Weird/odd Questions Asked in Interviews

Can someone explain the origination of the Flex Seal meme on WSO?

I've actually gotten this question before! I said a box grater because it is versatile, can transform an ingredient and isn't afraid to work hard!

"Last question, why should we hire you over the Harvard candidate waiting outside?"

So off the wall , unless you are really creative and funny with your answer its basically a ding.

I've actually gotten that same exact question before. I don't get why this is relevant... or helpful... I'd take an awkward 4.0 Harvard graduate over a 2.0 nobody with a passion for kitchen appliances any day of the week. Here are some other stupid questions I've gotten:

What's your spirit animal?

If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be?

I was applying for an internship, and the interviewing lady asked "why now?" Like wtf lmao

"What landmark do you most identify with around the world?"

“Did you just call me a tool? Before the next interviewer comes in, can you send in your head of HR?”

Offer secured, interviewer fired

Butcher knife...works on so may levels

are you paying for college yourself or are you just daddies money?

Espresso machine because I'm a grinder

There's nothing wrong with your answer as long as it is justifiable it is fair. Even if the guy that mentioned the coffee machine because if he is a grinder could go through simply because he added a flair of wit and flavour.

The truth is, all the MDs already know who they want to hire especially after you get to the final round past all the technical rounds with all the associates. Might just be back up in case someone chooses to renege on their offer. All the MDs just wanna F*** around with you, they already know who they want to hire.

During my final round at one of the leading BBs, the interview was stiff. MD asked high level questions: introduction, story, one deal that you did, what you do in your spare time... An after pitching to his question, you get a look of disinterest as he continues pretending to read your CV that he just printed out 5mins ago before the interview. One word replies like"Cool, Great" Checks their phones once in awhile when you're pitching... Within 20 minutes, the interview was over. The only time he showed interest was when i asked him about himself, his story and what he would have been if not in finance doing M&A.

Lol, you didn't get the position because of other reasons.

"If you could pick any song to describe you what would it be?"

This was for an on-campus investment fund... interviewer thought he was the most clever kid for asking such an important question.

Dude people ask these kinds of questions to see how your react and think on your feet / generally mess with you a bit. There isn't exactly a right or wrong answer to these.

Your reaction to the question, the way you delivered your answer, the perceived creativity in your answer etc are all potential reasons you didn't get the job. No one cares that you are a blender or a mop, it's all about the way you go about it

As someone who actually has interviewed SA candidates and participated in hiring decisions, I can promise you that the question had no bearing on your offer or lack thereof.

Let’s imagine the post-interview debrief. Four people say, “This person is a total rockstar - have to make an offer!” Then one guy pipes up with, “sorry, can’t do it. When asked what kitchen tool they would be, they said ‘blender’ instead of ‘garlic press.’”

A lot of factors go into those decisions, much more than whether you answered someone’s oddball question.

You may think you had nailed the interview, but:

1) maybe you didn’t do as well as you think you did, and the interviewer had made up their mind and decided to kill time with a dumb question in the last two minutes 1a) maybe your earlier round interview was actually weak, and you were passed along because people didn’t have a strong enough feeling to ding you 2) maybe someone else did much better and there was one last seat to offer
2a) maybe your “champions” inside the bank had less pull than other people’s champions 3) maybe there was pressure to hit certain #s on diversity/visas 4) maybe you said something you felt was innocuous but was actually offensive to one of your interviewers 5) maybe people got the sense that you would be good, but you weren’t likely to accept an offer

In sixty seconds, list as many uses for a pencil as you can (besides writing and erasing). Needless to say, I walked out of that room laughing my ass off and planning networking for other positions.

"Do you love your mother?"

My response: "Excuse me? You have some nerve to ask me that, pretty unprofessional insert name"

Promptly walked out shortly thereafter.

(Shitty boutique that later went insolvent)

Posts like this should be viewed as humorous / story sharing posts at best. It's quite strange to see posts on WSO like 'am I too short to work in IB' or whatever - nobody cares about your height or whatever when working with you. It is all down to how qualified you are for the position and how well you can present yourself.

Hedge Fund Interview: "Why should [insert fund name] not hire you?"

This was at the end of a nearly hour and a half long phone screen/first round interview.

"Why do you smell like whiskey?"

I had this question at an interview for an internship. I later asked my boss right before my internship ended what the correct answer was as I was curious. He told me he wasn't looking for anything specific and thought it would be a fun question to throw in at the end.