Oddball Interview Questions Asked by IT Bosses | CIO Insight

Oddball Interview Questions Asked by IT Bosses

Mar 31, 2016
2 minute read

Oddball Interview Questions Asked by IT Bosses

Oddball Interview Questions Asked by IT BossesOddball Interview Questions Asked by IT Bosses

These job interview questions may seem silly on the surface, but how they’re answered can reveal a lot about a potential IT hire.

Agenda ItemsAgenda Items

“If you’re the CEO, what are the first three things you check about the business when you wake up?” Asked of a Dropbox “rotation program” job candidate.

Critter QuestionCritter Question

“If you were a gerbil, which kind of gerbil would you be?” Asked of an Airbnb software engineer candidate.

Entrepreneurial InquiryEntrepreneurial Inquiry

“If I gave you $40,000 to start a business, what would you start?” Asked of a Hubspot account manager candidate.

FootlooseFootloose

“How many pairs of shoes are in Boston right now?” Asked of a Microsoft service engineer candidate.

The Force or Final Frontier?The Force or Final Frontier?

“Star Wars or Star Trek?” Asked of a Zappos “family fungineer” candidate.

Heavy DutyHeavy Duty

“How can you weigh an elephant without a scale?” Asked of an Amazon “decommissioning technician” candidate.

Production ProblemProduction Problem

“If all the hard drive supplies in the world were wiped out, what could you do to make more computers?” Asked of a Dell supply chain strategy candidate.

Penalty FlagPenalty Flag

“If a Nerf football hit you in the back of the head, what would you do?” Asked of an Expedia associate systems administrator candidate.

“Um, Flip a Coin?”

“You are in a room with two iron rods. One is magnetized and the other isn’t. There are no other metals in the room. How do you figure out which one is magnetized?” Asked of a Workday associate applications developer candidate.

Distinctive QualityDistinctive Quality

“How would you stand out in a crowd of 1,000 people?” Asked of a Hewlett-Packard technical solutions sales associate candidate.

Dennis McCafferty

Dennis McCafferty is a contributor to CIO Insight. He covers topics such as IT leadership, IT strategy, collaboration, and IT for businesses.

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