【2012 Archives】

Jobs interviews012 Archivesalways hard, but some come with trickier questions than others. Where do you see yourself in five years? How many ping pong balls fit in a school bus?

Glassdoor, the jobs- and career-focused site, compiled 27 of the toughest interview questions job seekers face in any field. The information came from job seekers and Glassdoor users who shared their interview experiences on the site. The website looked through questions that users marked as difficult to find the toughest ones across industries.

Along with individual questions, Glassdoor found that hospitals have the most challenging interview process, followed by nonprofits. The number of screenings, company size, public or private status of employer and job seekers' education and age all affected how difficult interviews were.

SEE ALSO: These internships are most likely to turn into jobs, according to LinkedIn

But it's not all bad news. Tougher job interviews correlated with better employee satisfaction after candidates actually get the job, Glassdoor found.

"By preparing for and acing that tough interview, you are more likely to love your job in the long run," Glassdoor wrote in a blog post.

Here are 27 of the toughest interview questions:

1. "How do you explain a vending machine to someone who hasn't seen or used one before?" - Global Data Analyst, Bloomberg L.P.

2. “How many fire hydrants are there in Los Angeles County?” - Software Engineer, Disney Interactive Studios

3. “If your current employer had an anniversary party for you, what five words would be written on the cake to describe you?” - District Manager, Express

4. “Who in history would you want to go to dinner with and why?” - Flight Attendant, PSA Airlines

5. “Prove that hoop stress is twice the longitudinal stress in a cylindrical pressure vessel.” - Test Operations Engineer, SpaceX

6. “What’s the capital of Canada?” - Team Leader, OpticsPlanet

SEE ALSO: You can now apply and interview for a job entirely within Facebook

7. “Name a brand that represents you as a person.” - Brand Strategist, Twitter

8. “Estimate how many employees in the next building” - Data Scientist, Risk Management Solutions

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9. “How many happy birthday posts do you think Facebook gets in one day?” - Sales Operations, Facebook

10. “If you could take anyone on a road trip with you, who would you take and why?” - Educator, lululemon

11. “What is the first thing you'd print with a 3D printer if you had one?” - Linux Systems Administrator I, Rackspace

12. “If you had to take only one item to a deserted island, what would that be?” - Customer Service Specialist, Squarespace

SEE ALSO: The most promising jobs of 2017, according to LinkedIn

13. “Please describe an instance where you had to make a decision without all of the necessary information.” - Analytics, athenahealth

14. “How do you reverse a text string on the Unix command line?” - Developer, Capital One

15. “If you are in a boat with a boulder and you drop that boulder into the lake, how does the water level before and after you drop the boulder in the lake compare?” - Mechanical Design Engineer, Apple

16. “You have been asked to lead a multi-million dollar, multi-year grant that will be supported across several companies and universities. How do you start?” - Research Scientist, Ford Motor Company

17. “Sell me on one idea, and then sell me on the opposite of that idea.” - Solarwinds Administrator, Blizzard Entertainment

18. “How would you go about to find the top five Java Developers in a certain area.” - Technical Recruiter, Google

19. “What is the probability of an integer from 1 to 60,000 not having the digit 6?” - Quantitative Developer, AKUNA CAPITAL

20. “If you were a Muppet, which character would you be?” - Donor Family Advocate, LifeNet Health

SEE ALSO: How millennials can make the most of career milestones

21. “Give me 48 cents using six coins. Tell me quantity and value of the six coins.” - Human Resource Manager, Wintec

22. “Write an equation to optimize the marketing spend between Facebook and Twitter campaigns.” - Analyst (Data Science), Uber

23. “What is the angle at 3:15?” - Implementation Consultant, Fast Enterprises

24. “What part of the newspaper do you read first? What does this say about you?” - Audit, BDO USA

25. “If a coworker had an annoying habit, and it hindered your quality of work, how would you resolve it?” - Production Technician, Procter & Gamble

26. “Throw your resume aside and tell me what makes you you.” - Sales Executive, Zillow

27. “How would you find the square root of 1.2?” - Hardware Engineer, Jump Trading

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