Google and Facebook are known for asking those questions in interviews for a long time. Now the trend seems to have spread to the Netherlands. So, why do companies ask such weird questions?
Gauge the Reaction
“I do it mainly to gauge the reaction of people”, says Eric Versteegfrom the recruitment bureau Balance. For example you can ask a math question, because“An academician analyzes the problem and chops it into pieces, whereas an HBO graduate has a very different approach”.
Wim Bloemers is a labour psychologist at the Open University and does not like questions of this type. “It looks like a power abuse. I see no point in this, while the conversation is indeed about something else. It is a kind of test to see how a candidate handles stress”.
It Is Not “Just Like That”
Versteeg finds those questions important because according to him, they separate the wheat from the chaff. “When I am looking for a project manager, I can expect that he will not be immediately in panic when I ask him a question where he has no immediate answer”.
It is also crucial for Versteeg to continue with thesequestions. “You need to find out as much as possible about someone in one and a half hours, so it is important to get an explanation of the answer from the candidate. Then you will know much sooner how someone thinks and works”.
What Should You Actually Answer?
Edition NL asked the former recruiter Versteeg what answers they are searching for, when it comes to those unusual questions.
- What would you do if you were financially independent?
“Here it is interesting to see if anyone’s dream is a house in the Caribbean and tranquillity, or that someone explores the dynamics of travel, or that someone is completely obsessed with a hobby or volunteer work. No answer is correct or wrong, but every answer says something about the person you are talking to”.
- Who is your favourite Dutch celebrity?
“This is a favourite question with us. It is nice to see how people react; some have very long silencesto get to know the right answer. Usually the favourite Dutchman has qualities that also has the candidate-in-question’s qualities, or at least would like to have. But again, there is no right or wrong answer”.
- How do you drive a car?
“The behaviour in the way of people driving says a lot about the people themselves: are theychased or do they go with the flow into the mainstream, are they often speeding up, and are they assertive in the traffic,or do they allow others to get in front. These are all things that can give a reflectionon how people are”.
Source: http://www.rtlnieuws.nl