AIBU to ask the toughest interview question

[Livingonachair]

What is the toughest interview question you've faced?

Mine was for a job at our sister company where I was asked what didn't I like about the company in terms of process. As I hadn't worked for that part of the company before it was basically impossible to answer as I didn't know the processes!

I don't apply for jobs where the salary range is not given. It's such a waste of time I think that’s fair enough but it depends on the job - we will pay on experience and risk of success which is sometimes hard to define - the thing that we will definitely do is reward success, keeping staff that make money and they know they make money and they expect reward - regardless of annual salary we need to reward them for their input or they will be likely to go elsewhere as they should.

The interviewer: “We are very work/life balance type of place.I presume that would appeal to you as you have a young child.”

Me: “Can you please give me an idea of what you define as work/life balance?”

The interviewer: “We finish at 5 pm. Everyone has to be in by 8 am the latest and the attendance is noted as we have a group meeting everyday. No WFH under any circumstances. Don’t want to hear about dropping the kids off and any pick ups”.
This was 7 months ago for a quasi civil service job...

@GreenGreenGrassofSloane
absolutely fair point. I only described a small portion of a much bigger context and thought process. So with the information I gave, your assessment is valid :)
without boring with the whole long story - this was just an example to underpin what I wanted to say and even an abbreviation of that. If you'd talked to the guy, you'd probably agree on the super non-confrontational part.

It does show, though, that I thought I made a clear and concise point, but didn't. Thanks, next time I'll try phrasing more clearly.

I hate the question ' name your faults , what are you not good at etc
You try and answer with something that makes out it's a good fault
I.e I am a perfectionist so have very high standards of work and can be my worse critic or something , instead of 'I'm a shit time keeper but I work hard when I'm here and happy to make up my time . '

Recently had interview where has to complete two tests one quite hard maths ( no real maths was involved in job) and one which was grammar and a few other things , was quite hard and has 1 hr to do them , it over the top for sort of job it was
Never found out how I did in test but was told they were very interested so must of been ok , unfortunately my old job only gives generic references and that wasn't good enough , hardly my thought and I had been there for years so obvious I can't of been that bad

Have had the friendly children question as well ? Have thought about putting in my cv under other info , hysterectomy 2015 as might work in my favour ,

Why are you passionate about telemarketing?

It was a statement rather than a question - "well, basically I don't want anyone that's going to send me mental, or take load of time off being pregnant" bit of a pause... "well, you look as if you're too old to get pregnant"

About ten years ago, from an NHS consultant renowned in his field.

I once applied for a job where no salary was specified - I knew the company a bit, and the owner.
When I called and asked about the role and salary before applying, he named a figure, and said "some people have asked more than twice that!" in shocked tones - I replied that I was earning more than twice that, plus a company car. I didn't get a car, but did get the salary I wanted, and tripled it within about five years.

I also did a lot of interim work at one stage; agencies would agree a day rate with me, and pitch for the job. One interview ended with "Lovely to meet you, I'm interviewing lots of other people, and you are the most expensive person I'm seeing." - I closed with a polite 'best wishes with finding the right person for the role, you do get what you pay for'. The agency called back before the end of the afternoon, day rate as agreed, but could I do the role for six months instead of one month? I stayed for about three years.

You know the old question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?". Well anyone who had an interview in 2015 got that very wrong .

I’ve just been back to uni to gain a qualification to change careers. I applied for a job which I had no experience for, but my previous career was unusually linked. I completed a very extensive application and video presentation and against all the odds was asked to interview (you would normally expect to have say 5 years experience to do the role) I was given the opportunity to speak to one of the interview panel in advance and discussed that as I had zero experience I would probably be unable to answer specific questions. He reassured me they would tailor my interview as they were interested in what I could bring rather than experience. Couple of days later turn up for interview and the whole interview was standard questions regarding my experience (Or rather lack of it) and previous roles (of which I had none and they knew that!!!)

Not a question as such but the worst job application experience I had was doing a pre interview apptitude test. Part of it was a personality assessment which was fine, but that was followed by a test that was a mix of verbal and non verbal reasoning and mental arithmetic which was timed. I presume the aim was to see how you coped under pressure as the questions weren't that hard but the timing was very tight.
I think most of the candidates found it stressful but I had added pressure. The link to the test wasn't emailed out until about a week before the interview and I happened to be on holiday abroad at the time. That meant that I had to do it on my tablet rather than a full sized screen, plus the hotel had rather slow internet and it was completely unreliable in the rooms. So I had to do it in the hotel foyer, and a huge coachload of excited, noisy new guests arrived just after I had started. I couldn't stop though, as once you had opened the link you had to complete it. I certainly was stressed! I never found out what score I got but amazingly I got the job.

The worst interview question is where you have to guess at the answer they're looking for. For example, a manager has left and you're being interviewed for the role.
Q: are you hands on or do you prefer to sit above it?
A: I'm guessing you want a manager who will manage and sit above it, but I'm guessing. You may want someone hands on.

Q: give me an example of how you have broken company rules.
A: I'm guessing that you want someone who follows company rules, but I'm guessing. You may want a maverick.

Q: is work/life balance a priority?
A: it's only for those not willing to show the commitment required for such a senior role. But this is a guess. My work/life balance could be important to them (You at the back! Yes you! Don't laugh. It might be!)

We need an insight into what the heck Pets at Home are after!! Gerbil? Rabbit?

Great white shark ?

I think I would answer rat for the P@H question but feel that may not be a good look.

"So you haven't specialised in synthetic organic chemistry then?".

Bit specific admittedly, but it was horrendous. I hadn't specialised in anything. My courses that year were "Chemistry 2" and "Lab Skills 2".

It was an interview for a year in industry, and I was the first person from my university to be interviewed at that company. It turned out they'd only ever taken students from a university that go on placement in their fourth year, whereas we went in our third year, then back to university for a year (when we did specialise).