Oh my, job interviewers will sometimes say the darndest things. And thanks to Glassdoor now we know what might be on top of their list next time you roll into the offices of Google, Amazon or Microsoft.
Glassdoor, which compiles salary reports and CEO reviews for companies, has now released a list of the top interview questions encountered by job candidates.
The top 25 list is below, including some doozies from Trader Joe’s, JetBlue and Forrester Research. But first I wanted to share some of the weirder interview questions from tech giants in our backyard, including Microsoft, Expedia and Amazon.
How would you answer these?
Microsoft:
“How many diapers does America go through in one month?” – Asked at Microsoft, Associate Product Manager candidate. More Microsoft interview questions.
“Why is a manhole cover round?” – Asked at Microsoft, Product Unit Manager candidate. More Microsoft interview questions.
Amazon:
“How much of your day do you smile?” – Asked at Amazon, Associate candidate. More Amazon interview questions.
Google:
“How many cows are in Canada?” – Asked at Google, Local Data Quality Evaluator candidate. More Google interview questions.
Zillow:
“Will the company succeed? Why or why not?” – Asked at Zillow, Business Team Director candidate. More Zillow interview questions.
Expedia:
“Given a 7 digit phone number, find out all the words that can be formed using this number based on the T9 keypad.” – Asked at Expedia, Software Engineer In Test 1 candidate. More Expedia interview questions.
Meanwhile, here’s Glassdoor’s list of the top 25 oddball interview questions, a compilation from thousands of interview questions posted on the site.
1. “If you were to get rid of one state in the US, which would it be and why?” – Asked at Forrester Research, Research Associate candidate. More Forrester Research interview questions.
2. “How many cows are in Canada?” – Asked at Google, Local Data Quality Evaluator candidate. More Google interview questions.
3. “How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?” – Asked at JetBlue, Pricing/Revenue Management Analyst candidate. More JetBlue interview questions.
4. “A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?” – Asked at Clark Construction Group, Office Engineer candidate. More Clark Construction Group interview questions.
5. “What songs best describes your work ethic?” – Asked at Dell, Consumer Sales candidate. More Dell interview questions.
6. “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, Product Development candidate. More Amazon interview questions.
7. “What do you think about when you are alone in your car?” – Asked at Gallup, Associate Analyst candidate.More Gallup interview questions.
8. “How would you rate your memory?” – Asked at Marriott, Front Desk Associate candidate. More Marriott interview questions.
9. “Name 3 previous Nobel Prize Winners.” – Asked at BenefitsCONNECT, Office Manager candidate. More BenefitsCONNECT interview questions.
10. “Can you say: ’Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper’ and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?” – Asked at MasterCard, Call Centre candidate. More MasterCard interview questions.
11. “If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us?” – Asked at Trader Joe’s, Crew candidate. More Trader Joe’s interview questions.
12. “How would people communicate in a perfect world?” – Asked at Novell, Software Engineer candidate. More Novell interview questions.
13. “How do you make a tuna sandwich?” – Asked at Astron Consulting, Office Manager candidate. More Astron Consulting interview questions.
14. “My wife and I are going on vacation, where would you recommend?” – Asked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Advisory Associate candidate. More PricewaterhouseCoopers interview questions.
15. “You are a head chef at a restaurant and your team has been selected to be on Iron Chef. How do you prepare your team for the competition and how do you leverage the competition for your restaurant?” – Asked at Accenture, Business Analyst candidate. More Accenture interview questions.
16. “Estimate how many windows are in New York.” – Asked at Bain & Company, Associate Consultant candidate.More Bain & Company interview questions.
17. “What’s your favorite song? Perform it for us now.” – Asked at LivingSocial, Adventures City Manager candidate. More LivingSocial interview questions.
18. “Calculate the angle of two clock pointers when time is 11:50.” – Asked at Bank of America, Software Developer candidate. More Bank of America interview questions.
19. “Have you ever stolen a pen from work?” – Asked at Jiffy Software, Software Architect candidate. More Jiffy Software interview questions.
20. “Pick two celebrities to be your parents.” – Asked at Urban Outfitters, Sales Associate candidate. More Urban Outfitters interview questions.
21. “What kitchen utensil would you be?” – Asked at Bandwidth.com, Marketer candidate. More Bandwidth.com interview questions.
22. “If you had turned you cell phone to silent, and it rang really loudly despite it being on silent, what would you tell me?” – Asked at Kimberly-Clark, Biomedical Engineer candidate. More Kimberly-Clark interview questions.
23. “On a scale from one to ten, rate me as an interviewer.” – Asked at Kraft Foods, General Laborer candidate.More Kraft Foods interview questions.
24. “If you could be anyone else, who would it be?” – Asked at Salesforce.com, Sales Representative candidate.More Salesforce.com interview questions.
25. “How would you direct someone else on how to cook an omelet?” – Asked at PETCO, Analyst candidate. More PETCO interview questions.
Here’s how some random people on the street reacted to some of those questions.