Song: I work hard for the Money! Coin Count: Yet to be determined! Angle: 10/12ths, 350/360 degrees, etc Penguin: 'Holy Mackerel' - On all accounts! Deleted State: Denial, Confusion and any geopolitical region that meets that criterion!
I was told by an employment counselor that if you're asked a question like how many windows are there in New York, the purpose of the question isn't to get an actual answer. The question is asked to see if you would say you don't know but you would have to look it up or do research to find that answer. An interviewer is trying to determine if you would show that you have initiative and are willing to make an effort to find the answer. If I wasn't told this by an employment counselor, I would be stumped sitting there as my face turned a dozen shades of red.
I guess it's obvious that I am not a math scholar as I wouldn't have gotten those questions right. I can understand why some of the other questions because they need leaders who can lead and give clear directions. Also looking for team players not rouge individuals. In many ways though, all of them are stupid.
This is how bizarre getting a job has become. And, i would be the interviewer disqualified some candidates based on their answers. i was asked a question once " If you were an arrow and one side was "team" and the other was "individual", what end would you be closer too"? I knew I didn't want that job anyway, so I got up and said " I'm not sure but I do know I'm looking at the backend of a horse". Got up and left.
Did you ever think they are looking for creativity, and some sort of answer that sets you apart from others? You are not very intelligent. Plus, who interviews for a job they "didn't want anyway?"
AHEM-MHMM: According to Mitt Romney's son, Mitt didn't really want to be President, which means he spent over 6 years (and probably more) interviewing for a job he didn't want.
My answer to the Amazon interviewer: "Where's the NDA you're going to sign, and I will want $50,000 in my bank account - non-refundable - before I answer. Got a cheaper question you'd like to as me?" If I don't respect myself, I won't be respected - and I might as well start at the time of the interview.
Major interview question epic #fail of 2012 though goes to Vikki Loving of Intersource Resource Staffing with her classic (this actually happened) "So, walk me through everything you have done at all jobs since college, and tell me about your awards and accolades." When I had graduated in 2000. When we were finally done covering my three jobs and all my accomplishment history, Ms. Loving said "You know, my client is really looking for someone who can bullet point things, your answers are too long. My advice is that you need to learn to shorten things."
That's hardly a fail (on the part of interviewer at least). She was looking for someone whose instinct was to hit that question from the highlights, and she found out how you approached the question. It appears to have worked perfectly as planned.
I'd have to answer with, "I'm sorry, I have too many favorite songs and it depends on my mood as to which one is preferred at this time." I would also continue on with..."I won't sing for you unless you prove that you have health insurance to cover the damage my singing will do to your hearing."
interesting. I went on an interview for a particular sales position, and when I arrived, although more than qualified, they tried to 1. get me to acceppt a lower position. Apparently they thought it would be a real feather in their cap if they hired someone at my level for that particular position and 2. asked me to write a sales strategy for their products/services. I told them that although I am more than willing to discuss my achievements and potential there was no way I was going to create a strategy for them without first being hired and I wasn't giving it away for free.
Oh, the joy of Google questions. I remember one: "Someone asks how many restaurants are there in your city? Calculate the number of restaurants if you were to give the answer in 4 minutes or in 4 hours."
The clock question is poorly-wooded. Do they want a separate answer for each nand, or the angle between the two? And do they want the acute angle, the obtuse angle, or the angle described in either direction going from the 12? Each has an easily computable answer, but I would shot back the appropriate questions (African swallow or European swallow lol!).
I get the impression that the author of this article doesn't understand what software developers do. The question is simple, and any programmer with half a brain could answer it correctly with perhaps 5 seconds of thought.
Speaking as a software developer with 8 years of college and graduate math, the question _isn't_ quite that simple. The large hand of course is 5/6 of the way around the clock, but the position of the small hand isn't so straightforward:
When it was 11:00 the small hand had swept through 11/12 of the face. Between 11:00 and 11:50 it swept 5/6 of the remaining 1/12. That works out to 11/12 + (5/6)*(1/12) = 71/72 of the circumference.
So at 11:50 the hands' separation is (71/72) - (5/6) = 11/72 of the clock's circumference, or 55 degrees.
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Coin Count: Yet to be determined!
Angle: 10/12ths, 350/360 degrees, etc
Penguin: 'Holy Mackerel' - On all accounts!
Deleted State: Denial, Confusion and any geopolitical region that meets that criterion!
Also looking for team players not rouge individuals. In many ways though, all of them are stupid.
First song that popped into my head: "Dazed and Confused" ... Oops! Um, did I get the job?
Mark Beyer
Author of THE VILLAGE WIT
and WHAT BEAUTY
book culture blog at www.bibliogrind.com
I remember one: "Someone asks how many restaurants are there in your city? Calculate the number of restaurants if you were to give the answer in 4 minutes or in 4 hours."
When it was 11:00 the small hand had swept through 11/12 of the face. Between 11:00 and 11:50 it swept 5/6 of the remaining 1/12. That works out to 11/12 + (5/6)*(1/12) = 71/72 of the circumference.
So at 11:50 the hands' separation is (71/72) - (5/6) = 11/72 of the clock's circumference, or 55 degrees.