what is the dumbest question you have been asked during an interview ?

BU Medical Sciences
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"If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only bring one person with you, who would it be?" No wait, that was a TV show!

The purpose of weird questions is often to see if you'll fit in. In other words, the interviewer wants to see how you respond: Do you have a sense of humor? What's your personality like?

If you were in an interview, I wouldn't refer to these as, "dumb" questions. "Unusual" might be more appropriate. To me, "dumb" just seems overly harsh, negative, insulting, and rude. Many interviewers believe that the language people use gives clues about who they are and what they are like. Just a tip!
 
"Who is your favourite early modern European monarch?"

I have a list of stupid medical school interview questions.
 
Is it bad that I don't find these questions dumb? Darnit.
 
TriNurse said:
Is it bad that I don't find these questions dumb? Darnit.
Click to expand...

Are any of these better?

Please explain why Big Bang Theory is more reasonable than Steady State Theory.
What was there before the Big Bang?
Did you ever play Legend of Zelda? - no I don't play video games.
What is the root of Twitter? Tweet or Twit? - Don't know don't use it.
Do you watch Ren and Stimpy? - Not since the early 90s.
 
familyaerospace said:
Did you ever play Legend of Zelda? - no I don't play video games.
What is the root of Twitter? Tweet or Twit? - Don't know don't use it.
Do you watch Ren and Stimpy? - Not since the early 90s.
Click to expand...
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I don't think I could handle these. I'd just go all deadly honest.

Zelda- never liked it, let's not get into it.
Twit, obviously, as should be the term for anyone that uses it.
Have you been stuck in academia since the mid 90s? Let me let you in on a little something: Adventure Time. This topic is over.
 
Interviewer ( guy my age)- Lebron or Jordan?

Me - wtf? Jordan!

Anybody who picks Lebron should get automatically rejected, clearly some mental deficit there.
 
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Goro said:
When you guys sit on out side of the table, you'll understand why these questions get asked.

Hint #1: We hate canned answers.
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Please tell me what Legend of Zelda has to do with medical school or how a yes or no would help you.

Now it would be different if someone asked "What type of games do you enjoy?" or "Do you play video games and if so what is your favourite?"

I suspect someone who plays Monopoly the board game has a very different stereotype than someone who plays World of Warcraft.
 
familyaerospace said:
Are any of these better?

Please explain why Big Bang Theory is more reasonable than Steady State Theory.
What was there before the Big Bang?
Did you ever play Legend of Zelda? - no I don't play video games.
What is the root of Twitter? Tweet or Twit? - Don't know don't use it.
Do you watch Ren and Stimpy? - Not since the early 90s.
Click to expand...

I would probably struggle with those. Although there would be a reference to Sheldon when trying to answer anything about the Big Bang Theory.
 
You're not getting it, Aero. It has nothing to do with medical school, it's about how you think, who you are, and what makes you tick. The Zelda prompt may have led to a series of different questions. If it doesn't work, well, on to the next set of questions.

familyaerospace said:
Please tell me what Legend of Zelda has to do with medical school or how a yes or no would help you.

Now it would be different if someone asked "What type of games do you enjoy?" or "Do you play video games and if so what is your favourite?"

I suspect someone who plays Monopoly the board game has a very different stereotype than someone who plays World of Warcraft.
Click to expand...
 
Those are special. Let the fun begin (hopefully). There should be a thread for strange things health care professionals say. My night shift team has a red light rule for when the conversation takes a turn into the land of really uncomfortable. If you say "red light" the conversation stops and we move on to a different topic.
 
dumbest or most dumb?


(real question.. i can never remember)
 
Goro said:
You're not getting it, Aero. It has nothing to do with medical school, it's about how you think, who you are, and what makes you tick. The Zelda prompt may have led to a series of different questions. If it doesn't work, well, on to the next set of questions.
Click to expand...

I would have loved to see what they would have asked me if I said yes. Even when I was a kid, I never owned Legend of Zelda or read anything about it. It was part of a group interview and everyone looked very confused as I was the only one to get non-standard questions. Everyone else (but me) got medical questions, we all got the music question, and I got Legend of Zelda.

As someone who doesn't watch television (I went three years without watching it at all), console games are a bit of a challenge. Plus the whole epilepsy thing.

I think "What type of games do you like?" is so much better. For what it's worth, I like Monopoly, Clue, and Star Trek Online. I want to play Pandemic though.
 
familyaerospace said:
I would have loved to see what they would have asked me if I said yes. Even when I was a kid, I never owned Legend of Zelda or read anything about it. It was part of a group interview and everyone looked very confused as I was the only one to get non-standard questions. Everyone else (but me) got medical questions, we all got the music question, and I got Legend of Zelda.

As someone who doesn't watch television (I went three years without watching it at all), console games are a bit of a challenge. Plus the whole epilepsy thing.

I think "What type of games do you like?" is so much better. For what it's worth, I like Monopoly, Clue, and Star Trek Online. I want to play Pandemic though.
Click to expand...

FWIW I think if I said I liked Operation (board game) they'd end the interview right there :roflcopter:
 
emagavin said:
FWIW I think if I said I liked Operation (board game) they'd end the interview right there :roflcopter:
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I'm the worst Operation player in history. I could get the parts out of the patient even when the batteries were out of him.
 
familyaerospace said:
I'm the worst Operation player in history. I could get the parts out of the patient even when the batteries were out of him.
Click to expand...

That's pretty bad! hahha. I have slightly fatter fingers than most. It didn't stop me from wanting to shred out on guitar but you can bet I didn't do to well at Operation.
 
Interviewer: (in an accusing voice) Why didn't you get a committee letter from your school?
Me: ...because my school doesn't have a committee.
I: (blinks, then looks at file) You went to UofX, right?
Me: I went to one of the satellite campuses. Not the main campus, which probably does have a committee.
 
familyaerospace said:
I'm the worst Operation player in history. I could get the parts out of the patient even when the batteries were out of him.
Click to expand...

You may have taken the Zelda question too literally. You could've answered this as if they asked you "do you play games?" And just say something about what games you do play, Zelda or not. You could also realize that it was a silly question and proceed to ask the interviewer if THEY like Zelda.

No stiffness in interviews guys!
 
I was asked if I was homeless and if I slept in my car.
Mind you I looked fine, I just mentioned that I traveled with my dogs and we enjoyed the area since I drove in a couple days early and got to see some great state parks with the dogs and what a beautiful area the school is in. So people with dogs cant get hotels and are magically homeless? (This interview was clearly playing good cop/Bad Cop)

Another interview I had, the interviewer kept trash talking the students at the school and telling me how they are so ungrateful and shallow and really care how their professors look and dont appreciate anything.
A case where you can't agree with him, but also you can't really disagree with your interviewer.
 
Anicetus said:
You may have taken the Zelda question too literally. You could've answered this as if they asked you "do you play games?" And just say something about what games you do play, Zelda or not. You could also realize that it was a silly question and proceed to ask the interviewer if THEY like Zelda.

No stiffness in interviews guys!
Click to expand...

I probably would have said something about how I only got to play whatever video games my older brother had for Nintendo growing up because I was the younger brother and we didn't have a ton of money. Fun Fact: He used to give me (and the other younger siblings) the TV remote and tell us that we were playing as a team. lol
 
Anicetus said:
You may have taken the Zelda question too literally. You could've answered this as if they asked you "do you play games?" And just say something about what games you do play, Zelda or not. You could also realize that it was a silly question and proceed to ask the interviewer if THEY like Zelda.

No stiffness in interviews guys!
Click to expand...

I think my exact answer was "I haven't played video games in 10 years, I only saw Zelda played once and I never played it myself." Honestly I think that was the follow up question to the ocarina answer.
 
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