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?!

I used to be a cook many years ago and applied for a job in a vegetarian restaurant. They asked me if I was a vegan or a vegetarian and I said neither but would of course be happy to cook veggie / vegan food. Interviewer had a go at me for applying and wasting their time

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

That's a shocker. Friend of mine with obviously Irish name was asked what part of 'The Bogs' he came from!

I went for an interview once where I had written to the organisation on speck asking if they were recruiting. Had a response back about 6 months later inviting me for an interview for a secretarial post.

It so happened that I knew 2 people who knew the interviewing manager personally, one said “oh he’s a really lovely bloke,” and the other one said “He’s a real arsehole.” So thought I’d go in with an open mind.

When I went in, the first thing he said was: “you know, I’ve already advertised for this job 3 times, but have been unable to find someone to fit in with my team.” I had gone into the interview thinking I could pretty much walk this one, and by the time I left I had decided that I wasn’t surprised that no-one would fit into his team.

FWIW I didn’t get the job, but from what I heard later on, nobody did.

I have been asked if I’m in the IRA many times by dickheads throughout various jobs but never in an interview. There are certainly blokes who think it’s fecking hilarious to imply you might be terrorist because you’re from Northern Ireland. I think they’ve mainly moved on to being dickheads to Muslims, from what I can gather...

“I wasn’t expecting one of your type” type = not white.

Same interview “Can you understand English well enough to perform the job?” Well I applied in English, I’m answering in English and you can see I attended an English university...

An internal job

“Why have you had 12 months out of work?”
Adoption leave (which as department head she knew about and she arranged my KIT days).

During a presentation
“Why did you use that font” its the font and size specified by the company.
“Why did you use that colour” because its the colour specified by the company
Said person was visibly irritating everyone else in the room.

@nannyshar

I was asked "give me an example of a working relationship you thought would not be good but turned out to be good" - like anyone would walk into a job with the mindset that they would not get on with certain people.

That's actually a good question. They're looking for an example where you've turned a relationship around, got a tricky/abrasive client onside, engaged well with a team where there have been difficulties in the past - that sort of thing. Being able to establish good working relationships with clients or teams who are known to be difficult to handle is a real skill.

How an interviewee interprets that question probably says a lot about their suitability for the job.

Asked if so and so was my mum. She was!

I've been asked if my pregnancy was planned! I didn't want to work for anyone that asked such questions.

I got asked where I was born, which cities I'd been brought up in, then he wanted to know why my parents had moved... I don't know, I was only 4? Not one single question about my qualifications or experience.

The guy was a weirdo. He ended up offering me the job and I turned it down.

Many years ago I went for an interview in a pub I was asked if I was a lesbian I didn't know it was a gay bar I told them it didn't matter to me but it must have mattered to them as I didn't get the job

I was asked whether I had every experienced discrimination in the work place. I said No. The follow up question was "So why do you call yourself Ms?"

As I sat in stunned silence trying to see the relevance of the question, the HR person on the panel said "Err.... I think we'll move on."

This was around 1990, in a northern industrial setting.

Interviewed years ago for a rep job in a wine company. I was more than qualified for the job. Both interviewers were men.
Was asked how I would feel about carrying heavy boxes and getting my nice suit dirty. Also, what if I broke a nail? I held up my very short, plain nails.
I was then asked a fairly complicated mental arithmetic question, around pricing and discounts. I took a couple of seconds and then answered. They started to move on but I asked if I was correct. He got his calculator out to check and then was disappointed that I was correct to two decimal places. I then totally shocked them by leaving.
Phoned the agency and complained very strongly!

It was over 20 years ago and still makes me fume!

Not me personally, but DH told me about something that happened some years ago at his place of work. The departmental manager was interviewing candidates for the position of secretary, and set them the following task:

"One of our team has a significant birthday in a few weeks time, and his wife is arranging a surprise party for him. She's already organised the venue and the caterers and sent out the invitations. The Managing Director has now said that he must go to a meeting overseas which will clash with the date of the party. Write a letter to the wife explaining why her husband won't be there."

When DH told me this I was gobsmacked. I know what I would have said: "Is this situation likely to arise in real life?"

If the answer was No, then the whole exercise seemed rather futile. If the answer was Yes, then my response would be "In that case, the Managing Director should be the one to tell her. But in any case, I don't think I want to work for a company which puts its staff in this sort of position."

My friend was asked what her husband thought was her best attribute. She said she would have liked to reply “he thinks I’m good in bed”! 😂

‘If you were an instrument in an orchestra, what would you be?’

I didn’t get the job so obviously gave the wrong answer 😂

To estimate the number of molecules in the room (physical chemistry placement) and to explain how I would go about estimating the number of golf balls in England.

About 20 years ago - job at a Recruitment firm
Are you ok with the fact that we don’t let ladies wear trousers in the office?
No I’m not

When I was younger one question was 'Do you see your family often?' I know my face looked like 'WTF did you just ask me? It's none of your business and not related to the job I am here about.'

The worst one was a recruitment consultant who wanted my life's history; are your parents married, asked me to explain all my education choices, are your parents still together, where did you live growing up? Questions about my whole life. I really needed work so didn't say anything and answered but if that happened again, I'd be very much 'Why do you need to know this?!' To add insult to injury she told me at the end of the 'interview' I was basically 'unemployable'. I cried on the way home she made me feel so shit. I have lots of valuable skills and I have made good progress in the job I did secure.

@CherryLeaf

To estimate the number of molecules in the room (physical chemistry placement) and to explain how I would go about estimating the number of golf balls in England.

I don't understand why these were weird questions given the job?

The golf ball one is about your thought processes, use of logic etc. You explain what your approach would be (e.g. do you start by thinking about the number of golfers?), and they're looking for you to demonstrate a scientific approach

Second interview for a job, it was with the CEO - several odd things but the stand out was "how would your husband describe you"....I'm so cross with myself for answering (can't even remember what I said). In the end I didn't get the role but I did say to the woman (she'd done my first interview) that I found it pretty irrelevant. She said ah yes he's like that sometimes. Think I had a lucky escape!

In the future I'd say well, I think it's more relevant to say how my previous boss would describe me so here goes.

What does your husband do?
Do you talk to your husband about work related stress?

Should have known. This was the same man who asked my Asian colleague if she had curry for Xmas dinner. This was 2019.

Not so much questions but a weird format. I applied for a project management job in a small company. I had to complete a psychometric test beforehand and travel to the interview (not a huge distance but I didn't drive at that point so two trains). The two people on the panel started talking about the role then they brought in a colleague and told me that I had to ad lib a scenario, which really threw me.

The improv bit went well, as did the rest of the interview and then they said "before we formalised things" the CEO would like an informal chat. That was scheduled for early morning a few days later.

He was really late and rather than a quick chat, it was a full-on interview lasting 60 minutes, including a breakdown of my personality from the psychometric test. I was late for work, it was pissing down rain and I had to spend a small fortune on a taxi. The original panel had made it sound like it was in the bag but I didn't even get it.

@WinterBerry7

‘If you were an instrument in an orchestra, what would you be?’

I didn’t get the job so obviously gave the wrong answer 😂

What did you say?

After the recent post about Reed agency demanding to see a woman's husband's bank statements to 'prove' she's been a SAHM mum for the last few years I am starting to wonder if recruitment agencies have turned into detective agencies. Obviously the amount of background digging they are prepared to do before they'll take your word for anything is quite extreme.

I can't decide whether to be relieved or appalled. There must be an awful lot of dodgy untrustworthy liars out there.

@FinallyFluid

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

Beat that for a jaw dropper.

@FinallyFluid What????