You’ve sat down for your job interview. Then the first question arrives.
“How many people are using Facebook in San Francisco at 2:30pm on a Friday?”
Why would anyone ask this question during an interview? How would you begin to answer it? And, most importantly, what would your answer say about you? A Dec. 28 article on glassdoor.com placed this question, which was actually asked at Google job interviews, among its “Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions of 2011.”
Lynne Sebille-White, senior assistant director of employer relations at the University’s Career Center, said while these “case interview” questions are rare for typical job interviews, students applying to jobs in certain fields like consulting can expect off-the-wall questions from companies looking to gauge critical thinking skills.
“Obviously, there’s not going to be an answer for the question,” Sebille-White said. “For some questions, there could be, but for a lot of things, they’re hypothetical. They just want to see how that (critical thinking) process works.”
Sebille-White said behavioral questions – such as “What are your strengths?” and “What are your weaknesses?” – are still the most popular in job interviews. While these are more standard questions, Sebille-White said practice is essential to performing well in every type of interview.
“Because obviously most Michigan students are articulate, they’re bright, have great communication skills, they think the interview part is going to be the easy part,” Sebille-White said.
The Career Center offers half-hour appointments for mock interview sessions, which are conducted by staff members who record audio and video to review with the student later.
Students can schedule one appointment a semester to practice for interviews for jobs after graduation, summer internships and graduate schools.
Sebille-White said students are urged to dress up for the practice interview to really get in the right mindset.
“I think that with any interview prep, one of the key things is to get beyond prepping in your head or prepping on paper and actually getting to articulate your answers,” Sebille-White said.
Students can even practice working out case interview questions like, “Why are manhole covers round?”
While Sebille-White stressed that interview questions tend to remain unchanged throughout the years, more companies are tweaking their processes to weed out candidates before an interview even takes place. She said more employers are now conducting pre-interview assessments online.
Olivia Sitto, campus recruiter for the satellite TV provider DISH Network and a 2010 University alum, said DISH utilizes a pre-hire assessment online as a part of the multi-step hiring process.
DISH Network accepts candidates from all majors, and Sitto said that the company will be at today’s Winter Career Expo looking for students to fill summer internship positions. Sitto said that after the pre-hire assessment, a behavior-based interview is conducted, followed by a problem-solving assessment that covers quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, verbal ability and internet proficiency.
“We really value your innate characteristics, like energy, intelligence and need for achievement a lot more than we value your actual experiences just because we feel like those are the things that can’t really be taught,” Sitto said. “Experience can be taught, on the other hand.”
As a recent University graduate, Sitto advocates using the Career Center Connector, an online resource listing employers and job openings.
“When I was a student, I basically lived on the Career Center Connector, and really applied to everything that I felt I might be interested in,” Sitto said.
Megan Budzynski, senior consumer and market knowledge manager at Procter & Gamble and a 2005 University alum, recruits students for the company but also helps them prepare for interviews with résumé reviews and mock job interviews. Budzynski said the mock interviews are behavioral-based and can translate into any job interview situation, although they are modeled off of what candidates can expect when they apply for a job or internship with Procter & Gamble.
For interview advice, Budzynski said students should understand the company and type of interview to expect.
Sebille-White said most companies who conduct case interviews will inform the candidate beforehand and provide sample questions online. Coming prepared to any interview with specific anecdotes is important, Sebille-White and Budzynski said.
“Really think about those times when you were a leader, when you did work with a team, when you did something innovative,” Budzynski said.
To those navigating the job interview process, and some potentially strange questions, Budzynski said preparation can only help.