# Interview question inappropriate to the profession? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264 "2008-10-10T01:19:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/41 "2008-10-10T16:22:02Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > It’s a dumb question, but I liked to be asked it. > > Employers will often try to negotiate with you on salary expectations, but few would think to offer less than what you (claim) to have earned in your previous job. Except during a recession… > And they don’t tend to check with previous employers. 🙂 My problem is that lately I’ve been applying to jobs offering just over minimum wage–and my previous job was $23/hr, but only 6 hours per week (and I worked an awful lot of hours I didn’t get paid for). I’m not comfortable leaving that spot blank (it always came up on applications). I did generally manage to explain that that wasn’t my expectation for this job, but only once actually got a job offer . . . ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/42 "2008-10-10T16:38:07Z")
I was asked to _please_ interview for an internal position that I was not interested in. They cajoled me into interviewing by explaining that the job was being re-defined, and that the job duties would all be different. All of the interviewers asked me “So, what about this job interests you?” Um, nothing? I’m _not_ interested, remember? :smack: Also, all of the interviewers though the job would be reporting to different supervisors, and none of their descriptions of the job duties matched, _and_ the last one – who was the eventual supervisor – didn’t ask, but _told_ me that I shouldn’t be interested in the job, since he thought it was useless. Um, thanks? _Still_ not interested, folks. (no, I didn’t take that gem of a job offer) ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/43 "2008-10-10T16:44:12Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > snip > “You have been given the task of painting a room. However, you haven’t been told what colour to paint the room, and you discover three colours of paint: red, green and blue. What do you do?” > > …to which I basically panicked. I figured it was a trick question so I said I’d mix the paints up; that way you could use 3 tins worth without painting the room multi-colours. > Afterwards, I thought I’d fucked up, because a single tin would be enough for most rooms, and my solution meant painting the room black! > > But it turns out the problem has no solution. It’s just meant to be psychologically interesting what your response is :dubious: I wonder if I would have been offered this job after this question…my first thought was “What else is going in the room? Is there an inspiration piece (couch, rug, etc.)? Who will be in this room, and what will it be used for? There’s not enough information!” My second thought was, “Well, I could mix the red and blue for purple, and use the green–depending on the shade–as a boarder at the ceiling, or maybe even do horizontal stripes in alternating purple and green…” Still, not enough information. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/44 "2008-10-10T17:39:07Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Oh come on. Any smart applicant knows what you’re digging for and knows how to serve up a unverifiable, favorable response. How do you know they really hiked the Appalachian rather than being rejected for job after job because they were unqualified? How do you really know whether they were caring for an elderly relative or not? A smart applicant would put that on the resume. Far more frequent is the guy who couldn’t find a job. If that corresponds to a bad time in the industry, that’s fine, but I know someone who couldn’t find a tech job during the bubble, and that was a valid warning sign. I saw an industrial video by John Cleese’s company, with several Pythons, where not asking about gaps was specifically considered a dumb thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/45 "2008-10-10T17:41:16Z")
A guy I work with used to ask candidates “What is the meaning of life?” If they answered “42”, he knew they would fit in just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/46 "2008-10-10T17:42:04Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I always find it bizarre that they ask me what my current salary is. I always reply “I’m looking for a figure between X and Y”. Sometimes they want to know “No, what salary are you earning right now?” And then I ask “Well, what salary are YOU earning right now?” I don’t get those jobs, but by then I’ve decided I don’t want them. They’re entitled to know the previous companies and dates of employment that I’m willing to disclose, my academic and professional credentials, and no more. We arrive at salary figures by negotiating them, not by cribbing off my previous employer. If they don’t get that, then they don’t get me. Nick at Ask the Headhunter agrees with you. One of his suggestions is that you can wonder why this company is considering the company you are leaving a great judge of your worth. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/47 "2008-10-10T17:46:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A smart applicant would put that on the resume. Far more frequent is the guy who couldn’t find a job. If that corresponds to a bad time in the industry, that’s fine, but I know someone who couldn’t find a tech job during the bubble, and that was a valid warning sign. > I saw an industrial video by John Cleese’s company, with several Pythons, where not asking about gaps was specifically considered a dumb thing to do. I don’t mind being asked about gaps, but I mind the question “Why couldn’t you find a job?” or “Why didn’t anyone hire you?” To some extent, I can answer by saying that I lack the experience people were looking for, and I have other internal answers. But on the other hand–if I knew what it was that made people not want to hire me, I’d have fixed it and already gotten a job. Or else I’d lie about it, wouldn’t I? Of course, my attitude here probably shows part of why I’m presently underemployed after a significant employment gap. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/48 "2008-10-10T17:49:23Z")
One of the smartest guys I’ve ever worked with had an amazing resume and work record. Part of the “smart” aspect is that he never interviewed for a job he couldn’t do, because it would be a waste of his time. Final question on an interview: “So, do you have any weaknesses?” His answer: “Kryptonite.” ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/49 "2008-10-10T17:57:13Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Oh come on. Any smart applicant knows what you’re digging for and knows how to serve up a unverifiable, favorable response. Yes, but the dumb applicants provide you with useful information that allows you to remove them from consideration. And they do it. Sometimes there is like job-interview hypnosis or something that brings out the stupid. I had someone ask me “Are you Lutheran?” when she heard I grew up in Minnesota. She didn’t mean any harm, but it was for whatever reason the first thing that came to her mind when she heard Minnesota. I think she was pretty new to interviewing and needed to learn to engage the brain before the mouth. I was once asked if I was comfortable carrying something large and bulky as part of an interview for a supervisory position. I said sure and offered to demonstrate. I’m sure the male candidates (they hired a team of 3, the other 2 were guys) weren’t asked that question. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/50 "2008-10-10T18:09:58Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > I was once asked if I was comfortable carrying something large and bulky as part of an interview for a supervisory position. I said sure and offered to demonstrate. I’m sure the male candidates (they hired a team of 3, the other 2 were guys) weren’t asked that question. I actually ask everyone I’ve interviewed that question, because there are a surprisingly large number of people who ignore the “should be able to lift/carry 75lbs” portion of the job description. White collar systems administrator or not, I carry around a lot of computer equipment. =P Ironically the only person who ever got indignant about carrying stuff for a white-collar job was a former Marine who probably could have carried me AND the 75lb computer. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/51 "2008-10-10T18:28:35Z")
Yeah, asking about lifting can definitely be an appropriate question. And if it’s appropriate, you need to ask everyone, because you never know when that ex-Marine actually has some big-time slipped-disk issue. But lifting was a trivial part of this job. As it turned out the lady who hired me was a nutter who wanted to hire a friend of hers, but the others on the team convinced her to hire me. Ultimately I think I would have been better off if she’d have given it to her friend… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/52 "2008-10-10T18:37:23Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I guess the only marginally inappropriate question I’ve ever been asked was something along the lines of “so, what do you like to do in your spare time?”, although I guess that was more irrelevant than inappropriate. I assumed the interviewer was just trying to paint a picture of who I was as a person, how well rounded I was, trying to make it not entirely about the job but about determining whether I could shut off from ‘work mode’ and have a life. It didn’t bother me. Since all of the interviewing I’ve done has been for fairly small to very small companies, this is a very important question I ask. People wear more than one hat in a small company, and your answer can tell me a lot about what other responsibilities you might be interested in. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/53 "2008-10-10T18:42:11Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Why should I hire you rather than any other candidate? Not only this is question not inappropriate, but it’s really the whole point of the interview. While it might be a little blunt to come right out and ask it like this, there’s certainly nothing wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/54 "2008-10-10T18:51:43Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > “What do you want to be doing in five years?” “Living off my lottery winnings.” Well, that _is_ what I _want_ to be doing. What I _expect_ to be doing would be entirely different. Of course, it’s been thirty years since I’ve interviewed for a job, and back then I didn’t have to deal with that sort of question. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/55 "2008-10-10T19:19:07Z")
I think j666’s point was that that question was inappropriate, not in a legal sense, but in a logical sense, for the job of researcher. Since the researcher’s whole reason d’etre (I don’t speak French) is to amass information in order for a well-informed decision to be made, a researcher would feel very uncomfortable making a decision based on no information. In that he knows nothing at all about the other candidates for the same position. So how he could say why he should be hired rather than any of the other candidates? If you were applying for the job of overthinker, for example… I’m trying to think of a good analogy, and coming up with nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/56 "2008-10-10T19:37:38Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > As a hiring manager I always explore gaps in employment. Here’s why. I need to know: > > Why you became unemployed. Were you fired, laid off, or quit?.. > Why you remained unemployed. Was this by choice or did it take you 9 months to find another job? Why didn’t anyone want to hire you? > > How long you’ll stick around. .. I can understand those in “normal” jobs, but I’ve been in consulting for the last 8 years. It’s a sector where people change jobs more often than a vagrant changes shirts. My last job ended in September of last year; I hadn’t had vacation in 3 years; I had spent the last year in a culture that was completely alien to mine. So I figured that, since I was planning on setting up my own company anyway and since January sees a lot of movement in the field, I’d take three months off, set up the company (which, having the paperwork ready beforehand, takes about a week) and then look again. The incredulity of the agents when they asked what had I been doing since September and I answered “vacation, I hadn’t had any in 3 years” was palpable. “Vacation?” “Yes, a break” “But… nobody takes vacation.” “I’m strange that way.” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/57 "2008-10-10T19:58:48Z")
Back when I was at a law firm, I did on-campus interviewing of law students sometimes. One time, one of the early interviewees mentioned that she had been shopping for a car, and I happened to ask what kind, just conversationally. By the end of the day, rumor had gotten around to the interviewees still waiting that I was asking each one, “if you could be a car, which one would you be?” :smack: One of the students who was eventually hired told me that story, and he joked that he was mildly disappointed that I hadn’t actually asked that, since he’d prepared an answer. I responded with some polite nothing (“Oh yes?”), and I think he was again a bit frustrated that I still wasn’t interested in his answer to that question. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/58 "2008-10-10T20:17:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The incredulity of the agents when they asked what had I been doing since September and I answered “vacation, I hadn’t had any in 3 years” was palpable. “Vacation?” “Yes, a break” “But… nobody takes vacation.” “I’m strange that way.” Weird. My husband took \*six \*months off after doing some consulting work, for pretty much the same reason: just because. And no one thought much about it. He mostly gave the answer that he wanted to catch up on some household remodeling (which was true; we remodeled three rooms of the house in the last six weeks of his break, but he spent most of the previous four playing _World of Warcraft_ and _D&D_). ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/59 "2008-10-10T21:36:21Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Actually its not a very P.C. question but sadly it can be a very appropriate question indeed. > > Many years ago I was working in a cinema that employed mostly women. > \ > And I must make it clear that we’re not talking about one or two regular offenders here but most of the female workforce,thats not being sexist, **not one male employee asked for time off for child related reasons.** –bolding mine And here we can see why the women were having to take time off. I was once asked how I would respond to practical jokes. I read somewhere about asking people, as an interview technique, “How would you redesign an elephant/camel/rhinocerous?” Like the paint question above I think the idea is just to see how the person being interviewed reacts. One place asked me “Why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?” :smack: I don’t remember what my reply was. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264/60 "2008-10-11T01:31:09Z")
On my very first interview after leaving an extremely small town in rural Montana, the interviewers first question was “If I hire you, what will you be doing when you aren’t working?” My first words were some pointless babbling about cows and horses and weed patrol. I was out of practice, what can I say? Then I stopped, mid sentence, raised my eyebrow at him, and said “Having sex with my husband.” Long pause that I do hope was uncomfortable – for him. “What I do after work is nunyo, as long I do my job very well when I’m here, which would be far too often from the sounds of it. Thank you for your time today. Good-bye.” I did not laugh at the expression on his face until the outer door had closed completely behind me. Two hours later, I declined his offer. I was in a better mood the other times (before and after leaving that teensy little town) I have encountered that particular question. I usually answer “I have a large circle of close friends and family, many interests including cooking, entertaining, grandchildren, beige, literature, art, and horticulture.” I always decline those offers. I don’t want to work for anyone who thinks my answer to that question predicts my profitability for the company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-inappropriate-to-the-profession/467264.md?page=4)