked.” Everyone at the table laughed and agreed.
— amt May 10, 04:41 PM #
I was once asked how I felt about teaching lesbians … as I sat confused, wondering if I had missed some seminal piece of research on lesbians having to be taught one way vs. another, and before I could answer, I was asked if I knew what a lug was … (Lesbian Until Graduation)…
Stupidly, I accepted the position and found it to be as strange as the questioning … I’m now at a better place were no one seems to care about my sexuality or that of my students … imagine that!
— bg May 10, 05:27 PM #
I was asked why the hell I would want to work here!
— mlm May 10, 07:32 PM #
I was asked that since anyone could do this job why should they hire me and not the next person?
— cb May 10, 09:09 PM #
I was asked on an interview at Yale, “Why are manhole covers round?”. I was glad I knew the answer. :)
— SMA May 10, 11:32 PM #
At an interview for a gig at a museum, I was asked if I knew how to play the accordion.
— sw May 11, 09:01 AM #
On the reverse aspect, I know someone who was asked, “what kind of job do you think you can do” and they responded, “I can do your job”. The interviewer was an employment counsellor!
SMA, why are manhole covers round? My answer would be because the hole is round!
— Bill May 11, 09:15 AM #
During a phone interview:
“Are you as personable a person in person, as you are on the phone?”
— JS May 11, 11:34 AM #
I was asked, “What is the most clever thing you have ever done?”. I did not have the best response, but I should have responded, “Not answering such an irrelevant question.”
— Chuck May 11, 12:54 PM #
I was asked: Do you think you will ever be able to get out of the wheelchair and walk again?
I took the job.
— W May 11, 05:33 PM #
I was asked if I was familiar with Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSteamy and, in that vein, what MY nickname would be.
I dunno, McNugget?
— m May 11, 08:39 PM #
I was asked, “Can you kick butt?” by numerous people who then told me that this was what their faculty needed.
— neniaf May 12, 08:11 AM #
I once got this question: “I know we’re not allowed to ask this (ha ha), but what is your religion?”
— pd May 12, 08:40 AM #
Quick twist, I once had a candidate ask me, “If your department were a television show, what show would it be?” She didn’t get an offer.
— dk May 12, 09:57 AM #
Manhole covers are round because that way they don’t fall into the hole. A square, rectangular, or oval cover easily could if bumped. Stupid interview question though—but typical of high-tech company interviews.
— Mark May 12, 11:15 AM #
An inexperienced interviewer asked me “what color best describes you and why?”
— KR May 12, 12:32 PM #
As a Management professor I was once asked a thinly veiled series of questions to get at my Meyers-Briggs Personality type. I refrained from telling the interviewer that this was unrealiable and, probably, unethical.
— NW May 12, 01:02 PM #
I was asked to describe myself in one-syllable words. I can’t even remember what I said. My postdoc advisor suggested that I should have used “fast” (I’m a runner), but I thought that could have been construed in the same vein as “fast women.” :)
— runner May 12, 01:53 PM #
Apparently, although the answer: that a round cover cannot decrease in size to fall through the round hole which is smaller than the manhole cover; is true it is not correct. The industry does have other shapes that they do use. Apparently, the biggest contractors for the sewers used round because they liked the way the logo worked on a round cover and it became the most copied design.
— CP May 12, 02:04 PM #
I was asked: “What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you when you were an undergraduate student?”
— JH May 12, 02:13 PM #
I was recently asked in an interview what my political affiliation was. I responded by telling about a search that I chaired when a faculty member commented about a candidate’s accent and asked where she was from. The faculty member was upset with me when I ushered the candidate from the room, apologizing profusely to her. The committee member who asked me about my political affiliation laughed and repeated the question. I declined to answer. I got the offer and accepted the position. The committee member has not asked again.
— M May 12, 02:44 PM #
Another one — I was asked once at an interview for a HS teaching spot by the principal what I would do if some of these “big ole boys” got in a fight outside of my classroom. I wanted to respond – gosh I’d step in the middle of it and figure that they’d just stop! I believe that I replied that I would contact the office for some assistance and make an effort to help prevent it from spreading. A friend (who is very short) responded to a similar question by stating that her husband was 6 1/2 feet tall and he didn’t give her any trouble at all.
— M May 12, 03:04 PM #
Twice now, in interviews for two quite different jobs, I’ve been asked “How well do you deal with tedium?”
— S May 12, 08:11 PM #
This was not for a teaching job, but sticks out as an —ahem — problematic interview question: “what would you do if a co-worker threatened you with a sharp object?”
Turns out that the person with whom I would be working was a bit nuts and had threatened someone with scissors. I did take the job after this person quit.
— JD May 13, 06:33 AM #
The former Bell System used to teach in their engineering classes that manhole covers were made round so they could not be dropped in the manhole (which of course, was called a “splicing chamber” – gotta be politically correct!). Since they had some of the first manholes in existence, and the covers did not have any logos, I have to disagree with CP’s answer.
— jba May 13, 09:10 AM #
I was asked if I were African American!
— lindy May 13, 09:37 AM #
The Library Director, behind closed doors, asked me what I would like it to say on my tombstone.
She didn’t refer to pizza.
— SCROG May 13, 10:55 AM #
During an interview, I was asked by the president of a Baptist university if I knew where Lottie Moon was buried. I said no, but that I thought it was more important how she lived than where she died.
— LP May 13, 11:12 AM #
As an HR staff member in a major university, this article and the responses are SAD and hilarious. If you ever wondered WHY your HR Department wants you to attend training, this article ought to be instructive!!!
Merciful heavens, there are enough “unfortunate” questions here to keep General Counsel hopping!
— U-HR May 13, 11:17 AM #
As a candidate for Provost, I was asked by a dept. chair if I were old enough for the job (I was in my late 40s!). I thanked her for the compliment and went on. But it felt very odd.
— LF May 13, 11:38 AM #
At an interview, the Dean asked if I gave students cookies prior to course evaluations to create such good evaluation comments & scores.
— Dr CW May 13, 12:20 PM #
For a history job, I was asked by one faculty member which three historical figures I would most like to meet. I answered the question seriously, but felt very silly doing so.
— Historian May 13, 08:31 PM #
I was asked in an AHA interview what my hobbies were. I have 30-45 minutes to get through my research and teaching and they asked about my hobbies? I got up and left.
— Liz May 14, 09:15 AM #
I was once asked by a male interviewer (the rest on the panel were women), “What, do you feel, is the best part about being a woman?”
— Mandy May 14, 10:43 AM #
While interviewing for a job at Texas A&M, I was asked whether I thought my being a Texas Ex would be a problem. “Not for me,” I said. “I’ll just have to skip one [football] home game every other year.” I got the job.
— GRF May 14, 11:25 AM #
During an interview for an arts grant, I was once asked what kind of artist I liked. I replied with the artists that I studied, and she said (quite emotionally), “No no no – you can’t like them! What do you have on your walls at home?”
I’ve also been asked why it is that I chose my field – I’m “too cute” for the art that I write about. (This came from a professor who was one of my advisors.)
— KAD May 15, 11:36 AM #
Oh, god, yes. This was for a college copyediting position. Interview is going normal, until the guy asks me whether or not I like musicals and then proceeds to play me a cassette of a musical he is working on. He is tonedeaf and has recorded himself singing, so I am sitting there for twenty minutes trying not to grimace (because I really needed a job), wondering what I am walking into. Then he proceeds to play me a segment from a documentary he made an Africa which features him parading around in a black tights and ballet slippers. This man, who is sixty-two at the time, starts asking me, what I think about him as an artist. I mumbled something and got the hell out of there.
— PRDirector May 15, 11:46 AM #
I’ve been asked “What’s your favorite book and why?” as well as “If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be.” Although these are interesting questions, it wasn’t quite the caliber of questioning I expected to be faced with since I had a Master’s degree in hand.
As a candidate for another position, I was once given a typed list of interview questions and told to go ahead and answer them. The 3 staff sat directly across from me at a large conference table. They didn’t speak. I had to read the answers and answer them and they gave me no non-verbals at all. Just sat there. I have no idea what they were expecting! How’s that for a strange experience?
— CB May 15, 01:52 PM #
“What color would you paint a barn?”
— JT May 15, 03:49 PM #