Strangest question a recruiter has asked you?

[stickydancefloor]

Had an online meeting this week with a recruitment agency.

It was all the usual questions until she asked me about the role I held previous to my current one...

"So you were there for 7 years?"
"Yes that's right"
"Who do you keep in touch with from there?"
"Well, no-one nowadays"
"Why's that?"
"I think that's natural when you move onto a new employer that you gradually lose touch with your old colleagues"
But why don't you keep in touch with them?"
"Like I said, we drifted after I left, I think that's quite normal really"
"So you don't speak to any of them?"
"No, it was 7 years ago I left there"
"But why don't you speak to them anymore?"
"Because I'd moved on and things change when you move on and aren't at the same employer"
"So you don't keep in touch with anyone there?"
"NO!!!"

Round and round in a circle!!!!! It was most bizarre!!!!

What the strangest questions you've had from a recruiter?!

“Do you drive?”

Dear reader, I am registered blind, had walked into the interview with a white cane and had demonstrated how I could use a braille display to help me be able to do the job accessibly. 😂

So would I be safe to presume that you are not a member of the IRA ?

Beat that for a jaw dropper.

I interviewed for a job in another country. The interviewers asked me which hotel I was staying in.

I replied I was actually staying with PIL. They then asked how my 'husband' felt about moving back to near 'his' parents. I have a wife. I didn't want to correct them but also didn't want to lie (in case I ended up working with them) so tried to answer all the questions without using any nouns/pronouns.

Slightly different, but I once went for a job interview where the manager refused to tell me anything about the job! He just grilled me about my experience, until I said 'enough' and walked out of the interview.

Although way back I once got asked whether I preferred tights to nylons!

Not me but DP. Went into an interview for his somewhat specialise role that requires a specific qualification but famously companies that require it often don't actually understand why(the ombudsman sensibly requires it). He walks in the CEO walks in (in trainers and jeans and scruffy which fair enough is his right but its not very professional as this isn't a casual sector ) puts his feet on the table leans back and says " So I suppose you think you are the big man with xxxx qualificatiom do you?" Dp looked at him and opened his mouth to answer and the guys tutted , looked away and said "I'll be the judge of that won't I "?

DP stood straight up and said "This interview is over I am no longer interested " and left and they were gob smacked. The recruiter rang him later to ask if he would return for another interview as they were so impressed with his confidence DP laugher outright at that point.

I had the reverse though. I was interviewing a candidate for a therapeutic role and she described a very specific type of work that unknowingly to her I had actually delivered (not many people did ). So I was quite enthusiastic and said yes I knew of it and what did she think of it. She seemed to respond normally (although clearly showing she was lying as she couldn't discuss it in any detail) fair enough it wasn't actually a requirement that we couldn't teach. So we carried on , I didn't indicate in any way I knew she wasn't telling the truth i smiled and we carried in. The rest of the interview went fine. She wasn't the front runner but not because of that response.

Within 30 minutes of leaving she had emailed my admin (from whose email address all the recruitment contact had come from ) calling her every name under the sun (she used languaeven i hadn't heard before and I spent my formative professional years in prisons) . Every day for 3 days she emailed and rang with abuse that we had treated her unfairly.

Still to this day I have no idea what set her off. I ended up clocking her and after the calls wouldn't stop we rang the police. I mean clearly mental health concerns but absolutely no idea what I said. The other two interviewers were as non plusses as I was (I should say all the viriole was aimed at me just on my admins email)

I used to work for a fairly famous and prestigious organisation.

For the interview I had to travel a 4 hour round trip on 3 types of public transport to attend. It was expensive. (If I had got the job I would have looked for accommodation closer in of course!)

When I got to the interview the interviewer said that actually my qualifications meant I was not a good fit, but he wanted to meet me as it was his ambition to work my previous organisation and could I give him any tips for applying to them?

I was but being fucking wet I answered his questions about how to help him.

I am SO pissed off with myself about that - many years later.

to clarify- the interview in question was for a job after I left prestigious organisation.

(I was typing angrily so it might not have been clear at first!).

Just to offer another possibility for the OP's bizarre interview question-

A while ago part of my job included recruiting for my company. They decided to change the interview format based on advice from some supposed experts. Instead of asking about candidates' relevant experiences etc we were supposed to ask questions to find out about their 'inner qualities'. Part of the scoring for the interview was how quickly they answered and there were very much right and wrong answers (apparently getting it right quickly showed authentic answers and leadership qualities). One 'quality' were were supposed to find out about was how focussed candidates were on building and maintaining wide, strong networks. Suggested questions included asking how many friends they have, how often they see friends from University, when they last spoke to their last but one employer. I wonder if OP encountered something similar?

We were also supposed to find out whether candidates are the sort of person who prefers to start projects or finish them (right answer is finish apparently). Suggested questions included 'Thinking about your Christmas shopping, do you prefer writing your list of gift ideas for loved ones, or wrapping the gifts' and a 'Starter or dessert?'

"If you were a biscuit, what would you be?"

As a teen I was asked if I had a boyfriend…when I questioned why I was being asked that, I was told ‘to make sure it doesn’t interfere with my weekend commitments’.

It was a man, quelle surprise.

One recruiter I dealt with wanted to know the names of everyone on my current team and of the people I reported to. She also wanted the names of the people that left recently, why they left, and where they went to.

"Do you have a sense of humour?"
"Yes."
"Please tell us a joke."

Ummmmm.

It was not an interview for a stand-up comedian.

At one of my interviews for my first professional job, the recruiter said she thought I'd had a charmed life. I mean, I probably had, but this was in a sector where the majority had been privately educated and had Oxbridge degrees, and I'd been to a state school and what is now an RG university, so I thought I was "normal" not privileged. I was offered the job though. I can't remember my response.

At another interview I was asked if I would find it easier to defend a position I thought to be right over one I thought was wrong. I got flustered and didn't get that job.

On the other side, I was interviewing someone myself a few years ago; it was one of those scenarios where you knew immediately the person wasn't right. I wasn't interviewing on my own and the other person said the same afterwards. Anyway HR said we wouldn't be bringing her back for a second interview and she said she thought we'd taken against her and not given her a fair chance (after an hour's interview). Oh well. I've also walked into an interview as a candidate and known immediately that I couldn't work with the person concerned (and I didn't like the set-up of the company either) and that was a 90 minute interview - I really should have had the guts to stand up and say the job wasn't for me.

"If I demanded a tank tomorrow, how would you get it for me?"

I was offered the job though. I can't remember my response

That is, I accepted the job but don't remember how I responded to the charmed life comment.

Just wanting a structure of the company for their business development

(Should have said, the tank query was in an interview for a secretarial job in central Brighton) 😎

@FinallyFluid

So would I be safe to presume that you are not a member of the IRA ?

Beat that for a jaw dropper.

Jesus 😅😅😅 this is the most shocking one I've read. Imagine asking any other nationality if they were a member of a terrorist organisation associated with their country. I'm dying to know your reply though

I had one last year who clearly had a chip on her shoulder because I am Scottish, she asked if Glasgow University required “academics” to get in. No love, I got a free pass in a lucky bag.

If my husband would be ok with me going to company social events.

How I would cope with a young baby (interviewed while pregnant).

Would I still be able to work as my child has special needs.

I was at final stage of interview and down to the last 2. My previous interview a absolutely sailed best interview I've ever had and they asked a lot of complex questions and my answers were great. I was really pleased with myself! So then I was asked to meet the cfo in Costa for an "informal chat" and he was doing the same with the other candidate.

He clocked my engagement ring and started to ask more questions about when I was getting married, what my future husband did, did we have our own house etc. I don't his questions were strange but maybe a bit too personal and unprofessional. I do think I didn't get the job as he thought oh she's getting married and will probably be pregnant soon (he was right lol) but...😕

@PomegranateQueen

Very weird! I was asked if I had my husband's permission to work

That’s illegal not to mention ridiculous. I wouldn’t consider working somewhere that asked this.

I just have to add because it makes me so angry; during a practice meeting we all discussed recruiting a new staff member and someone mentioned asking about childcare
Me;”it’s illegal to ask that”
colleague;”yeah but I don’t mind if people ask me then I can say I’ve got blah blah blah childcare”
Me;”but that’s not the point”
round and round and round
made me very angry

I was at an interview for a PA role at a financial services company and was asked "Have you ever lost your keys?" .

@romdowa

I can't really remember, I was very young and had just landed in London, it was with large estate agency in Mayfair , he was a retired army major.