@DeLos said:
So the TRWTF is that you can't handle a little off the cuff thinking? A chance to improvise? Show that you are unbending in your beliefs that interviews should stick to a technical side?People should not interview personalities and only stick to technical merits and not consider whether the person would be easy/fun/acceptable to work with?
So let me get this right. A friend of yours is looking for work and responds to an ad. The company calls him in for an interview and he tells you what happened.
Due to the wonderous anonomity of the internet he couldn't even tell the name of the company. There isn't even a sign on the door. He was ushered into an interview room with 3 people whose name tags say they are 'Shelly Head Wombat', 'Hi Lacy' and 'PaTrick', they could just as well have had red ball noses on. The first (and only) thing out of 'Hi Lacy's' mouth is 'Tell us your favorite joke or funny story'. Only 'Shelly' has said hi and nobody has introduced themselves or told him their real names. Since he could not tell a joke, PaTrick who has not said a word, pushes him out the door, slams it in his face and locks it... end of interview.
It just happens that you responded to the same ad and get called for an interview. Would you accept a job at this company? I'm all in favor of finding out what a person would be like to work with but do you really think that you should base a decision on wheher a person would be easy/fun/accpetable to work with based on any single factor. Do you think this company cares about people or just has some sadistic fun ethic? How many of you would even bother to go to the interview?
On a side note, how many people think that people who are full of jokes are funny? The funniest jokes are the spontaneous ones. My kids are the only people I hear telling jokes and they are only funny because they are MY kids and because she is 6. Even then after the third 'Knock, Knock' joke it is time to change the subject.
And, yes, I could have Googled a joke or even asked my kids for one. But that would have told them nothing about me, except that I knew where to find the E, G, L and O keys.