Arkadi Kuhlmann, Chairman & President of ING Direct USA, likes to hire people who "have a mission, something to prove”. So to figure out their psyche he sometimes asks them intriguing personality questions.
Adam Bryant of the New York Times, interviewed Kuhlmann and ended up on the hot seat. According to the interview, Bryant asked for an example and Kuhlmann obliged.
“ There are five animals — a lion, a cow, a horse, a monkey and a rabbit. If you were asked to leave one behind, which one would you leave behind?”
Bryant selected the rabbit. (I am with Bryant; I would choose the rabbit)
Lucky for him it was not a real interview and he did not choose the horse. As Kuhlmann explained, “ If you picked the horse, the conversation would end. I wouldn’t hire you because . . .”
Click here for Kuhlmann’s own selection and his analysis of Bryant's choice.
What would YOU leave behind? Do you see yourself in the choice you made?
Good article! I'd have picked the lion because it would probably eat me. I once had an interview, where I was asked whether I would rather be the bearer of bad news or the recipient of bad news. Not sure what the answers exposed, but needless to say, I didn't get the job, so who knows!
ReplyDeleteInteresting question. I sure hope that was not the reason you did not get the job. Perhaps it's designed to determine how much control you like to have over a situation (i.e. bearer rather than recipient). What kind of industry was it?
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