Interview Question: "Prove to me that you are smart"

Begs the question. What IQ do you have?

My intelligence comes from, not what I think about myself, but rather, what people have to say about my skills and leadership qualities. If I am smart, then it's based off of what my coworkers and friends think of me. If not, I try to grow from my shortcomings. Either way, there's a certain humility that one should always have even if you are smart.

Tell them you watch Rick and Morty.

In all seriousness I'd probably give an interesting story of you being clever or showing out of the box intelligence vs. regurgitating anything on your resume which they would probably already see (ex. Relevant Experience, GPA etc.)

Is this an actual question you received or is it one you fear getting?

no one would ever ask this

Tell him you watch Rick and Morty and understand all the subtle jokes and references.

I'd just slide him a second copy of my resume. Haha. That only works if you have a baller resume though

Interesting one. I'd probably play ball, but in a way that made the interviewer walk it back.

"Fascinating puzzle Mr. Interviewer. I guess we'd need to start off by establishing what standards of proof you would accept"

The question is asinine because when something is "proven", it is only done so with respect to an established set of evaluation criteria:

-Proven "guilty" means "shown to be guilty beyond the standard of reasonable doubt" -Proven mathematically means shown to be true in accordance with the laws of mathematics -Proven character is only so in light of specific trials/gauntlets through which it has passed.

So, to ask some kid to prove that they are smart, full stop, is a pretty weak question. But like I said, since you can't say that outright, you should play ball in a way that makes the interviewer realize it on their own.

Where's Jeff Skilling when you need him

i played sc2 at grandmaster level

I would just walk out because smart people don't associate with dotards who ask questions like that.

I would just ask the interviewer to give me the hardest problem/issue/question that he or she can think of that they know the answer to and then work through it.

I would be very tempted to say one of the following:

1. Option A: Since I'm still sitting here after being asked a question like that, makes me wonder if maybe I'm an idiot after all.

2. Option B: I am here to interview for a highly demanding job where for the next two to three years of my life I will get barely any sleep and say goodbye to my family and any meaningful social interaction. Does that sounds smart to you?

3. Option C: Just get up and walk away. If he says "Where are you going?" just say that smart people don't have time to waste.

These options only really apply if I had many choices lined up and a rich pool of better shops looking at you. Chances are that if the shop was somewhere I really wanted to get in, I'd kiss the proverbial ring and say some bullshit about my achievements and commitment to ongoing learning and development.

Either way, the thing we can all probably agree on is that any douche who asks a question like that is going to make your work life a general living hell.

Tell him you crushed the Marshmellow Test as a kid and its been nothing but uphill from there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment

I would love to replicate this scene from Good Will, but I'm guilty of sprinting for the carrot at the end of the stick.

You come in prepared knowing every possible detail about the guy's life (his upbringing, children's names and activities, car he drives, color of his ballsack, scars he has), then you recite it back to him but as if you've only gleaned it all through deduction in a Sherlock Holmes style speech.

E.g.:

Holmes: "You appeared to be surprised when I told you, on our first meeting, that you had come from Afghanistan."

Watson: "You were told, no doubt."

Holmes: "Nothing of the sort. I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps. There were such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran, 'Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.' The whole train of thought did not occupy a second. I then remarked that you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished."

"I can recite every word of 'I should be so lucky' by Kylie Minogue, go ahead, try me."

This question seems like the dating-neanderthal equivalent of "negging" designed to do exactly what it did, knock you off your game and make you "prove" yourself to him. As others have suggested, I wouldn't necessarily follow up with resume facts, but rather challenge him (appropriately) about what he is really after. If someone attempts to neg me IRL, I call them out immediately. I would have done that here...turn this warped psychology game back around on him..."I understand that by asking me this question you are attempting to assess my character, responsiveness & reactivity more than my intellect as you already have all the information you need to assess by your own standards my intelligence. What you seem to really be asking me about is......" etc etc Sometimes a bit of irreverence can be good in these situations, depending on how much you are willing to gamble...

My response to such an asinine interview question-

"You're either trolling, or (if your intent is sincere) an ignorant fool. Because genuine genius is knowing that you know absolutely nothing."

A man (or company) that cannot accept such humbleness deserves to go bankrupt (financially and socially).

Tell them you watch a lot of Rick and Morty with a serious face.

Interesting question.

I would probably answer in some sort Holmes-ian way as suggested by redbeard402. Something along the lines of:

"I am not sure what you define as smart but personally I do not think I smart. I guess I can try and convince you that I am smart by saying that I had over 2300 on the SATs or that I am in the MENSA society since I was 15 but these are just arbitrary methods that really don't mean anything in banking. I don't think that is what you are asking. I think you're asking, and correct me if I am wrong, you're asking if I am observant enough to know when to speak and when not to, when to back channel to get some information from a client, and when to know my place.

Those are just a few of the skills that matter in banking and I have learned to recognize that through sheer hard work and many experiences. So, to answer your question, no, I do not think I am smarter than most analysts that work here. However, I can prove to you that I will work harder, harder than most people I know if I am accepted here at Bank X. "

Or something along those lines. Interesting question though, it will certainly throw anyone off!

You could sit for a moment and ask the interviewer if he/she knows about the Dunning-Kruger effect. Then go on to explain the effect, implying that since you do not think of yourself as particularly smart or gifted compared to others, you are actually probably quite smart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Invert the question. "I don't know if i'm smart, but here is a list of things that show i'm not stupid"

This is definitely a trick question. Isn't there a phrase along the lines of "the more you know, the more you know that you don't know everything", or something like that.

I would answer in humble terms, tell them that you don't actually think you're smart, but you read a lot in order to educate yourself every day because there is so much that you don't know, but you make an effort to make yourself smarter every day.

HairyHilary:

This is an actual question I got and completely f'd up the answer... How would you go about answering this question?

It seems like a lose lose scenario. If you answer it seriously, by explaining your high GPA/relevant experience then its a really boring answer and you might even come off as really arrogant. If you don't take it seriously and give a joke response, that might also not go over well, depending on the interviewer. I really can't think of a reasonable answer to this question.

HairyHilary:

This is an actual question I got and completely f'd up the answer... How would you go about answering this question?

It seems like a lose lose scenario. If you answer it seriously, by explaining your high GPA/relevant experience then its a really boring answer and you might even come off as really arrogant. If you don't take it seriously and give a joke response, that might also not go over well, depending on the interviewer. I really can't think of a reasonable answer to this question.

The point of this question is to provide the interviewee a way to explain what other traits they have that make them a valuable candidate for hire. On its face, It’s a stupid question, unless they have the worst screening methodologies for arranging interviews.... of course you are smart (making this point in a humorously sarcastic manner might be worthwhile, if can be achieved). It is rare that the interview is trying to distinguish between smart and really smart. You might address other important traits like determination, drive, communications or the ability to deftly address stupid questions...

Otherwise, I would avoid trying to highlight a test score or an IQ figure -anyone whom you would want to work for would just think you’re a f-ing dork for doing so.