Read the full post on the SharedHR blog.

It has always been an HR truism that little hiring activity occurs in late summer and around the holidays. Our client experience tends to prove this out. Most hiring decisions are made by consensus after multiple interviews. Coordinating calendars around the holidays or in the later part of summer can prove difficult; accordingly, the hiring process tends to slow at these times. Consequently, we often see a spike in hiring in the first quarter of each year. So, this is the perfect time of year to discuss interviews.

Every year Glassdoor, the jobs and career website, unveils its Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions. The 2013 list has just been published. Provided below are my top 10 favorites. In reviewing this list, it may spark some creativity in the questions you ask job candidates, but beware; we always recommend that you can articulate a bona fide job-related reason for asking any such question in the interview process.

“If you were to get rid of one state in the U.S., which would it be and why?” – Asked at Forrester Research of a Research Associate candidate.

“How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?” – Asked at JetBlue of a Pricing/Revenue Management Analyst candidate.

“A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?” – Asked at Clark Construction Group of an Office Engineer candidate.

“What do you think about when you are alone in your car?” – Asked at Gallup of an Associate Analyst candidate.

“Can you say: ’Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper’ and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?” – Asked at MasterCard of a Call Center candidate.

“Estimate how many windows are in New York.” – Asked at...


Read the full post on the SharedHR blog.
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