Client Tips

I saw this article from www.glassdoor.com  about bizarre interview questions and thought it worth sharing, maybe you can find one you like, here they are:

"A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?" Asked at Clark Construction Group.

"What songs best describes your work ethic?" Asked at Dell.

"Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?" Asked at Amazon.

"What do you think about when you are alone in your car?" Asked at Gallup.

"How would you rate your memory?" Asked at Marriott.

"Name 3 previous Nobel Prize Winners." Asked at BenefitsCONNECT.

"Can you say: 'Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper' and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?" –Asked at MasterCard.

"If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us?" Asked at Trader Joe's.

"How would people communicate in a perfect world?" Asked at Novell.

"How do you make a tuna sandwich?" Asked at Astron Consulting.

"My wife and I are going on vacation, where would you recommend?" Asked at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"You are a head chef at a restaurant and your team has been selected to be on Iron Chef. How do you prepare your team for the competition and how do you leverage the competition for your restaurant?" Asked at Accenture.

"What's your favorite song? Perform it for us now." Asked at LivingSocial.

"Calculate the angle of two clock pointers when time is 11:50." Asked at Bank of America.

"Have you ever stolen a pen from work?" Asked at Jiffy Software.

"Pick two celebrities to be your parents." Asked at Urban Outfitters.

"What kitchen utensil would you be?" Asked at Bandwidth.com.

"If you had turned you cell phone to silent, and it rang really loudly despite it being on silent, what would you tell me?" Asked at Kimberly-Clark.

"On a scale from one to ten, rate me as an interviewer." Asked at Kraft Food.

"If you could be anyone else, who would it be?" Asked at Salesforce.com

"How would you direct someone else on how to cook an omelet?" Asked at PETCO.

"If you were to get rid of one state in the US, which would it be and why? Asked at Forrester.

"How many cows are in Canada?" Asked at Google.

"How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?" Asked at JetBlue.

"Estimate how many windows are in New York." Asked at Bain & Company.

Having researched body language to see what advice I could put together, I have found the information very fluffy. Body language signals can be put into 3 camps:

1. Signs of nerves
2. Lack of openness
3. Lying

But the evidence to back it up is not there and drawing conclusions from “reading” body language seems very risky indeed. Having said that, these are common signs of nerves that you should probably try to ignore:

• Fidgeting
• Playing with jewellery or hair
• Wringing of hands

These are signs of lack of openness or lack of interest:

• Crossed hands
• Crossed arms
• Crossed legs
• Steepling of hands
• Touching the back of their head

But no one knows for sure as there is no evidence.

My advice is to ignore everything you think you know about body language; it is all urban legend and myth. You are better off judging the candidate by their shoes.

In our desire to not repeat unsuccessful behavior, we often associate candidates with previous failed hires.

That is fine if you are looking at hard coded characteristics like empathy, listening, patience or competitiveness, but you need to be careful to make sure it doesn’t go too far.

So, if Jon had green hair and was always late, it doesn’t mean that everyone with green hair is tardy.

If Tristan has big ears and was aggressive with customers, it was him - not his ears.

If you come out of an interview and start comparing the candidate to a previous employee, think twice about whether you are comparing their accent, physical appearance, dress sense or their actual character traits.

Make the first day for your new recruit fabulous. The first impression you give your new employee is going to stay with them, so here are a few suggestions to make it better:

• Don’t start new employees on a Monday; Mondays are often the busiest most stressful day of your week, so choose another day to get them started.
• Delay their start time until 10.30am; this gives you a chance to get urgent stuff done before they arrive.
• Everyone should get “the tour” of the offices; the newbie will relate much better if the “tour leader” is someone their own age and own sex; they will ask better questions and get a better first impression.
• Print 10 personalised business cards for your new starter and have them ready. This is probably the least expensive thing you can do, but it has real impact.

The first day in a new company will have a lasting effect, so make an effort to make a great first impression.

When offered a new job a candidate will read the offer letter over and over again.

They will read meaning into words and phrases and discuss it with their friends and partners.

If you have the time to add in a few nice words, it can really make a difference. 

Try to say something about what they were like at interview, something about why they were offered the job and something about what opportunities might be available to them. 

Adding a personal touch to your offer letter can really make a difference, and can be key to securing a positive outcome.