The Odd Interview

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So I’m working on a feature article for the September issue on employment. I’ve talked to people who recruit OTs, talked to our lobbyists about what’s happening on the political scope that could affect employment, all sorts of good stuff. When it comes to hiring, most of us aren’t lucky enough to be the ones doing the interviewing, which is…..prooooobably a good thing. At least in my case. True story: When we were in the process of hiring Stephanie Yamkovenko, our Staff Writer Extraordinaire, my one question for her was if she liked to bake. No, of course it had nothing to do with the duties of the job—that’s what Laura was there for, to ask all the hard-hitting questions—but I wanted to know! We have a rep to protect here on the writing staff, and that is a rep of awesome bakers.

Anyshoes, it made me wonder—say you are not the one doing the interviewing and hiring, but you are the one (or one of ones) who will have to work with the potential hire. Who would be your ideal coworker? What qualities would s/he have? What would be some of your “must-haves” for the potential hire? I mean, generally we spend 40 hours a week minimum with our coworkers, so there has got to be some compatibility there for it to work in the long run. What would you ask the potential hire in an interview?

And just for fun, what is the weirdest question you’ve ever been asked in an interview? I was once asked what my favorite drink was. I remember thinking to myself, “Really? I mean, I understand asking questions that could potentially reveal more about a person’s character than the general job-related questions, but this is, um…what? How am I supposed to answer this?” (And for the record, it was not anyone at AOTA who asked me that question! It was for a job – that I was offered but did not take – right out of Chicago. Other than that odd question, all I remember is that the job had something to do with writing about trains.) So – any weird questions in your interview arsenal, that you ask or have been asked?