Application Case Job Interview Challenges or Oddest job interview questions Job interviews are usually very stressful, especially if you have just grad- uated and are doing this for the first time. In the job market today, candidates can easily receive advice from a number of sources, reliable or unreliable, about how to prepare for an interview. Such advice usu- ally helps young candidates to avoid interview pitfalls and from making common mistakes during a job interview. Real life interviews are often quite different from textbook scenar- ios. Ouora, a question-and-answer website, has a list of responses from different individuals to the question "What is the most bizarre tough- est, or oddest question you have been asked in a job interview?" From the various responses it received, the following highlight some of the most peculiar questions put forward during an interview. Akshat Singhal, an astronomer and mathematician, wrote that he was asked how many pieces a glass tumbler would break into if it was thrown. On Quora, Akshat wrote he eventually responded with a smile saying he didn't know. At the end of the interview, he had asked the panel what response they were expecting to that question, one of the interviewers said, "Nothing, just your expression!" An executive of a computer gaming company, Keith Bosky, wrote that in an interview for a summer job with a major law firm, a senior partner asked him what vegetable he would choose to be if he could be any vegetable in the world. Kirk Michie, another visitor on the site, wrote that he was told that "You've made a few moves. Are you running away from something or towards something?" This question may be a potentially insightful one, but it also makes a pretty significant presump- tion, and Michie stated that it was asked pretty early in the interview. These posts indicate that anything can happen during an interview and that it is always helpful to keep a few important points in mind. First, be prepared. Try to spend some time on the information related to the job and the company. If you are asked "have you seen the company website" and you say "no" it shows that you haven't prepared for the interview or that you are not seriously interested in the job. Second, don't criticize your current employer. You should avoid any superfluous criticism on your current employer to secure a better position in another company. If asked 'why you are thinking about changing your job', an understandable/acceptable answer could be 'there is hardly any room for personal and professional development in my current job'. Third, do not act too desperate; "I just want a job" is a big red flag". One should avoid saying this at all cost in a job interview. Fourth, avoid guess work. Don't try to guess or figure out something that you don't know. Simply say that you don't know if you have no idea about something.

Questions

7-17 the chapter recommends that managers use a job's profile to formulate job-related situational, behavioral, and knowledge. based interview questions. Brieflv discuss whether you think the questions from quora are based on this recommendations.

7-18 What strategies would you use to prepare for such odd questions during job interviews?

7-19. Do vou think it is necessary for managers to create bench- mark answers for questions like those mentioned in the case? Explain why or why not.