Here's an off the wall question?

[snipaw26]

What's the most off the wall question you have been asked in a job interview?

[zpr]

Was this intentionally posted in the serious discussion section?

Not a question, but it did come up in a job interview.
I was handed a coffee can full of parts and a drawing. They said "put it together". I asked what it did, and they said "nothing, just put it together". Well, after about 15 minutes I had a coffee can with a bunch of shit bolted to the outside that did absolutely nothing. Turns out it was a mechanical aptitude test. It still seems pretty weird to me.

[snipaw26]

I had an interview in Downtown Portland where I was asked if I was a Duck or a Beaver fan. Now in Oregon that is a loaded question.

[lissof]

i asked someone to tell me a joke.

[snipaw26]

Why did you ask them to tell you a joke? During the same interview where I was asked if I was a Duck or a Beaver fan I was asked to tell a trivia question.

[lissof]

it was to see how well they can think on there feet under pressure.. its hard to come up with a clean pc joke when put on the spot, and who wants to tell your possible new boss a dirty or racist/sexist/non-pc joke.....

[snipaw26]

So what joke did you tell them?

[zip29]

I have had several interviewers ask me "what is your biggest weakness?" That's a dumb question. Only an idiot would tell them an actual weakness.

I think they do that for two reasons. They want to see how you react to stress, and they want to see if they can eliminate you from consideration if you expose a real weakness.

[snipaw26]

I applied for a job with a hardware store where they gave you a application booklet. One question was a list of 15 felonies and they asked which of these have I ever been convicted of. The next question was the same list but now they wanted to know which had I committed but was never convicted of.