10 Quirky Tech Job Interview Questions That May Stump You

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soozyg,
User Rank: Ninja
2/6/2016 | 4:31:56 PM

reason behind the question

I recently wrote an article about the intelligence behind basic interview questions. For example, the dreaded "where will you be in five years" is asked for a reason.

I understand the animal question and the "if I gave you a million dollars" questions, but some of these I don't understand the goal behind them.

Can anyone enlighten me?

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50%

soozyg,
User Rank: Ninja
2/6/2016 | 4:26:26 PM

dumb luck

I don't understand the benefit of the Microsoft question. That's betting and it's based on basic dumb luck. Am I missing something?

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soozyg,
User Rank: Ninja
2/6/2016 | 4:24:50 PM

Re: Pending Review

My guess is it would go to basic logical thinking--about cost, about fit, about producing something the easiest and most fitting way.

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moarsauce123,
User Rank: Ninja
2/6/2016 | 7:03:52 AM

Re: Pending Review

I've seen plenty of square manhole covers. They are uncommon for sewers, but for telco and power not that unusual. And as Wikipedia tells us, Nashua, NH even sports triangular covers.

No idea how this question applies to a job unless you apply as an underground utility worker.

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TerryB,
User Rank: Ninja
2/5/2016 | 12:52:46 PM

Re: Pending Review

Nice! I'm sure you are right. Other things my boss mentioned just bonuses. I can't wait to tell him. :-)

Must be why they say "you can't put square peg in round hole" and not other way around.

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TerryB,
User Rank: Ninja
2/5/2016 | 12:45:44 PM

Re: Pending Review

Some actually work, @pedro. But some seemed to be towards wrong kind of job candidate. Some were just stupid, like the lottery thing. If you've thought that hard about winning lottery, shows you don't live in real world. :-)

I actually asked our 2nd in command here, who has metallurgy/engineering background, about the manhole cover and turntable question. Manhole, round is cheaper to make, less likely to damage (think corners), and easier to put on/off (don't have to rotate to align). The turntable, not enough info on variables involved to say. They wanted to see if you had that simple understanding of physics. Think about it, glass sitting in center of turntable will behave different than further out. Shape of glass matters (friction on turntable surface). How much water in glass matters.

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Todder,
User Rank: Moderator
2/5/2016 | 12:45:21 PM

Re: Pending Review

Manhole covers are round because they can't be fitted and dropped thruogh the hole.

Square manhole covers could be easily lifted and angled to be plopped into the manhole.

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PedroGonzales,
User Rank: Ninja
2/5/2016 | 12:19:25 PM

Re: Pending Review

if someone would ask me. If i won the lottery tomorrow what would i do? I would cancel my job application and take a sabbatical year. I did get the manhole question on an interview for an internship. I got the wrong answer. I said a triangle. I would like to know what is the purpose of asking such questions? Right now, with different tools available, job applicants can memorize the answer to such questions. Do these questions really assess a job candidate for their job?

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KvnLnn,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/5/2016 | 9:45:34 AM

Question Intent

It would be helpful to know the reasoing behind each question. What is the interviewer tryng to learn and what do interviewers feel are good answers?

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