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Interview madness

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The Lounge What is on Your Mind? Interview madness
# 1  
Old 05-17-2011
Computer Interview madness
A discussion elsewhere got me thinking: What where the most insane/amusing/strange interview questions or answers you got/gave? Not overly technical stuff, but questions that made you go "Huh?" (And keeping with this forums main Idea: "No technical Q&A")

I'll start...
Quote:
Interviewer: What Linux distributions did you work with so far?
Me: Mainly Debian, but also SuSE, Fedora, Gentoo, and LFS (Linux from scratch)
Interviewer: Gentoo, huh? I guess we can skip the other Linux questions...
Quote:
(Same interview)
Interviewer: How would you explain the need for computer security to a non-technical person?
Me: Well, computer security is like the condom in your back-pocket. You might never need it, but if you don't have it when it's needed you'll probably pay dearly for a long time.
Interviewer: ....
Interviewer: Can we use that quote?
This User Gave Thanks to pludi For This Post:
ni2
# 2  
Old 05-17-2011
@Pludi and his Condom: lol Smilie Would have liked to be witness of that interview Smilie Smilie

I had some "funny" or sad things and some awkward stories from coworkers:
  • My interview lasted about 1 hour and about short after it had begun, the big boss had incomming a private phone call with some old friend that lasted about 45 minutes.
    The small boss was a bit embarassed but we had a good interview talk meanwhile, sitting next to the big boss still talking in a loud voice as if he was alone... We talked with a low voice since we didn't want to disturb him and got along.
  • I had an interview in some company and after getting the information, that there is no Unix but only Windows and some telephone system I would have to deal with, I said that I am sorry and not interessted.
    They had my documents still there and I said they don't have to send them back to me - I can just take them with me. They agreed, handed them over and on the back was a yellow post-it with a short note "possibly too expensive". I couldn't hide my grin and handed it back to them, saying "Excuse me but this seems to belong to you". I know, looks a bit arrogant but I wasn't able to resist Smilie
  • In another company, I sat there with the big boss and he was telling me this and that and told me, that in the probation time, I will have to make some of those (MCP?) single MS tests to get certifications in the company to proove my worth etc. I told him that I am MCSE already (the certificates were in the documents they got from me of course) and he... was a bit baffled and moved on to another topic Smilie

From coworkers (maybe rumours but I think they aren't Smilie):
  • One coworker wasn't able to speak German. He was barely able to answer the big boss with "ja" (yes) and "nein" (no). He was accepted and afterwards his coworkers noticed he wasn't able to speak German heh.
  • A coworker was accepted and on his first day, nobody knew that he was there. Nobody knew who accepted him for the job. He came to our secretary and she started asking around, where he was assigned to and nobody knew it. He was parked in our team for some time. It took several hours until it was clear, where he was assigned to and who accepted him.
# 3  
Old 05-17-2011
Quote:
Interviewer: Can you explain in easy to understand terms (to a non technical person) the difference between RAM & Disk Space?
Me: Imagine you're at a dinner table - the dinner plate is the hard disk & the food is the data. The size of the plate determines the amount of food it'll hold - but the food could take many formats (data types)

RAM is your brain function - where you process instructions & processing activity occurs - you may need to retrieve some data in order to be able to complete a task - using the analogy "Food For Thought"
cut down version but you get the drift :-)
# 4  
Old 05-17-2011
Code:
I was in a job interview and I opened a book and started reading. Then I said
to the guy, "Let me ask YOU a question. If you are in a spaceship that is
traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything
happen?" He said, "I don't know." I said, "I don't want your job."
[(c) Steven Wright]

Smilie
# 5  
Old 05-17-2011
I once had an interview with a big consulting firm and was asked what I thought about biometric scanners, in particular retina scanners. The guy interviewing me was a "thought leader" in retina scanning; he was a huge evangelist.

My reply was something like "Well, I always like to look at the unintended consequences of technology. In this case, I pity the poor smuck at the ATM machine when a criminal rips out the victim's eyeball trying to get money out of the ATM!"

The guy interviewing me was really unhappy with my reply and said something to the effect, "Thieves should know that retina scanners don't work when the eye is removed from the socket!"

My reply was something like "Thanks for the interview. There is no way I would ever work for someone who thinks like you!"

... and I walked out of the office and soon boarded a plane back home!

True story Smilie
# 6  
Old 05-17-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neo
"Thieves should know that retina scanners don't work when the eye is removed from the socket!"
Reminds me of this Smilie
# 7  
Old 05-17-2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by pludi
Reminds me of this Smilie
Hahaha..... yah.... there are so many people in the security field who get so wrapped up around the techie part, they lose sight of practical realities. I think I have at least a handful of similar interview experiences, where the person interviewing was so blinded by his/her zeal for technology that they could not see anything but the object of their own zeal. Amazing, really....
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