Tricky interview question: What would you do with a million bricks?
The question
During an interview for a fixed-income job at a global investment bank in Australia, a candidate was asked the following question: What would you do with a million bricks? Tell me as many uses as you can think of in two minutes, starting now.
The candidate's reply
I don't know. I might first count them to see if I really have a million bricks. Um...I could kung fu chop them to see how long it would take to break them all. Um...I might exchange portions of the bricks for services like plumbing, bricklaying, fence building and painting to see if I could get a full house built. I don't know, I might send them to Africa to help build a community medical centre. Or I could give them to you to see what you would do.
How he would have responded in hindsight
I should not have said "I don't know" twice. There were no right or wrong answers. The interviewer was trying to gauge if I could think on my feet, how clearly I could communicate and if I was a creative problem solver. I did not get the job. Actually, the position was never filled. It was at the peak of the GFC and the bank issued a hiring freeze which continued for almost a year.
How would YOU have answered?
Use the comments box below to suggest a better response to the interview question above.
