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Blowing Up a Pointless Job Interview

Nemo the Magnificent writes "Ever been asked a question in a job interview that's just so abysmally stupid, you're tempted to give in to the snark and blow the whole thing up? Here are suggested interview-ending answers to 16 of the stupidest questions candidates actually got asked in interviews at tech companies in 2013, according to employment site Glassdoor. Oil to pour on the burning bridges."

5 of 692 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Tame and lame by mattie_p · · Score: 4, Informative

    Answer: Yes.

    Rationale: There is an International Space Station currently in what is commonly known as space. This is manned by astro/cosmo/nauts, which are a subset of an intelligent species. Therefore, yes.

  2. Re:Tame and lame by gznork26 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Round? I lived in Nashua, New Hampshire for a while. The manhole covers there are triangular. The reason given is that if they are placed on edge, they won't roll away.

  3. Re:Tame and lame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
  4. Re:Interview ending question by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 4, Informative

    I actually did this once (did not get the job, despite being recommended by a friend who worked there):

    -Name three of your strengths. -Well... I'm honest and... let's see... I'm reasonably quick to spot and diagnose flaws in any given system... and I'd say I'm creative. -Good. And do you have any weaknesses? -I'm a liar.

    I went to an interview once and the first question was, "What do you think your biggest weakness is?" It caught me off guard a little as it's an odd opening question. Almost immediately the interviewer told me there was no wrong answer to this question. I told him my biggest weakness was that I didn't particularly care for people who were stupid enough to expect me to believe obvious lies.

  5. Re:Here's the sad part by funwithBSD · · Score: 4, Informative

    IBM it is (inside T&T anyway):

    Specialist - highest level "individual contributor"
    Architect - I started managing matrix-ed teams
    Senior Technical Staff Member - I have a staff budget, it is like a technical Director, has same authority as Director, but less signing authority.
    Distinguished Engineer - Usually have a portfolio of products, services, or business lines
    Sr. Distinguished Engineer - More of the above
    IBM Fellow
    and I forget the title of the IBM Fellow that sits on the board. Sr IBM Fellow?

    Never do you "have" to cut over to line management to advance, unless you really want to be CEO, like Ginni Rometti.
    I manage teams for short time periods for specific goals, who in turn have "line managers" that are usually more like HR managers: vacation, advancement, timecards, reviews, etc, are done by line management.
    I can focus on getting problems solved and more strategic planning without worrying about timecards, budget or that kind of nonsense. The business orientated line manager does that.

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra