How do you get out of the tunnel?

[Joywtome231]

Wow, tough task! Asking for a little time seems fair, but like life, some interviews just are not fair. Companies like Google and Facebook have long been known to stump their interviewees with puzzles and riddles, but Dyson (yes the vacuum company) have gone next level with puzzles you have to unlock to even GET to the interview. The British company got rid of the typical application and makes potential applicants solve a series of puzzles across the internet, beginning with a brainteaser video.

Interestingly enough, that might be even easier than the task Kestenbaum was given. His result after asking for a minute or two to solve the math problem?

“He said the guy who I need for this job should have been thinking through that answer pakistan phone number library throughout the interview,” said Kestenbaum. “Let’s just say I didn’t get the job.” You can research some commonly used hiring practices, including puzzles on this Quora string if that’s the sort of thing you’re into.

An Odd Duck of a Question
Of course, interviewing for a marketing gig will ALWAYS take the cake when it comes to strange interview questions. Liz Bardetti, VP of Marketing for Cybergrants, a corporate philanthropy software company headquartered in Boston, recalled a few interesting questions from her agency days.

“Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?”

What do you even say to that? How can there be a right answer to that question? How could that question possibly impact your ability to do a job? Oddball questions are the topic of a whole lot of articles in our space and rightfully so. When you spend most of your days interviewing people, we’re all liable to start asking duck-related questions at some point. But before you do, try some slightly more human interview questions on your (frightened) candidates.

Questions Concerning Being on Fire
Okay, I give. People are strange. Is the goal of interviews simply to scare the ever-loving heck out of people? If so, this question may take the cake.

Question:

Imagine yourself in a tunnel.

Out one side is a fire breathing dragon who will surely burn you to a crisp.

Out the other side is a blazing sun that will surely burn you to a crisp.

Marc Wong, Chief Data Scientist at PeopleTicker, had to take on that wacky riddle at an interview. However, in this case, I might be able to see a point. Riddles and puzzles, unlike subjective duck questions, have the ability to test one’s logic and ability to solve thorny problems, which in the world of data science, is likely a very useful skill. Wong correctly answered the question and the rest, well the rest is compensation calculation history.