Intelligence: The First Quality Employers Look For
There are no stupid questions…but do you have a smart answer? During its research, SuperScholar found that employers at major companies ask some of the hardest and weirdest questions to test the intelligence of prospective employees. 76% of the productivity and contribution of an employee is attributable to his or her level of intelligence, making it the most important think these employers look for.
Amazon asks: “Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?”
The real question: How strong is your ability to plan?
Forrester asks: “If you were to get rid of one state in the US, which would it be and why?”
The real question: Can you set priorities?
Jet Blue asks: “How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?”
Bank of America asks: “Calculate the angle of two clock pointers when time is 11:50.”
What they really want to know: How good is your quantitative reasoning?
Goldman Sachs asks: “If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?”
The real question: How well do you problem solve?
Accenture asks: “You are a head chef at a restaurant and your team has been selected to be on Iron Chef. How do you prepare your team for the competition and how do you leverage the competition for your restaurant?”
What they really want to know: can you get the job done?
Google asks: “Why are manhole covers round?”
The real question:
Do you have deductive reasoning skills?
Don’t underestimate your emotional intelligence. 71% of employers said they value emotional intelligence in an employee more than IQ.
What interviewers might ask:
“If you could be anyone else, who would it be?” – Salesforce.com.
“How would you direct someone else on how to cook an omelet?” – PETCO
“It’s 6pm and your work day is over, what happened during the day that made it awesome?” – Facebook
Sources:
http://www.glassdoor.com/top-25-oddball-interview-questions.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/toughest-job-interviews_n_1707221.html#slide=1285078
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/detail-by-detail-guptas-lawyer-decontructs-goldman-testimony/
http://www.petcoscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jimwithdogs.jpg
