Sell Me This Pencil

Here's a list of 100 Great Interview Questions, that includes most of the obvious ones, such as "What are your weaknesses?" and "What's your ideal company?" etc. 

However, there was one "question" that stood out to me above all others:

Sell me this pencil.

Think about that for a moment.  The question doesn't require an answer, it requires a performance.  I wonder how it might impact hiring by law firms if their interviewers asked it just once in a while...

Comments

[Shawn]

good points, thanks for the debate.

[Tamsen (@tamadear)]

I could go on for days about my favorite interview questions, but I'll restrain myself to two:

(1) On the continuum of strategist and tactician, where would you put yourself?

It forces people to tell you how they prioritize the two--they can't just say "they're both important," since that's inherent in the way the question was posed.

And:

(2) How would you find a needle in haystack?

[David Winch]

Hopefully the most savvy interviewees will say, "That's interesting. What's the issue that leads you to think a pencil's the best answer?"

Until you understand the problem and the circumstances within which it exists, you are fumbling in the dark if you try to 'sell' anything in any way. Blindly inventing (unwanted) benefits is just crazy!

I sort of agree with Nick. It's a bit of a gimmick question. Quite probably useful when recruiting sales staff. It would probably make anyone else squirm.

I wouldn't take on anyone who tried to sell it to me without finding out why I wanted it.

David

[Nick Boorer]

Sorry...This question is simply typical of the corporate bullshit mindset. The answer will not show any intellectual capability or depth of knowledge. It is wholly unrealistic in any real context and unneccessarily pressurises a candidate with bogus premises that they feel they must satisfy. This kind of confidence trick is rife in corporate interviews and corporate training and achieves nothing other than flummoxing the recipient.

If you are interviewing somebody, ask them searching, relevant questions that show what they know and what they are capable of learning. Don't waste your time on gimmicks like this.

[Legal big guy]

My opinion is that most law school grads couldn't handle this question, effectively. It requires a little different mindset.

[Bruce Carton]

Was asked that once in an interview while in college. I still remember some of the painful "performance" I gave in response. Can only hope I'd be better at it today.