Another addition to the killer interview questions collection: how would you unload a 747 full of jellybeans?
Image: Brian Turner
Bose apparently asks this question, and while it would be remarkably tempting, it isn’t going to be worthwhile asking Bose why they have a 747 full of Jellybeans. That way lies madness.
Actually, the question is deliberately mad, because it’s another question designed to throw you off-balance and make you think on your feet of a suitable solution that fits best with the style of work you’re intending to do. If you’re going for an accountancy job, then, the best answer probably revolves more around a system that will count and account for each bean as it leaves the plane. If you’re going for a logistics job, then a simple inventory movement answer is probably best. If you’re employing to be a circus clown, then go to town with elephant jokes.
How would you answer the question?
17 bizarre interview questions asked by Facebook, Twitter, and other real companies [Business Insider]
Comments
26 responses to “Killer Interview Question: How Would You Unload A 747 Full Of Jellybeans?”
Take out one – there is no longer a 747 full of jellybeans.
Open the back cargo door and take off.
747 do not have “rear cargo doors” not even in Cargo configuration (the nose lifts up)
Now I know why I didn’t get the job.
In hindsight, perhaps I should’ve said “I’d post “Free Jellybeans, first in, best-dressed” on Gumtree and Craigslist, then go and slap the idiot who filled a 747 with jellybeans with no plan for getting them out, then spend the rest of the day doing what you employed me to do, which I’m guessing by the advertisement I responded to, isn’t unloading 747’s full of jellybeans.”
Wouldn’t there be at least two?
If you take one out it is no longer full..!! Has nothing to do with how many there are to start with.
I think the point was that it is no longer “full” of jellybeans
A herd of morbidly obese people…
I too would go with the safe option of “morbidly obese people”.
Unscrew the lid, turn upside down and shake.
Let the baggage handlers do it. They know how to work those cargo compartment things.
Industrial vacuum cleaner truck 🙂
Poke it in through the door and start sucking them out, empty truck, repeat
Easy. Place plastic sheeting a quarter of a mile in front of the plane.Open front noise cone, accelerate Jumbo to 25 mph, slam the brakes.
Open the exit doors, let them poor out, and use them as a tasty exit slide.
The correct answer is “How would that be relevant to my role? Can we get back to discussing that and how I am suitable for it.” Shows you are a professional.
These questions are designed to be prove how clever or “out of the box” the interviewer are but end up just showing how irrelevant they really are if they have nothing better to do than to dream up the question in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an out of the box question, but only if it is relevant to job.
It shows you are “professional”? Maybe.
It also shows that you are only willing to work on your own terms and are inflexible when it comes to areas with which you do not already have training or expertise
You are technically correct. You also didn’t get the job.
Damn it Jim, I’m a software developer not a baggage handler
you really should be asking questions. i think the answer becomes irrelevant when you ask questions that demonstrate your ability to understand the problem.
are the jelly beans packed in any way? what section of the plane are they in? does it matter if the jelly beans aren’t unloaded in a clean/food safety regulation compliant manner? is there a budget or a timeframe within which unloading must completed?
Get lots of ants? Dissolve it in vodka and pour/hose it out?
I would either say, “Cutting charges”, or “Interesting quetion. How did you get them in in the first place?”
Pressurise the cabin and then open the emergency exit doors!
Large ants
I would ask alot of questions.
Do I need to remove them all?
Can I modify the 747?
Does that 747 need to be kept in flight condition?
Can I use water in the cabin?
Can I eat the Jelly beans? or at least a hand full or 2?
Are the Jelly beans in a container or loose?
Is there anything about this 747 or it contents I should be aware of?
Do I have a time limit?
Do I have a Budget?
How did they get them in the 747?
Why is this 747 filled with jelly beans?
Clearing the cliches
Unload a 747 – find a rich person who wants to buy a 747
Unload a 747 – start at one end and keep working till you get to the other
Unload a 747 – if it’s full of loose jelly beans then scrap it , insurance payout isn’t worth the risk , a missed jellybean could cause a fire and a crash.
Unload a 747 – an enormous amount of ants
Unload a 747 – claim an infringement of the term jelly bean and sue the airline for transporting them and sweep it all under the rug.
Advertise a competition to guess the number of jellybeans, nearest guesser gets to keep all the jellybeans.