UN-Common Interview Questions

By Daniel Alexander, Campus Representative, Georgetown University

I just came across some really creative interview questions that everyone going to interviews should be able to answer. In a New York Times interview, Kathy Savitt, founder and C.E.O. of Lockerz, a social networking and e-commerce site discusses some questions she likes to ask in interviews. Here are her questions:

What did you love most about the work you just finished doing?

If you could design your life in terms of work, what would that job actually be?

If you could take 100 percent of your abilities and create a job description, what would it look like?

Describe the best manager and the worst manager you’ve ever had.

If everyone here was a C.E.O. and I was to make you the C.E.O. of something on Day One, what would you be the C.E.O. of?

Who’s your wackiest friend?

Kathy explains that she is looking not only for intelligence, but also for wit, passion, cultural fit and great communication skills. I think her approach and her questions are very original and effective. Unless you have read her interview or this post, you will probably be unprepared for these types of questions in an interview and, in my opinion, that makes for great interview questions. Creating your own job description is something I touched on in my last post. I feel as though many undergraduates, including myself, do not know exactly what their best abilities are and what they would like to do with them. Kathy’s questions force you to think about these things and that is how she is able to choose the most capable and passionate candidates. For those undergraduates out there who are exploring several fields, keep exploring, but try to keep these questions in mind.