Most idiotic question you have been asked at a job interview?

[ReadyForSeason]

Inspired by another thread.

I have been asked what car would I be and what would I be if I could be anything?
I fell for the first one and answered. With the second one, years later I was mature enough to answer “Housewife” - all the manager was interested about is telling how he would be a helicopter pilot…

What does my father think about me applying for this job..I was in my 20's

WTF!!!! I'd have said I don't have periods (too old) but I do have this fist if you'd like to try it for size.

Another uni one...

Do you have brothers and sisters?

Yes I have one brother.

What does he do for a living?

He is on the dole.

Interviewer raises eyebrow and mutters to his colleague.

Stoppy teenage me. "I don't know why my brother is relevant? It's me you are interviewing! "

I got the place and went somewhere else!

Now that I have left the world of work, I can enjoy reading threads like this without the dread that one day I might face idiotic questions like these. I always dreaded the 'what is your greatest weakness?' question and fortunately no interviewer ever asked me, as the truthful answer (in a work context) is 'procrastination'.

To answer the OP, probably any question I was asked in the second-last job interview I had (internal), given that it became clear afterwards that the panel had already decided who would get the job, and it wasn't me, so the whole thing was a waste of my time. I wish now I'd put in a grievance. The woman appointed had no relevant experience, I had a lot. It wasn't her fault. She was a nice woman and extremely embarrassed when her new boss told her to come and talk to me to find out how to do the job. Straw that broke the camel's back for me. I left shortly afterwards. Should have left a long time before.

How will you balance the pressures of the role with family life and prioritise work/children? (I have 3 dc and they knew this).

Er, well I’ve been doing the exact job with a smaller team for the last 8 years and managed fine. (It was an internal interview to keep my job during a restructure). I wanted to say “well I won’t be doing Performance over time like most of the team do so I’ll work hard during my paid hours and leave at 5pm to ensure I have a sensible balance.”

What sort of dog I’d be. Allowed to chose 2 cards with pics of dogs on then told what that meant about my personality. Fortunately I didn’t get the job.

University interview for a philosophy degree: ‘So you come from XY town, they‘re in the third division right now, what do you think their chances are of promotion?’

I spent a long second wondering if this was some sort of weird philosophy question to test my logical thinking, but no, turns out he was just a football fan who was very bored with ‘interviewing’ 17-year-olds. I know, and care, nothing about football.
The offer I got from this uni was quite low - clearly the philosophy department didn’t have the best rep - so it ended up as my insurance offer. It made me incredibly motivated to work hard at my A-levels so I could avoid that place!

If you were an animal what would you be and why.
I said it was a stupid question.

“How will you manage child care with such a long commute ?” I was childless.

Now that I have left the world of work, I can enjoy reading threads like this without the dread that one day I might face idiotic questions like these. I always dreaded the 'what is your greatest weakness?' question and fortunately no interviewer ever asked me, as the truthful answer (in a work context) is 'procrastination'

Semi retired here but contemplating a return to work - and it'll be temping exactly to avoid all the questions I've never found a decent answer to. At least with temping the sort of question you get asked is are you working and can you get to Uxbridge? (no, in the latter case).

They tell the candidate a lot about the employer too though - I'd be put off of a company that asked questions like this!

Alot of these are absolutely shocking.

Mine does not compare to many but I was once invited to an interview only for the interviewer to tell me actually I was not suitable, but I currently worked for an org he had applied to, and would I give him tips for his application.

I had wasted an annual leave day and a train trip into London for that.

Not a question but I once had to build a weight baring bridge with five strangers out of marshmallows, spaghetti and cello tape . For a part time job stacking shelves at Asda

How many lawnmowers are there in the UK. This was for an assistant financial Controller position for a company that didn't have anything to do with lawnmowers.

What's your husband's job?

This was in 2015, not the 1950s.

I’d think a company was astute and on the ball! Different strokes
heh.

Me too, and which chambers was he in. I was applying for a solicitor’s clerk position, and my father was an aeronautical engineer.

'Can you put up with male dominated banter?'

So many grumps on this thread!

Can you explain why? Genuine question. Interviews are nerve-wracking enough without throwing in a wacky question, surely. I think more employers should set practical tests for candidates, on the lines of a very simplified version of work they would be doing every day, to see who can actually do what they've all said they can do in their personal statements.

Many years ago at an interview for student Nurse training at Queens medical centre at Nottingham I was asked how they would know I was not an animal rights infiltrator who was going to raid their laboratories. They did animal testing at the University ( something I had no idea of ) and I had put on my application form ( perhaps stupidly but I was a naïve 18 year old ) that I was involved in an animal rights group.

I was asked if I'm good at parking. I've no idea what that was about. The job didn't involve driving.

The weirdest interview in general was conducted by a solicitor who sat on his desk right in front of me. I didn't know where to look.

The lawnmower one aims to test critical thinking perhaps? Roughly guess the size of the market?

60 million people ish in the UK
Say 30 million households
Say half have grass
Some won't have a lawnmower. Some might have more than one.
Estimate 12-15 million lawnmowers.

My most stupid question was what my childcare arrangements were. I had no children and obviously it was try to get me to reveal if I did, but I was undergoing fertility investigations and it was upsetting.

Overthinking this clearly but I’d be wondering if it included ride on mowers at hotels/huge estates/sports stadiums/farms etc 😂

My most stupid question was how would I feel about dressing in costumes as they were planning to do a city centre flash mob to show the range of opportunities they had and attract more staff. I laughed and quickly realised they weren’t joking.

Can you speaka da ingleesh? We don't want someone who can'ta speaka da Ingleesh! My surname is Mediterranean and I was born in Paddington London! The stupid thing is the job required a bi lingual speaker. I said; well I'm speaking English now to you so what's the verdict? I was offered the job but refused. The recruiter was really cross with them & told them so.