This week is the Entrepreneurship@Cornell Celebration (April 14th and 15th).  See http://entrepreneurship.cornell.edu/activities/celebration/2011 for more information.  I am one of the primary planners for this event so my blogging time this week is running on empty.

Remember that I asked for your favorite interview questions on the April 6th Interview Questions post.  A few responses came in to augment the list. Here they are (verbatim):

1.   What is the most humbling job you’ve had?

2.   What is in refrigerator right now?

3.   If you could be an fruit, what would you be and why? (seems silly but you actually get fantastically interesting answers and explanations)

4.   Sell me this (pointing to anything in the room – a pencil, light fixture, etc.) – shows how the person thinks on their feet, how well they understand what’s in front of them (much less the actual product/service), and how well they can communicate the benefits to others.

I like the commentary on #3 and #4.  I am still trying to figure out #2!

In class the other night at Cornell, I had a guest lecturer in talking about priority management.  Two additional questions came out of that lecture, namely:

1.   Can I see your current task list?  I love this question.  I keep a running task list on a legal pad (one pad lasts about a year), so I have a real affinity for task lists that get used constantly.  It says a lot about the person and obviously their organizational skill set and compulsive tendencies.

2.  Can I look inside your purse?  Of course this only works if the applicant has a purse, but an organized purse is a sign of some obvious traits that can be really beneficial in the work place.  I was warned that this “purse” question might cause some HR problems…..

Have a great week.