Unusual Interviews

You have landed the interview and have prepared in the traditional way. Your papers are in order, your shoes polished, and you arrive fifteen minutes early. You have even practiced answering those questions like “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” Think you’re ready? You might not be, according to the new practice of asking applicants to do tough, and sometimes strange, tasks.

The unusual interview can consist of out of the ordinary requests as a way of assessing a candidate’s mental agility, problem solving skills, ability to produce on the spot, or to prove that they really can do what they are saying. Most unnerving, however, is not expecting it to come and being caught off guard. Thank the technical fields for introducing the rest of big business to this way of sorting through the pack. Microsoft is known to be the worst offender; your initial contact call can come in the form of being asked to solve an equation on the spot from someone who does not even identify themselves.

If your field is in information systems, whether as a programmer or system administrator, be prepared for anything. The competition is fierce and the company needs to know that you can do your job. A lot of damage can be done by the time someone realizes that a candidate misrepresented their abilities. You may be asked to set up permissions for a database or write code in your stated language. You may be interviewed by your potential coworkers to assess your ability to participate on that team. In this case, the interview can get very technical. Do not overstate what you can do and expect time to get up to speed. Be clear on your resume and in the initial interview about what you are proficient at and what you have some experience with. This should keep you out of an embarrassing situation.

Worst of all can be the brainteasers and riddles. These purportedly test your mental agility and problem solving skills. They can be presented in any field, although most likely to occur in the technical, math, engineering, and finance industries. You may be asked why manhole covers are round or how many cubes are at the center of a Rubik’s Cube. You may be presented a math problem like: The sum of N real numbers (not necessarily unique) is 20. The sum of the 3 smallest of these numbers is 5. The sum of the 3 largest is 7. What is N? Or perhaps it will be a riddle, as in: Two people come to a river. There is a boat that can carry one person only. How can they each get to the other side of the river using the boat?

There is a method to surviving these scenarios even if you do not come to the correct answer. Remember, most riddles have obvious answers so think simple. Approach math problems and on the spot technical situations as you would a test in school. Break down the problem into smaller components that you can manage more easily. Then talk it through out loud. This way the interviewer may give you some clues or excuse a wrong answer since you thought it out well and rationally. Some puzzles can have more than one correct answer (remember the one about the boat?) so just be sure that yours makes sense. The problem should not be too easy, so don’t blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Neither should it be too hard, so if you find yourself doing advanced math calculations you may be on the wrong track. Take it easy and take your time. If you think it through logically, you will eventually come up with at least a feasible answer, and likely even the right one.

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