Stupid Interview Questions

What was the stupidest or weirdest interview question you were ever asked? Stupid and funny answers given by interviewees would be great to read as well.

As written in the other thread: the job interview question I thought was the stupidest was "How many pairs of boots can be made from a slaughtered cow?"... I suppose if the job involved either boot-making or dealt with the occasional animal carcass this could have been relevant, but this was not the case.

The question I felt was the most unfair, was at my thesis defense when I was asked to provide my thoughts on the measurement problem (in quantum mechanics) by a philosopher (and history professor). I was trained as an experimentalist (and I remain almost exclusively concerned about results), so my brief ontological response on observable evidence really set the professor off, to the point where he accused me of unfairly minimizing the importance of the areas of his own professional interest. At that point I'd been in the department for years, if there was something truly important about his field he wanted me to carry forward he had plenty of opportunities to reach out to me, it's not as if he handed out copies of his own book to students in the department!

(textbook question of yore)
"What is your greatest strength"
(new answer arrived at while texting with a comrade last night)
"Over the last two years, I have been developing an immunity to iocaine powder"

It wasn't any one question, it was a series of mayabe a hundred questions I had to answer as part of a pre-employment test required by the company . I guess I did okay, because they hired me, but it was a bunch of "would you rather do this or this" or "I am mostly this and not that" kinda BS. Add in a bunch of "what's the next number in the series..." and "which picture would be next" showing various oddball shapes and patterns. I freakin' hated it.

Not a question per se but when once interviewing a machinist candidate, the applicant was asked a question he didn't know the answer to so he paused, picked up the sample part being discussed, and (I kid you not), sniffed the part, put it down, shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't know and replied "I have no idea"! As expected, that was the end of the interview but not without a bit of a laugh. Almost as bad as another applicant who had to do a hands-on test at the mill and while at the control said (again, I kid you not) "I'm gonna own this b*tch!" (excuse the language) and actually DID! Some nice departures from the canned interviewing experiences.

Ridgely said:

Not a question per se but when once interviewing a machinist candidate, the applicant was asked a question he didn't know the answer to so he paused, picked up the sample part being discussed, and (I kid you not), sniffed the part, put it down, shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't know and replied "I have no idea"! As expected, that was the end of the interview but not without a bit of a laugh. Almost as bad as another applicant who had to do a hands-on test at the mill and while at the control said (again, I kid you not) "I'm gonna own this b*tch!" (excuse the language) and actually DID! Some nice departures from the canned interviewing experiences.

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At the conclusion of an interview one is expected to have a question to ask, even if they already answered all your questions.

If I can see that this is not going anywhere, my new fall back is " You ever buy snakes from the Egyptian? ".

Bonus points if you know the appropriate answer ...

I don't know that it falls into stupid or weird, but how about we add inappropriate or unethical?

I know someone who has interviewed with several organizations for various marketing jobs. She had a great resume, employment references, and portfolio. Interviewed well. Still, after after 2-3 interviews she was often asked to complete "an assignment" that would take 8-16 hours of work to complete, and at least once it was clearly aimed at addressing a marketing campaign the organization was currently working on.

How many of us would be willing to spend a day or two working for free for a prospective employer?

I was given an employment application to review for an inspector position. The benighted candidate, in describing the reason for leaving his previous employer, wrote "Drove forklift through wall."

I had that happen once, I interviewed for a management position at a metal fabrication company, who put me through all the standard questions and tests, then had to watch several movies on measurement systems and drawing standards, then took more tests, then (after almost 4 hours here) He offered me the "opportunity" to work for them for a week to see "how I fit in" (without pay) . I replied that I had a job, so he suggested I take a weeks vacation so I could work for them. Needless to say I left. I have seen that ad run for many months, I supposed they bilked many people out of their vacations and got much work done for free.

hogheavenfarm said:

I had that happen once, I interviewed for a management position at a metal fabrication company, who put me through all the standard questions and tests, then had to watch several movies on measurement systems and drawing standards, then took more tests, then (after almost 4 hours here) He offered me the "opportunity" to work for them for a week to see "how I fit in" (without pay) . I replied that I had a job, so he suggested I take a weeks vacation so I could work for them. Needless to say I left. I have seen that ad run for many months, I supposed they bilked many people out of their vacations and got much work done for free.

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That kinda company, apparently run by idiots and/or crooks, should be "outed" - at least on Glassdoor, etc.