the worst job interview question!

Originally Posted by Pennglock

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Bayes' Theorem. Change Doors
I haven't touched math in yrs but I'd assume what you said made sense IF they knew which door you'd choose and offered you the option to switch but not if they didn't know your choice as your door could have been opened, therefore proving you had the wrong choice. Once again I haven't looked at this **** recently and certainly didn't take the time to make any calculation or ponder the situation for very long. I'm assuming that: 1) they dunno which door you wanted to choose 2) they choose a door randomly, its not said if opening the door could have revealed the prize or not, just that it didn't I would switch if: 1) they knew what I wanted to choose 2) they stated that they opened a door without a prize willfully I made no statistical calculations at all so if some math geek wants to destroy me go ahead.

aaaaahhhh bullets, my only weakness!

Worst Question, and pretty sure it was illegal: "What church do you attend? "

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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I haven't touched math in yrs but I'd assume what you said made sense IF they knew which door you'd choose and offered you the option to switch but not if they didn't know your choice as your door could have been opened, therefore proving you had the wrong choice. Once again I haven't looked at this **** recently and certainly didn't take the time to make any calculation or ponder the situation for very long.

I'm assuming that:
1) they dunno which door you wanted to choose
2) they choose a door randomly, its not said if opening the door could have revealed the prize or not, just that it didn't

I would switch if:
1) they knew what I wanted to choose
2) they stated that they opened a door without a prize willfully

I made no statistical calculations at all so if some math geek wants to destroy me go ahead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

Originally Posted by imschatz

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem
Try to compare the two scenarios I presented and get back to me. I can't read all that **** but a quick glance would make it appear as if the second one (that isn't how the problem is presented by patrickbooth) would follow the monty thing and you'd need to switch (something I fully awknowledged) but the first scenario (what is made clear by patrickBOOTH's description) wouldn't or at least can't find it with a quick glance. edit: ok here are two scenarios nearer to mine (see how smart I am, bow before my superior door opening intellect): "Monty Fall" or "Ignorant Monty": The host does not know what lies behind the doors, and opens one at random that happens not to reveal the car (Granberg and Brown, 1995:712) (Rosenthal, 2005a) (Rosenthal, 2005b). \tSwitching wins the car half of the time. The host knows what lies behind the doors, and (before the player's choice) chooses at random which goat to reveal. He offers the option to switch only when the player's choice happens to differ from his. \tSwitching wins the car half of the time. You and pennglock knew about this mathematical crap and I didn't but this is what caused your undoing (and not my pretty average math skills); you didn't take the time to think about the situation a little. Or maybe you totally did and expected me to read the whole thing and find out the scenarios closer to mine...I dunno.

I always say

"I'm indecisive. Well, maybe, I don't know."

Works like a charm.

Originally Posted by XeF4

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But I really do work to hard.

I also care too much.

Watch me care right now.

Did you see it?

The question is lame and so is the answer. I think I work too hard was maybe an over simplified example of what I was trying to convey. You should turn one of your weaknesses into one of your strengths (eg. "I spend alot of time making sure the code I write is structured and easy to read/edit" instead of, "I sometimes miss my deadlines")

I understand, I just think it's a pointless question because almost everyone's answer is going to be a lie.

There's always the option of coming off like a pompous ass and saying "I guess my weakness would be that I expect too much from others. You see, sir, I'm so used to working hard myself, I'm often let down by co-workers that do not exceed expectations".

Originally Posted by imschatz

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Q: "How would you go about testing the accuracy of a survey sample?"
A: "I'm an econometrician, not a statistician" (mind you this was the 5-6th question along these lines)

Originally Posted by Texasmade

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The only correct answer to the weakness question is Kryptonite. Say it with a straight face and then "next stupid question".
I am very tempted to use this if the need should arise. If the interview is going bad and my mood allows it, I will use this.

Originally Posted by Pennglock

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Is that legal!!

I once had a guy ask me where I got my briefcase, which I thought was a little ****..
He was probably a fellow SFer. Doesn't this place have a secret signal--or have I said too much?

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

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For my current job I was actually asked this series of questions in my interview:

There are three doors in front of you, behind one door is a prize, what is the probability that you will choose the door with the prize behind it?

Then, if before you made your decision one of the doors you were not going to choose was opened revealing that there was no prize behind that door in order to increase the probability of selecting the door with the prize behind it would you stick with your original selection, or would you decide to change your mind and select the other unopened door, or does it not matter and why?

Think about it.

probability problems are the worse. Granted, the maths is not my strength. But I have asked some really nerdy math people who love calculus and trigonometry some probability questions that they even stumble on. I have always held statistics in the highest regard when it comes to the math field.

Originally Posted by StephenHero

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I always say

"I'm indecisive. Well, maybe, I don't know."

Works like a charm.

I like this, if the interview is going well this probably a great way to buy yourself some time to reformulate your canned answer if you have one.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Try to compare the two scenarios I presented and get back to me. I can't read all that **** but a quick glance would make it appear as if the second one (that isn't how the problem is presented by patrickbooth) would follow the monty thing and you'd need to switch (something I fully awknowledged) but the first scenario (what is made clear by patrickBOOTH's description) wouldn't or at least can't find it with a quick glance.

edit: ok here are two scenarios nearer to mine (see how smart I am, bow before my superior door opening intellect):

"Monty Fall" or "Ignorant Monty": The host does not know what lies behind the doors, and opens one at random that happens not to reveal the car (Granberg and Brown, 1995:712) (Rosenthal, 2005a) (Rosenthal, 2005b). \tSwitching wins the car half of the time.

The host knows what lies behind the doors, and (before the player's choice) chooses at random which goat to reveal. He offers the option to switch only when the player's choice happens to differ from his. \tSwitching wins the car half of the time.

You and pennglock knew about this mathematical crap and I didn't but this is what caused your undoing (and not my pretty average math skills); you didn't take the time to think about the situation a little. Or maybe you totally did and expected me to read the whole thing and find out the scenarios closer to mine...I dunno.
Nah .. just providing some background on the "problem". I've heard it 3-4 times before .. you seemed to be thinking about it, so just providing the info to facilitate the thinking

I know a guy who answered "my weakness is that tend to beat up people who disagree with me" he then proceeded to laugh. He got the job and it was one of those serious management thing. I'm not kidding.

Originally Posted by imschatz

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Nah .. just providing some background on the "problem". I've heard it 3-4 times before .. you seemed to be thinking about it, so just providing the info to facilitate the thinking

Thinking is done, I'm more of a theoritical guy really, too lazy to get out a sheet of paper and actually do it and what's more, I hardly remember how. I can do the logic thing cause it's philo but the rest is so so.

Originally Posted by bringusingoodale

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I like this, if the interview is going well this probably a great way to buy yourself some time to reformulate your canned answer if you have one.

That is my canned answer. They give one of those closed-mouth grins and then move on to the important stuff like what color leather I want in my company car.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Thinking is done, I'm more of a theoritical guy really, too lazy to get out a sheet of paper and actually do it and what's more, I hardly remember how. I can do the logic thing cause it's philo but the rest is so so.

Just curious, but what was your major and/or job? You seem astoundingly well read/travelled for a young guy.

Piobaire hook up with Manton and see if he allows you to author an addendum to his book, "Reasons to wear a suit: Section 1: Job Interview" You do have very elegant answers to these questions. I approve.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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"I have never had a weakness that materially impacted how I performed my job. However <insert weakness and how you fixed it here.>" Shows that while you realize you are not perfect you have also never been in a situation where your shortfalls hurt the organization.