So, a year or so ago, I’m applying for a game testing position at Microsoft. I never got the job or anything. The interview was awful. Anyway, one of the bizarre questions they threw me during the interview was something like this. “You’re on a desert island working for a company that makes inflatable boats, and you’re assigned to make a prototype.” Or something like that. That’s pretty close. It was something just as stupid as that, anyway. “So, what would be your first step?” I walked out of that interview going, “What the hell?” Now, I know with 99% certainty that this question comes from some goddamn human resources pop-psychology book, but I don’t know which one. Does this sound familiar to anybody? Is anybody out there a manager or in human resources? What’s the answer to this stupid question? I mean, I realize this is over a year ago, and chances are I’ll never get that question in an interview again, but every now and then I’ll remember that dumb question, and it just ticks me off all over again that I still don’t know what they wanted me to say.
No doubt someone will beat me to it, but I’ll say it anyway. This is an “outside of the box” kind of question, designed to see how creative and dynamic you are.
Bad answer: “I’d study all of the other inflatable rafts and improve on the design.”
Good answer: "Hell, if everyone’s making inflatable rafts already, and we’re on a desert island, I bet I could make a killing with inflatable dolls.
my first step would’ve been to hire someone to design the boat and get the materials needed to build it.
I am a manager and LOVE these questions. I have not heard this particular version, but I can tell you that theere is not right answer.
These questions are designed to see how you think. A que might be the desert isle. part. The first step would be to figure out what resources you had. Then determine the qualities that the boat has to have. Then match the resources to the qualities needed, then create designs, build prototype, test different styles, go into production.
That would be my answer. At any rate, the job you applied for required the same type of thought process, so they wanted to see if you thought the way they wanted you to think. THat question would get a very different answer from a salesman, or a nurse, or a finance guy. So it is a good question to have in the interview arsenal.
I used to have a list of these around, but the only questions I seem to nbe asking these days is “are you literat, do you have a car, do you have an alarm clock…”
Wasn’t this Microsoft you were interviewing with?
The correct answer was “I would find another company that makes good inflatable boats and I would purchase that company.”
No offense, but I think managers like these kinds of questions because they don’t know what they’re looking for in an employee. I work at a computer game company, and I knew a manager in the test department who would ask every applicant “how would you make a peanut butter sandwich?” He’d base most of his impression on the response to that question. The guy’s an idiot. Testing games requires a pretty specific set of skills and experience. Most jobs do. But many managers aren’t aware of the skill set their employees need, because they don’t possess those skills themselves.
A qualified applicant will tend to be prepared to talk about his or her relevant education and experience and might be thrown by a goofy, off-topic question. On the other hand, if you’re interviewing some hack bullshitter with smooth people skills but nothing of real value to contribute, that’s probably just the kind of opening he’s looking for.
Another interview riddle:
“What are your weaknesses?” How is one to answer that?!
Well, I am addicted to SDMB, I am shy, I am horribly disorganized, etc.
More riddles for the modern job market (from a manager who knows):
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You spend all night partying and get to sleep a 6AM. Your alarm clock goes off at 7AM for a busy day at work where you will be needed. What do you do?
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A band you like is playing in a city 200 miles away. You wish to attend, but you are scheduled to work. What excuse might you use to get out of work?
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You are designing the prototype for an inflatable raft. Your boss rudely suggests that perhaps you should think about removing the anvil from your design. You are filled with rage. Do you (A)ignore the boss and continue to do what you think is right because, hey, there’s no one else in the job market and they can’t afford to fire you or (B) Do you change the design and complain bitterly to your co-workers about your treatment, or ©do you do something else?
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You are designing the prototype for an inflatable raft. How many of the company’s rafts from the previous model are you allowed to take home and distribute to your friends during the process?
Sorry to rant. I feel better now. Thank you.
Biotop, you can go play in my forum for a while if you want.
Lynn
Queen of the Pit
Did the interviewer say you were actually stranded on the desert island? I mean, the answer might have been something like, “Cross the bridge into town to get the stuff I need, and y’know, maybe stock up on bottled water while I’m at it.”
What is a desert island? Lots of sand?
Near as I can figure, ‘desert’ is a corruption of ‘deserted’. A ‘desert’ island might have a huge city on it, and a ‘deserted’ island might be mostly jungle, so confusing the terms leads to idiotic statements.
From one friend’s experience, the WRONG answer is “I steal office supplies.”
I guess the only moral from that is – unfortunately, you have to take the damn question seriously.
V.
Re: the OP question
Sounds like a good question to me. In addition to outside the box thinking (as pointed out earlier), it evaluates how good you are at planning, organizing and seeing the whole picture. The question could’ve been just as easily: We are thinking of building a new game. What’s the first step?
Anybody can do what they’re told. Good employees figure out what’s best to do and do it without being told. This question evaluates how good you are at that.
Re: Dumbguy’s comment: "No offense, but I think managers like these kinds of questions because they don’t know what they’re looking for in an employee."
I’ll give you my take as an employer: I would much prefer hiring somebody who is smart, hard-working and friendly than somebody who has relative experience. Any day. These kind of questions evaluate raw intelligence capabilities, like problem-solving, planning, outside-the-box thinking, etc.
Disclaimer: I’m a recruiter…sorry if this sounds preachy.
The best way to answer a question like this is to NOT tell them you’re stealing office supplies, embezzling from the company, or happen to like kiddy porn while listening to Bach on your super state of the art stereo system.
Pick a weakness and turn it around…for example:
“Sometimes I tend to take on too much work. I can get overwhelmed - But I’m working on my delegation skills and believe that the situation is getting better.”
I realize that’s a really generic, blow-some-smoke-up-your-ass kind of answer, but it’s better than telling them that you like to yell obscenities at the administrative support staff:)
from OP:
“You’re on a desert island working for a company that makes inflatable boats, and you’re assigned to make a prototype.”
what? is this some kind of extreme telecommuting???
nothing wrong with “out there” questions during an interview, but this one seems particularly malformed. First thing you would have to do is figure out exactly what he’s asking.
-luckie
They are all a load of crap. Interviewing is a load of crap. Nine times out of ten, due to resume screening and the like, the choice is between any given number of qualified people. So his butts covered. If he couldn’t justify hiring any given candidate, he wouldn’t be interviewing him/her/it in the first place. The only challenge is finding some way to make the intuitive sizing up, first impression judgement call seem like some sort of highly trained professional assessment. Hogwash, balderdash, and tommyrot!
As far as interviewing at Msoft, its like many others, any answer is correct as long as you say it while bending over.
Ha! - I misunderstood the question to mean, “you work for a company based on a desert island where they make inflatable boats and they ask you to build a prototype.” My first question would have been why, if we make inflatable boats, do we stay on a desert island? So…they wouldn’t have hired me, either.
My favorite was the story in the 80’s about executives taking you to lunch and judging you on whether you salted your food before tasting. I would have failed that, too. I never know if I’ll like the taste of something, but I do know I like the taste of salt.
FreakFreely wrote
Not in my world. I can’t count the number of dream resumes I’ve seen that have a dolt attached to them.
A resume just gets you in the door. The interview’s the thing.
You know, I’m reading through this thread, and like that obnoxious kid that all of us knew in school, the one that just HAD to show off his/her knowledge, I’m raising my hand (actually, getting ready to type) and thinking, “I know! I know the answer to h_thur’s question!”
And then I read mellonhead’s response…
Bleah. What mellonhead said.
Not real sure as to the original post, but I will add my comment that when I was looking for a job, I tried to alter my approach depending on the context–specifically, on what I felt my “odds” of getting the job were. I’m normally pretty low key and understated in interviews, but in interviewing for an entry level paralegal position, I knew that paralegal schools churn out great numbers of potential entry level candidates. Because of this, I was quite a bit more aggressive in my approach, feeling that I needed to stand out a bit to even be “in the ballpark” and figuring that it didn’t really matter whether I came in second or last.
Somewhat off topic, but this is how I’d handle an unusual question or situation like the OP. I’d want to know what my approximate chances are going in, and adjust my approach accordingly.
Obviously the best thing that you can do is to QUICKLY try to discern the other person’s purpose in asking the question, and, having analyzed this, give the type of answer they’re ideally looking for. Easier said than done, I know.
Pardon my ramblings.