What's the BEST question you've ever been asked during a job interview?

You said:

How and when would you acknowledge your biggest ever career mistake to a superior?--Michael

"How do you like to be managed?" Has that one recently. Excellent question. Really turned into a thought provoking question and opened up wider discovery questions on both sides.—Joel

The BEST question I ever was asked was,"You're overqualified for this position, but would you be interested in this other unadvertised position?"No, seriously, at my last interview I was asked,"You have problem-solving listed as one of your strengths. Can you give me an example of a time you used your problem-solving skills?"I kind of bungled my answer (at least I didn't splurt out the story of the time one of my technicians accidentally ignited a beaker of alcohol, and "after carefully considering all my options I chose to extinguish the flames...") but I thought it was a good question that could really allow you to get a feel for the candidate.—W.

The question about the ideal supervisor above is great - wish I had been asked that as I probably wouldn't have been hired for a previous job that was not a good fit for me. Another question that I have asked is "If your previous supervisor was here now, what would they say are your greatest strengths?"—Susan

Why is a manhole cover round?--BrianAfter giving very obvious reasons - Easier for a human to fit through it, Impossible for the cover to fall through the hole – they were looking for “I have no idea let me check on that and get back to you”—Brian.

I had a fellow once say to me, “Well it appears you’ve never achieved greatness, or have you?”
--John

Those are all great questions. One that I think is intriguing and also helpful from an interviewer standpoint, is to ask them to describe their ideal supervisor. This I think helps you to determine if you can provide to the employee the type of leadership/guidance they are looking for.--Krissy

I was asked what was the last book I read. Luckily I read it while flying out to the interview, so it was fresh in my mind. And it wasn't some business leadership book. That was fun.--Michael

When can you start?—Larry

What does their company do that attracted me to submit a resume for the position? This question can be taken so many different ways that it will give you insight on so many levels...—Wayne

"If I were to walk into an auditorium sized room with oh...lets say, 75-100 (candidates title or functional responsibility), professionals. Without physical attributes (don't care what you look like), how would I be able to survey the room and immediately pick you out from the crowd." We ask it during the course of our qualification process and typically it yields the "Wow, great question" response from the candidate.—Anthony

I wouldn't necessarily classify these two questions I was once asked as "great" - they were more odd than great. And they certainly set the tone for a tough interview with a quirky and somewhat brilliant person. (Disclaimer: I didn't get the job - I lost out to someone with industry experience. I had been looking to get onto Wall St as an analyst, from my only work experience at the time, as an accountant.) The first thing I was asked, as soon as the interview began, was to divide 6 by 7 in my head, carry the answer to four decimals and verbalize the answer as soon as I got it. He then followed up by asking me, "How does one know anything". As I noted, I didn't get the job, but it was an interesting interview experience. Oh, and for the record, I got the first question right, and the second question….well, it's really too subjective to be right or wrong, but he seemed to like my (improvised and admittedly mostly just a guess at a) response.—Michael

What would your last boss list as your top weakness?—Andrew

Do you have the ability to learn new things? AND, what was the last thing you taught yourself to be able to do/perform?—Jeff

OK Jan, let's see if we can rattle the tree for you with "best questions": *What color is your brain? *If you got on an elevator where everyone was facing backwards, what would you do? *Why is a tennis ball covered in fuzz? *If you could be any animal, what would it be? and my BEST and FAVORITE, ta-da is: Everyone comes to work with a backpack on, what's in yours?—Glenn

On two different sales interviews (before I was in a management role)1) Do you have fire in your belly?2) Who is neater, you or your husband?One of the best questions I have been asked (more than once) is "What is the last book you read"...I do ask this question and get some interesting answers, oftenlearn alot more about the person.—Bev

Give me an example of a time you made what you thought was a very good decision but before implementing it your supervisor disagreed with your plan. How did you handle that and what was the outcome?"—Ed

Everyone knows not to say anything negative about their previous employer/management. However, I have often been asked what I liked 'least' about my previous position. It's a tough question because if you say there's nothing you didn't like, you're immediately a liar. Everyone dislikes 'something' about their current job.—Sandra

I once was interviewing for a lead position with no managerial/supervisory responsibilities and the interviewer asks "how would you handle an employee who is not completing their assigned tasks because they have cancer?" --Dawn

When the interviewer asked me how I would handle an employee with cancer, I was shocked! I stated that I would offer any support they needed and offer them the flexibility they need to get their treatments. I would lighten their work load, if necessary and ask other team members to pick up the extra slack. Mostly I would be patient and understanding and try to eliminate any unnecessary work stress, because they have more critical issues to focus on. After my answer, he simply stated, that if an employee cannot do the assigned tasks within the specific time period, they need to be reprimanded, and eventually let go. He stated it is not fair for the company to suffer because of someone's failing health. Good luck to anyone dealing with cancer. Hopefully you do work for this guy :-)—Dawn

Wow, that cancer question is somewhat offensive .. I am a young cancer survivor for 1 year now and if I had been asked that question, I'm not sure I would have kept my cool. I wonder if that interviewer has any idea what its like to have a life threatening illness, and still have to work to make sure you keep benefits .. what it is like to come to work with painted on eyebrows and a wig. Yeah, of course I didn't perform to maximum capacity. I was fighting cancer! The best thing a manager can do with a cancer employee is to be upfront with them and work with them to determine how much they can handle and to have the employee give proper notice when workload is getting too much so tasks can be shifted. I definitely did more "busy work" type tasks during treatment and less high profile tasks. My employer was great in treating me as if I was not sick and letting me decide when things got too much to deal with (like during chemo). Personally, I think the interviewer should make the question more general and ask what you would do if an employee was not performing due to any mental or physical illness. Why specifically cancer employees? Are we so different? There is actually a group dedicated to employees and employers who are dealing with cancer. http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcancerandcareers%2Eorg%2F&urlhash=BbVD&_t=tracking_disc It answers the exact question this interviewer asked.—Nancy

I was once asked, "If you and a turtle were alone together in the desert with no water, what would you do??" –Gary

Believe it or not, I told the interviewer (who was a VP) that I may attempt to get moisture from the turtle's skin to help me survive in the desert!!

"If we were looking at your gravestone and your friends and colleagues had an input into the engraving, what would it say?" This was from Lara at ABC Company. It took me completely by surprise and forced me to think on my feet. I got the job. I won't tell you the reply!—Larry

Best question I ever asked an interviewer - "if you were me, what would you ask about this job?"--Steven