Five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My boss wants to ask my interviewees how to transport an elephant

I recently moved Teams into a slightly more senior management role. We have just received approval to hire two new staff and I am responsible for managing the recruitment process. This is an area where I have a lot of experience and am confident in my skills.

My manager wanted to review my interview questions. This wasn’t a problem for me as it was my first time being interviewed on behalf of this team. He asked me to include his favorite interview question: “If I asked you to transport an elephant from Edinburgh to Bristol, how would you do it?” I laughed because I thought he was joking. It wasn’t him.

I am hiring a medical administrator. I explained that this question had nothing to do with the role or job description and was not competency based. I asked what answer he was looking for and he said he was just interested in how their brains worked. Help me explain to him why this question sucks.

These types of questions, often called brainteasers, were popular with some interviewers. The idea was for candidates to talk to you about how they would approach solving the problem so they could get a better idea of ​​how their brain works (just like your boss said). It was supposed to be less about the final answer and more about how the person solved the problem.

Brain teasers have largely become obsolete since Google stopped using them; they had been using them for years but stopped using them when their own data showed that candidates’ answers were no predictor of how successful they would be as an employee. HR heads told the New York Times: “We found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time… They don’t predict anything. They primarily serve to make the interviewer feel smart.

You can show it to your boss that articletogether This We’ll go into more detail about Google’s findings.

2. I’ve had a leak in my desk for 10 years

It’s a rainy Monday morning and there’s currently a trash can right behind my chair with water constantly dripping from the ceiling.

I work on the second floor of a 15-story building and this happens every time it rains. And don’t ask me why this floor is leaking. It’s just a weird office conundrum.

This has been going on since I started here about 10 years ago. They tried to fix it at the time (someone else actually lived in the place in those days). They patched the ceiling several times in the following years. They stood behind me for a while and looked at him. But literally nothing stopped him or even slightly changed the model.

To be honest, I don’t know the details of what they actually did to alleviate the problem. I send an email to say it’s leaking and sometimes someone comes and looks at it. Or not. Sometimes, after a particularly rainy weekend, I have an extra bin on my desk. It’s a big campus. I guess this isn’t a priority, and maybe not the only leak.

It’s far enough away from me that it doesn’t drip on me or my desk, and we moved the necessary office equipment away from there. It doesn’t stop me from actively doing my job, and I could probably move my desk if I really needed to, although I do like sitting by the window.

Besides being a little annoying, it’s nothing I can’t handle (I might start collecting rain to water my plants). But I have reached the peak of curiosity. So I’m wondering…does my company have an obligation to fix this? What are the rules regarding this kind of thing?

I’m not an OSHA expert, but from what I understand this is potentially a OSHA violation causes water on the floor (risk of slipping), mold or damage to the ceiling support grid. If you want to know for sure, you can submitting an anonymous report to OSHA. Be sure to specifically state that you are concerned about employee safety.

3. How can I deal with a constantly negative co-worker?

I work at a small company opposite a co-worker with whom I generally get along well. But most of the time it is negative, almost like a human Eeyore. He works in a position where he can see the numbers, and sometimes in the slower season he’ll make a comment like, “Wow, it’s really slow, they’re going to have to lay people off soon,” or “I’ve never seen it this low, I don’t bill much, how are we going to keep the doors open?”

I’m not naive, I’m aware of these factors (and have started looking low-key as a result), but it’s exhausting to constantly dwell on this and complain about other issues. What does he expect me to do about this? I’d really rather not dwell on it. We’re all doing our best to keep things going. I don’t want to alienate him since it’s a small office, but I also can’t handle the constant negativity.

I tried to say “I can’t focus on this” or something, but he kept going. Is there a gentle but clear way for me to redirect, or do I need to try to ignore him?

Sometimes it helps to ignore the gloom altogether; It’s like him saying something gloomy and you saying, “Oh, okay. I better get back to work.” Or “Oh, okay. Oh, I wanted to ask you about ____ (insert subject change).”

If that doesn’t work, you can try being more direct. For example: “I’m having a hard time focusing on my work after you say things like that. I would be grateful if you would not speculate to me about such things; “This really affects me.”

4. Writing a novel about my industry

I wrote a novel. It’s completely fictional, but it takes place in the industry I work in and I use my industry knowledge to make the scenarios realistic. There is also some research on the difficulties of working in this industry, but I would say that the overall tone is positive.

I’d really like to try and publish it, but I’m wondering if that might jeopardize my day job. I work for a company that provides professional services; I wouldn’t say it’s a small community, but there are a lot of people who know my name and know what I do. I would publish it under a pseudonym, but I’m not sure if it’s still known. My concern is whether clients will think this is about them (it’s not) or whether my employer will just see it as a conflict.

I’m considering going into HR but I’m wondering if I’m overthinking this. Surely people always write novels about their field of study? If I brought this up to HR they would probably want the higher ups to read it and it’s kind of in the “spicy romance” category and I don’t want to be seen that way professionally in my day job. Any ideas?

Are you disclosing proprietary company information, badmouthing customers (even in the abstract), making the field look bad as a whole, or making yourself look like someone customers won’t want to work with? If the answer to any of these is yes, there’s a high risk of this being a problem (understandably). Otherwise, in many areas this would be completely non-issue.

To be completely safe you would need to have this run by your company… but then of course you run the risk of being told no. The counter-argument is that if you’re publishing under a pseudonym, they’ll probably never hear of it (especially considering the fate of most published books that aren’t widely distributed). However, it would still be wise to plan for the possibility of doing so, and the question at this point may be whether it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. I don’t know without more information, but if you pressure me for an answer, I would say that given there is a non-zero chance of them finding out, life will be easier for you if you get their approval. take your time or wait to search for posts until you leave.

Also, how spicy are we talking about? If that’s your typical level of romance, I’m not too worried about it; People are aware of the existence of romance novels with adult scenes. But if the focus was on sex, I’d be more hesitant.

5. Is it okay to disclose my disability during the hiring process to make sure I can actually do the job?

I recently interviewed for a technical manager position that would be 100% office work. I was one of three finalists, but they decided to go with someone else. However, the same company said that I was very suitable for the full technical position and that I was very interested.

However, the technical position requires some field work and since I am disabled, this may be difficult for me. From what I’ve been told so far, I should be able to handle fieldwork (though I might need a walking stick or cane for support) but I’m worried there might be aspects of this job that no one has thought about. I mention this because they don’t know my limits.

It’s normally something I wouldn’t reveal until I’m hired, but would it be appropriate to say “I’m disabled, everything I’ve been told so far is doable, but I want to make sure we’re on the same page”? so after a few days I won’t realize I physically can’t do the job”?

Wait until you receive the offer so there is much less risk of discrimination, unconscious or otherwise. At this point, it’s okay to use whatever language you suggest (though after “on the same page” I drop everything and explain any limitations you think might be relevant). Good luck!