I’ve been puttering at work for the last week or so. There are plenty of projects I could be doing but for now I’m letting them fall to the wayside. Why? Well, on Monday I found out that I’ll be taking the new position that I recently interviewed for. I have a month before I start the job.
My current supervisor has decided that I shouldn’t take on any new projects and I should spend the next month “procedurilizing” (yes, she made up that word) my job and training my replacement. We still haven’t hired my replacement so that has to happen first.
In the meantime, I am a procedure writing machine. But since I’m not taking on new projects, I putter. Because writing a procedure doesn’t take any where near as long as everyone seems to think it does. I’ve been turning it into a game for myself.
Downside is I’ve been spending a little too much time with online shopping. FranklinCovey is like crack for me (fortunately for me, my company is filled with FranklinCovey enthusiasts so no one is really questioning the time I’m spending on their website).
Since I also have to interview my replacement, I’ve been searching the web for really unusual interview questions. The poor soul that replaces me is going to have to sit through six hours of interviews. The least I can do is make my hour mildly entertaining.
Questions I think I want to ask include:
I’m still looking for more questions. What are some of the best (and worst) questions you’ve been asked in an interview?
Jun Loayza said...
1Hi Dorie,
My internship recruiting went extremely well for me, except for this one nightmare interview. It was for a management consulting firm and this is how the interview went (lets call the interviewer Vader):
Vader: Are you close to your professors?
Me: Yes I am (exaggerating a little)
Vader: Which professor are you closes to?
Me: Professor Anderson (I’ve spoken to her before but I don’t think she remembers my name)
Vader: What good things would professor Anderson say about you?
(I tell him)
Vader: What bad things would she say about you
(I tell him)
Vader: So you’re telling me, if I spoke to Anderson right now, she would tell me these things
Me: Yes (I answer confidently)
So he goes onto his laptop, googles UCLA, and looks up her number! Now, I’m a confident person, but I was completely thrown off guard. I really didn’t know what to do because Anderson would not remember who I was! We just sat their in silence while he called her. He stared into my eyes with his piercing stare trying to break down my confidence. He did.
Luckily, Anderson didn’t pick up, but the way I handled myself wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. I didn’t get that offer, but I got a better offer anyways
So, you can try that on your “replacement.” Good luck!!!
05/3/08 6:28 PM | Comment Link
Dorie said...
2Jun, I love it. I think if I was faced with that question, I probably would have responded with some smart ass response along the lines “really, I’m paying a professor to teach me so how close can you get when there is money involved?”
05/7/08 12:19 PM | Comment Link