Strange Questions...

I was just reading an HR-related blog about some of the strangest questions candidates get asked during an interview. The list was long but here are some of my favorites:

• "Why are manhole covers round?"
• "If you were a color (or animal, song, number, appliance, car, etc.), what color (or animal, song, number, appliance, car, etc.) would you be?"
• "How many quarters would it take to make a stack as tall as the Empire State Building?"
• "How would your wife (or husband, or significant other) describe you?"

You may have been asked some similarly strange questions in interviews you have participated in. I'm sure the people asking these odd questions have reasons for asking them but they leave me scratching my head (maybe that's the point!).

I help generate the interview questions used here at Pinnacol and I don't think any of our managers are going down this path. I don't think I'm spilling the beans when I let you know that we use behavioral interview questions which simply means we believe that what you have actually done in your current and past jobs is the best predictor of what you would do in the future. None of the odd questions listed above seem to be very job-related (unless there is a real job as a quarter-stacker!) and what my wife would tell you about me depends on the day and the length of my honey-do list. These types of questions seem intent on almost trapping people, leaving them guessing as to what the 'right' answer is. At Pinnacol we are simply trying to get to know you around a couple of key areas:

• Do you have the technical knowledge and abilities to do the job?
• If not, do you have the ability to learn the skills necessary to do the job?
• Are you going to be a fit for our culture that is based on multi-functional teams and an unyielding focus on customer satisfaction?
• What is your motivation for working and for pursuing the particular job we are interviewing you for?
• Are you going to live up to our company Shared Values of Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, Teamwork, and Innovation?

 Pretty simple stuff really. We look for our hiring decision to be a win for both the candidate and for Pinnacol Assurance. Companies are different from each other. There are certainly lots of insurance companies selling workers' compensation insurance besides Pinnacol. Being the perfect fit at one company doesn't mean being the perfect match at another. And that's ok - people who come on board with us tend to stay a long time. The more  a candidate can help us get to know them, and who in turn make the effort to get to know us, the more likely a positive outcome and a long and happy relationship.