by Dan Gathof
Nearly 14 years ago, I surprised our kids with a puppy. They were thrilled to welcome a new pet, and Holly, our puggle, certainly lived up to the excitement. Small in size but big in personality, Holly would chase the largest dogs at the park, leap for butterflies in our yard, and eagerly join me on long walks. Her boundless energy and constant need for attention kept us on our toes.
Fast forward 14 years, and Holly has slowed down considerably. She’s now incredibly lazy and seeks occasional entertainment – much like me. One of my favorite activities is to sit down near her bed when she is trying to ignore me. I pull out the bubble wand and blow lots of bubbles in the air. Many of these bubbles land on her face, and although she doesn’t flinch and seems mildly irritated, it’s a delightful moment of shared laziness and amusement.
In the spirit of “lazy meets entertaining,” I’m sharing a list of intriguing recruiting questions that can help interviewers make more informed hiring decisions. These questions, some of which have been covered by others (that’s my lazy part), are meant to be both thought-provoking and entertaining (that’s the fun part). How well do you do answering these questions?
- “Would you rather be the world’s greatest lover, the world’s greatest violinist, or the world’s greatest athlete?” Warren Buffett
- “Who is the most impressive person you’ve met? Why?” Jeff Bezos
- “What inspires you?” Jack Dorsey
- “If you were an action figure, what two accessories would you come with?” Ken, from Ken & Barbie
- “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Sheryl Sandberg
- “If you were the CEO of this company, what are the first three things you would do?” Underqualified CEO
- “What is the single most important trait that a leader should have?” Indra Nooyi
- “If you were asked in an interview to choose between fighting one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses, which would you pick and why?” Unknown Duck Hunter
- “On a scale of 1 to 10, how weird are you?” Tony Hsieh
- “How would you go about finding a needle in a haystack?” The Sewing Farmer
- “Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them. Walk me through the process.” Elon Musk
- “If you had to choose between two equally qualified candidates, how would you decide whom to hire?” The Wonder Twins
- “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” Peter Thiel
- “How would you explain a complex technical issue to a non-technical person?” Every non-technical person
- “What is the best advice you’ve ever received?” Reed Hastings
- “If you could combine any two animals to create a super-animal, which ones would you choose and why?” Griffin Manticore
- “Tell me about a time when you had to admit you were wrong?” Satya Nadella
- “Which do you think is more important for long-term success: motivation or humility? Why? Dan
Hire Thought In today’s competitive job market, it’s essential to be prepared for the unexpected. While you can anticipate questions about your greatest strengths, weaknesses, and reasons for wanting to join a company, are you ready to tackle more challenging questions? Are you prepared to map out a detailed process on a whiteboard or calculate the number of baseballs in Chicago?
The biggest question of all to answer is “are you prepared for the interviews?”
