Another addition parks itself in our collection of killer interview questions, and it’s a doozy: Will you drive my car to lunch?
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Ron Kaplan, CEO of deck manufacturer Tex, says that he regularly invites out-of-town candidates who have flown in to a lunch interview, and then suggests they drive his car. That’s designed to test two aspects: whether they have the confidence to drive in an unfamiliar city, and whether they can handle being peppered with questions while driving.
Obviously this is a harder trick to pull off if you’re in a CBD office and don’t drive to work, but it’s an interesting challenge. One problem: if you have a manual car, that’s going to throw off some people.
Ron Kaplan of Trex [New York Times via Business Insider]
Comments
10 responses to “Killer Interview Question: Will You Drive My Car To Lunch?”
And if they say no? I wouldn’t want to drive anyone’s car which I’m not insured for without a very good reason, let alone a potential employer’s. Besides, driving in an unfamiliar city whilst being constantly distracted with questions doesn’t seem like the safest interview method.
Yeah, it’s yet another completely stupid “killer” question. Personally I would judge the person that says yes easily as someone who takes risks too easily. In the end it proves nothing. Hiring someone for a job is never going to be an exact science and there is no “magic” question(s) that will help you find someone who fits the bill perfectly. However I bet there is a huge rate of back-attribution going on in regards to these bullshit questions.
“Will you be in it?”
Full comprehensive.
Sure. What sort of food does your car like?
No, because I wouldn’t want you to take the chance of having an unlicensed motorist behind the wheel. I lead a busy enough life that I prefer to spend my travel time reading the news or reviewing documents, not watching the road, so I always take pubic transport.
A: “Is this like working here? Dealing with stupid questions from morons?”
Sure, I’d love to drive your car. What other unsafe stuff would you like me to do whilst working at your company?
Considering mobile phones are banned from use by drivers, interviewing whilst driving has got to be just as dangerous
A: Sure. I have a question for you: Ever heard of OHS?
Would you enter a gasometer wearing breathing apparatus to disarm a bomb?
(Harold Newgass)