I can't lie, I wasn't quick-witted enough...
Some years ago I went for interview at a fairly large ad agency in the middle of London's Soho.

I'd prepped fairly well and was therefore feeling as confident as you can in such situations.

The interview set-up was conventional, so I was sat opposite the hiring manager and the HR manager, the three of us separated by a desk. I must admit the first half hour of the interview was a breeze. I was asked a number of standard interview questions and delivered text-book responses that got the two of them nodding and occasionally smiling. Things were going very well indeed.

All of the questions at this point were asked by the hiring manager, but when the HR manager piped up, think went downhill rather sharpish. He explained that part of their process was to ask three completely unrelated questions to see what kind of response you gave. There was no right or wrong answer, but your response would give them some insight into your personality (wanky eh?).

Questions 1: How many pigeons are there in Trafalgar Square?

Question 2: If you could appeared on the cover of any magazine, what magazine would you choose and what would the headline be?

Question 3: Complete the sentence, "Most people in the world are..."

I bluffed my way through the first two, with the pigeon question posing a bit of difficulty when my response of 'too many' was not deemed good enough.

Question 3 was the toughest though and having given it some considerable thought (during a very uncomfortable silence) I gave the answer "under-developed" and went on to link it to my expertise at getting the most out of people.

After the interview I met up with a mate and told him about my ordeal. He gave me a pat on the back for being able to come through it relatively unscathed but screwed his face up when I told him my answer to question 3.

"What would you have said then Einstein?" I said feeling hurt.

"Chinese of course".

Bugger
(BinDipper, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 16:58, 11 replies)

He'd
have been wrong though.

There are 4 x as many non Chinese.

You could have said most people in the world have 2 legs, except that bloke in South Africa who has those springy things instead, and that australian comedian, and Douglas Bader, but he's dead anyway.
(username failed moderation, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 17:08, closed)

or most people have more than the average number of legs

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Thu 13 Oct 2011, 18:45, closed)

The answer's "human" of course.
Though they probably wanted you to say "potential customers.".
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 17:13, closed)

Yeah, but then
you're completely removing Kasahkstan from the picture.
(username failed moderation, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 17:16, closed)

You could have just been honest and said
"cunts"
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 17:16, closed)

Or
"sentient"?
(rampants, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 17:57, closed)

Or
'Not me, therefore unimportant.'
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 13 Oct 2011, 18:46, closed)

I was going to suggest "scumbags"

(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Fri 14 Oct 2011, 9:32, closed)

answer 3...
'a similar flavour to pork'.

I don't know if people are still doing the 'What is your greatest weakness' question in interviews, you can either flounder or say 'I have none' which never goes down well, or 'My perfectionism' which while trying to turn it around looks wanky, or defuse the situation with a joke answer like 'Kryptonite!'
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 13 Oct 2011, 19:37, closed)

Apparently...
...the two best options are either to say something funny like "kryptonite" or "cake", or to say something that you used to be bad at but through recent application have become good at e.g., I didn't used to like public speaking, but in my last job I had a boss who gave me some good tips and I took the opportunity to practise so I'm now quite comfortable with it.

Anyone interviewing soon, that will be £10 please.
(flimflam_machine, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 21:29, closed)

There are no pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
They're Rock Doves.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Fri 14 Oct 2011, 8:59, closed)