Dumb employment interview questions.

Someone once asked during an on-campus law school interview, "If you could be a color, what would it be?" This is a law firm asking too.

 

My attorney (my cousin's legal partner) did my exit interview. He got me several extra weeks of severance, got it in a lump sum and extended my health benefits for a few more months.

It's something everyone should do if they know an attorney. Papers buckle at the thought of any legal issues.

 

Sounds like she was hitting on you.

 

I'm sure it is. As noted in past posts (there's a tongue-twister for you), I worked for a brief time at a Gannett paper (not in Ohio) where in order to get supplies from the supply closet -- including pens, reporter's notebooks, legal pads and paper clips -- you had to fill out a form and get it approved by management. And even then they would only let you take one at a time (one box of paper clips, not one paper clip, though I wouldn't have put it past them).

 

I think in the case of my former editor, it was just the publisher's way of reminding his employees who was in charge. Sounded more like a power trip thing to me when he explained it.

The most important part of the story that I left out was that the supplies were locked in the publisher's office, so you had to go to him. Tough shit, I guess, if your lead pencil broke on a weekend or if he was out of town.

 

It made the publisher paying us $280 per week look downright generous.

 

My wife, who has 20 years experience and a masters' degree, was asked last week on a job interview for her high school GPA and transcript.

 

Reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke. "Where do you see yourself in five years?" "Celebrating the fifth year anniversary of you asking me this question!"

 

What type of HR moron would ask that question?

 

There's more than one type?

 

I had to do that for my current job, although I had a much more thorough background check for this job than I ever had in journalism...

 

HR departments are just trying to justify their existence to the corporate types so they are spared getting the ax when layoffs happen ...