Career site Glassdoor has compiled its annual list of the oddest job interview questions that companies ask, and – surprise! – there's a bunch of questions from tech companies like Google, Amazon and Salesforce.com.
Glassdoor analyzed more than 300,000 interview questions asked at real job interviews and posted by people who use its website to come up these whoppers.
We posted the full list of 25 here, but here's a rundown of the ones asked by tech companies.
How would you answer them? We've shared our thoughts:
How many cows are in Canada? Google asked a person applying for a job as a local data quality evaluator. Answer: about 7 million, according to Wiki Answers. (And yes, we Googled it.)
What songs best describe your work ethic? Asked at Dell for a consumer sales job. Possible good answer:
Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it? Asked at Amazon for a product development job. Here's our list: 14 Startups That Would Be Awesome...If Only They Existed
How would people communicate in a perfect world? Asked at Novell for a software engineer job. Obvious answer: telepathy. Better answer (posted on Glassdoor): Always in person, face-to-face. That answer leads to a discussion of videoconferencing tech, which is a lot easier tech problem to solve than telepathy.
What’s your favorite song? Perform it for us now. Asked at LivingSocial for an adventures city manager job. If you're not a great singer, might we suggest Kelly Clarkson's "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger"? And if you can sing, you'll have this one covered.
Have you ever stolen a pen from work? Asked by Jiffy Software for a software architect job. Obvious answer: Yes, but not on purpose. Better answer: In the grand scheme, no. I've probably brought more pens to the office and left them there as I've taken home.
What kitchen utensil would you be? Asked by Bandwidth.com for a marketer job. Best answer we've seen (posted on Glassdoor): The Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer
If you could be anyone else, who would it be? Asked by Salesforce.com for a sales representative job. Obvious, ingratiating answer: Marc Benioff. Better answer: Anyone from our list of 15 Tech Geniuses Living Fabulous, Enviable Lives
Don't miss The 10 Best Enterprise Tech Companies To Work For
Please follow SAI: Enterprise on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
