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Actually, I paused for moment and said I study up on technical related subjects. But even if I was offered the position, I would not had taken it.
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It is not a stupid question. They are rounds because it is the only shape that make them impossible to fall into the manhole.
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I know why manhole covers are round...
It's a completely stupid, ridiculous, worthless question because it had NOTHING to do with that job, and didn't let the interviewer know any real information about me. That question had ZERO value.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
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No - it shows how you think.
It's not something you have probably ever thought about before, so it shows them something of how you approach problems and look for solutions. Do you just go "I dunno" and leave it to someone else, or do you try to work it out logically. "Because manholes are round" is not bad, provided it's quick.
But yes, questions like this are rubbish.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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It's not different to asking why Polo's have a hole in the middle..
I'm sorry but if you're running a software company and you're looking for software developers, ask questions relevant to the job.
If you want to play games or try and catch people out, then I don't really want to work for you 
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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I totally agree... if I was in an interview, and I thought they were trying to trick me, I'd leave.
I have no desire to work with a group of asses.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
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Kevin Marois wrote: I have no desire to work with a group of asses.
Sort of restricts the number of companies you can work for though.
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Brent Jenkins wrote: If you want to play games or try and catch people out,
Keep in mind of course that such people, at best, simply are not very good at giving interviews.
Of course at worst they are ignorant and arrogant.
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One interview I had back in 2001 really stands out for me..
Interviewer: Why do you want to work here?
Me: I'm interested in mobile development
Interviewer: No you're not
Me: Huh?
Interviewer: You're only saying that because you know that's what we do
Me: No, I've worked on PalmOS and WindowsCE apps in my spare time..
Interviewer: No you haven't, you're just saying that because you want a job here
Me: Not now I don't..
I'd released apps for PalmOS beforehand, one gaining over 100,000 total downloads which was pretty good for a time without app stores as such.
Weird how some people just seem to be on the offensive in interviews from the get go. I can only imagine how much talent these guys lose businesses over the years.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Brent Jenkins wrote: Weird how some people just seem to be on the offensive in interviews from the get go
Keeping in mind of course that a technical interviewer's strength isn't as a people person, so the weird ones are the ones that are actually good at it.
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When I was in the Marines, every quarter my unit would meritoriously promote one Marine to NCO. A board of 4 or 5 NCO's in the unit was formed and candidates where brought in and asked a series of questions. The board then voted and one person was promoted.
One guy would always ask something totally stupid like "How many holes are there in a C-Ration cracker?" (IIRC there are 54).
The NCO's in the board had 3 or 4 questions they could each ask to evaluate the candidate. I finally asked him "Why don't you ask some relevant questions like 'Why do you want to be a corporal?', or 'How would you handle a situation like ...?'" He said "I like to see them sweat!"
That manhole cover question is no different. It told the interviewer no real info about the person, and only made the poor guy sweat, and probably made him think "Wow, now I feel stupid". The interviewee is already under pressure and nervous.
Want to see how someone thinks? Give them a problem and a white board.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
modified 27-Mar-15 9:54am.
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More probably than not it doesn't show how you think but that you have heard this question before. And honestly who hasn't?
The good thing about pessimism is, that you are always either right or pleasently surprised.
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OriginalGriff wrote: No - it shows how you think.
The interviewer got the question from the internet and that they themselves didn't know that answer either until they read it on the internet. And if an interviewee knows the answer then it is much more likely that the interviewee got the answer from the same place rather than figuring it out. If the interviewer thinks otherwise then that only demonstrates that the interviewer isn't very smart.
Wouldn't demonstrate much about the interviewee at all except that they were researching interview questions rather than new technologies.
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Oh the engineer in me is cringing. 
Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.
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Not a stupid interview question, but somewhat unusual interviewer behaviour:
During an interview I faced way back in 1995, the panel had three interviewers. They gave me a sheet of paper, and gave me a puzzle to solve. Immediately, all the three interviewers started peering deeply on every stroke/character/number that I wrote on that paper. It was very difficult to solve this with three pairs of eyes watching each mistake/misstep I took.
Did not get selected.
Learnt how not to conduct an interview.
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I had the same question once!
It's to test your ability to think outside of the box, I guess.
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Kevin Marois wrote: I was once asked why manhole covers are round.
I give an outside of the box answer:
"Because manhole covers are heavy, and to move it, it is much easier to roll a round manhole cover than a square one."
I've also been asked, "if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"
Normally I answer:
"Red-Black Tree"
But if I were going for a compiler writer position I would answer:
"Abstract-Syntax Tree"
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I have no desire to work for a company who's interview process is about trying to trick me or make me sweat.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
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Kevin Marois wrote: make me sweat
If you're a true engineer, sweating should be uncontrollable and come naturally 
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Manhole covers are round because a^2 + b^2 = c^2. Really.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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I was asked something like "How many people are there flying in planes right now?"
I answered "325,761"
The interviewer was stumped!
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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Cool. Looks addictive. Must stay away.
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Yeah, get some work done. For once. 
I mean, with a name like Slacker007...
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