Craziest Interview Questions Asked Of MBA Job Candidates

“If you could be any animal, what would you be?”

A sales manager once posed that question to Jeff Schmitt, one of Poets&Quants' staffers. And he wasn’t sure how to respond. He was interviewing for a high-end, take-no-prisoners sales job. That meant he couldn’t respond with “Labrador Retriever,” a gentle creature content to gobble up table scraps and laze away his summers. No, he needed to be tough and ante up with a beast who commanded respect and conveyed a fierce drive and decisiveness.

So he answered with “a shark.”

Jeff didn’t get the job. Perhaps his would-be employer wanted an anaconda, instead.

To this day, Jeff is still not sure why the guy beaned him with that curveball. Maybe he was testing his ability to improvise. Or, he intended to take him out of his comfort zone, to rub away the polish to see how Jeff really viewed the world. While he confessed that Jeff really knew the product, perhaps his “shark” answer revealed that he truly didn’t understand the customer – or the company culture. Then again, maybe he recognized that Jeff was more Marley than Jaws.

Yes, off-the-wall questions are a fact of business, particularly when you’re seeking six-figure jobs that generate seven (or even eight) figures in value. Here, your answers can either raise a red flag – or make you a truly memorable candidate.

In a recent survey of MBA alumni from Top-100 schools, the Financial Times asked this question: “What has been the most difficult question that you have been asked in a job interview since graduation?” Wondering what you should expect in your job interviews? Here are some questions cited by MBAs:

• How can you think that a company will pay you $100,000 a year after your MBA?

• How many hours would a dog take to walk from Madrid to Barcelona with a can on its tail?

• In what circumstances would you allow a lie?

• What is the weight in tons of Manhattan?

• What would you do if a lion entered the room at this moment?

• So you want to work in finance – tell me how would you value a dinosaur?

• Explain your last job profile to a 10-year-old.

• Two, six, 42, 1806 . . . what number comes next?

original source :https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140617134718-17970806-craziest-interview-questions-asked-of-mba-job-candidates

DON'T MISS 16 Easy Ways To Improve Your Focus

1. Invest in your sleep. Not sleeping enough makes people distracted, fat, and unethical, so be sure to get your rest. While everybody's needs are different, it's generally between six to nine hours. And invest in some nice sheets. —Yishan Wong

2. Exercise your body. Harvard Medical School has found that exercise improves your memory and concentration. You don't have to be a Channing Tatum, but it's important that your body is an asset, not a liability. —Achintya Prakash

3. Exile your distractions. Close email, Facebook, Twitter. Put your phone on airplane mode. Turn off anything that blinks, dings, buzzes, or vibrates. Don't even give yourself the chance to multitask — since it erodes your attention span. —Bill Hall

4. Keep a routine. If you sleep, work, and relax at irregular intervals, you'll spend unnecessary energy trying to organize your time. Like French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, " Be regular and orderly in your life , so that you may be violent and original in your work." —Frederick Javalera

5. Use the Pomodoro technique. Taking its name from a Pomodoro timer, which runs for 25 minutes, the Pomodoro technique is a practice of focusing intently on something for 25 minutes and then taking a five-minute break to get coffee, go to the bathroom, whatever. —Selene Chew

6. Wake up at the same time every day. The regularity lets your hormones get into a rhythm, giving you the most energy, clarity, and focus through the morning. —Michal Ugor

7. Take a stance on email. Is your job to be on top of things — to respond to everything as quickly as possible? Or does it require long hours of studying and concentration? If the latter, email might remain urgent, but it's not important. So only check it a few times a day. —Xi Cheng

8. Know what your life goals are. If you don't know what they are, read a good book on the subject (BI's favorite: "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). Because w hen you know what you want to do, it's easier to not do everything else. —Rolfe Dlugy-Hegwer

9. Do things you enjoy focusing on. It takes "emotional labor" to do work that you don't engage with, so try to arrange your work day around that engagement, and hack it when it's not there. —George Mortimer

10. Write out your obituary. It helps you identify what you actually need to get done. —Dan Webster

11. Take a break when you're making awesome progress on a task . You'll come back to it quicker and with more energy. Like Ernest Hemingway said, always " leave some water in the well ." — Pratik Mhatre

12. Put noise-canceling headphones on. Not only do they reduce noise, they signal to your colleagues that you're not to be bothered. —Dave Concannon

13. Find a partner in crime. Teaming up with a coworker will keep you accountable — if she's coding while you're checking Facebook, you'll feel foolish. —Krzysztof Kowalczyk

14. Read physical books. It will train you in paying attention to an object for an extended length of time — something the digital world doesn't provide very well. —Murali Veeraiyan

15. Listen to music. It helps you stay in your workflow, since the sound occupies the part of your brain on the lookout for "danger, food, sex, or shiny things." —Amir Baer

16. Break large projects into smaller pieces. Then, instead of having vague goals, set clear deadlines. Execute against those to guide your focus. —Farsheed Atef

The Gateway to Hell

A huge burning gas crater in the heart of Turkmenistan's Karakum desert was the result of a simple miscalculation by Soviet scientists in 1971 after their boring equipment suddenly drilled through into an underground cavern and a deep sinkhole formed. Fearing that the crater would emit poisonous gases, the scientists took the decision to set it alight, thinking that the gas would burn out quickly and this would cause the flames to go out. But the flames have not gone out in more than 40 years, in a potent symbol of the vast gas reserves of Turkmenistan, which are believed to be the fourth largest in the world.

original source: https://in.news.yahoo.com/lightbox/photos-the-gateway-to-hell-slideshow/the-door-to-hell-photo-1402552713330.html

Students take on rash drivers

There are more than a 150 million registered vehicles in India and the number is only set to rise. With that rise has come a steady deterioration in the already deplorable safety standards on Indian roads with people dying every hour in road accidents. However, what really shocked four engineering students from Bhopal was the number of children being killed in school-bus accidents. Something needed to be done.
Raj Sharma, Pushpendra Singh, Nupur Agarwal and Noopur Deo or Innova Triggers as they like to call themselves have decided to take on a herculean task - they intend to check and reduce rash driving on Indian roads particularly by public and school bus drivers through an ingeniously devised system. They call it the Vehicle Mapping and Speed Information System.
“This will be an embedded system that uses GPS or signal releasing sensors depending on the cost and reliability. A chip is connected to the speedometer of the vehicles. We program it so that when the vehicle crosses a certain limit it generates a signal which will be received by a receiver that confirms the speed,” explains Raj. “We also added chip to the milometers to generate a signal when a vehicle crosses the range of a particular domain."
The mapping system, he says, uses GPS as well and is similar to the railway monitoring system. A map shows you where each vehicle is and the speed at which it is being driven. In case of an accident this system also helps establish accountability.

“In this way,” Pushpendra says “besides reducing accidents it also helps in child security, and at the same time gives out information on whether the driver is following the designated route or taking unauthorised short cuts. Stolen vehicles can also be tracked easily.”

Despite the interest generated by their idea the 21 year old students of IES College of Technology, Bhopal are finding it extremely difficult to get adequate backing for their innovation. Stuck at the ideation stage they are looking for “support from people with expertise in embedded systems and micro-controllers, who could help in designing and coding the system”. Most importantly they need money for purchasing the requisite components.

Inasmuch as this system prevents the misuse of public and privately owned transport vehicles, Innova Triggers' vehicle mapping and speed information system could have prevented an incident like the Delhi gangrape from happening. The foursome feel so too. Meanwhile,they’ve decided to dedicate their energies to other worthwhile endeavors.Their current project involves an innovation on the Aadhar card.

“The road hasn’t been easy. We have had to face many obstacles even to reach here, but the journey has been interesting”, says a beaming Raj. “We’ve learned many things, like teamwork and how to work to innovate particularly in the areas of social issues. We’ve acquired problem solving skills, and yes hard work eventually does pays off.” We hope that optimism is rewarded soon. 

original story:http://innovationjockeys.net/past-season-details.php?id=28

World's first robot who learned emotions

Ever feel like no one really understands you? Well "Pepper" could be about to change all that.

That's because Pepper is actually a robot and touted as the world's first with the ability to read emotions.

The humanoid robot -- which looks slightly like a shrunken Michelin Man -- was unveiled to curious onlookers in Tokyo stores on Friday by SoftBank, a Japanese telecom giant and Aldebaran, a French robotics company.

Pepper doesn't look much like its name. Standing under four-feet tall with a tablet computer mounted to its chest, it has human-like hands and a mermaid-like lower torso — though its toddler-like voice seems incongruous with this state-of-the-art facade.

Despite the high-pitched voice, Pepper is able to converse about everything from the weather, to more sophisticated topics like the latest fluctuations in the stock markets.

A customer leans over to hear Pepper's chirpy, childlike voice.

Yet the great differentiator is the fact Pepper is fully interactive, making eye contact when meeting people.

Pepper is "the first robot to read human emotions," said Softbank's CEO Masayoshi Son told reporters at a press conference in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

"Robots like Pepper are adding a new dimension in our daily lives. They would change it with the same magnitude as the PC, Internet and mobile phones did."

How Pepper reads your moods

Using its emotion recognition functions, Pepper can react to people in its vicinity -- making jokes, dancing and even rapping (in Japanese), as it did in an onstage demonstration on Thursday.

Pepper can analyze facial expressions, human voice tones and gestures, then react autonomously through algorithms, its creators say.

"Our vision is to create an affectionate robot that can understand people's feelings. Then autonomously, it will take action," said Son.

He envisions robots playing roles in education, healthcare and entertainment, but their primary goal isn't to work in the industry like existing robots.

"Our's is not aiming for productivity, but rather at the home or store, where we provide fun and entertainment," Son said.

Pepper is designed to be a family robot -- perhaps more like a sleeker version of Rosie, the household robot on the cartoon "The Jetsons."

"Pepper is powered by love inside a family," Son said. "Not only is he making jokes, making them laugh. The robot acts out at its own expense, in natural disaster, it can help them and also comfort those people who are sad or lonely, encourage them or make them laugh."

When Pepper goes on sale

Pepper goes on sale in Japan for around US$2,000 in February 2015. For now, several Peppers are at Softbank stores in Tokyo for spectators to visit. The creators say before releasing Pepper for sale, they want the robots to accumulate more knowledge, to evolve and get more sophisticated in its interactions with humans.

"Several thousand Peppers are going to learn at the store," Son said. "Everything they learned and gained, is going to be accumulated into the cloud-based service. So that can be accelerating the evolution of the collective wisdom."

Pepper functions through cloud-based artificial intelligence.

SoftBank and Aldebaran envision the robot being sold overseas eventually. After all, Pepper is quite the polyglot, speaking 17 languages.

original source:http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/06/world/asia/japan-robot-softbank/

The 20 Highest-Paying Jobs You Can Do From Home

U.S. businesses will spend half a billion dollars hiring remote freelance workers in 2014.

"The growth is a clear indicator of a transition of work online," says Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance-oDesk.
The company's platform — which serves as a broker between companies that need skills and freelancers eager to supply them — sees 2.7 millio n freelance jo bs posted a year. According to Elance-oDesk ,  the total earnings of freelancers have grown 50% compounded annually over the past five years.
From Rosati's perspective, so many businesses are hiring these workers because they need work done on demand, typically for a short stint. In those cases, a marketplace like Elance-oDesk becomes like the Amazon Prime for jobs. It's a win for both the employer, who can hire on an as-needed basis, and for the worker, who has flexibility of schedule and location.

What's more, freelancers with the right skills can earn a great living from the comfort of their homes — if the highest-paying freelance jobs are any indicator.

The wage numbers below come from the combined databases of Elance.com and oDesk.com, pulling from January 1 to May 31 of this year. 

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original source :https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/20-highest-paying-jobs-home-170900030.html

Cellphone operator reveals scale of gov't snooping

LONDON (AP) — Vodafone, one of the world's largest cellphone companies, revealed the scope of government snooping into phone networks Friday, saying authorities in some countries are able to directly access an operator's network without seeking permission.

The company outlined the details in a report that is described as the first of its kind, covering 29 countries — in Europe, Africa and Asia — in which it directly operates. It gives the most comprehensive look to date on how governments monitor the mobile phone communications of their citizens.
The most explosive revelation was that in a small number of countries, authorities require direct access to an operator's network — bypassing legal niceties like warrants. It did not name the countries.
"In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link," the report said.
The report itself reflects the concern now being raised regarding privacy rights around the world. Though Vodafone is a global company, it consists of separate subsidiaries, all of which are subject to domestic laws of the countries in which it operates.
"The need for governments to balance their duty to protect the state and its citizens against their duty to protect individual privacy is now the focus of a significant global public debate," the company said in the report. "We hope that ... disclosures in this report will help inform that debate."
The findings will alarm civil rights advocates already in arms over the revelations of Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency systems administrator whose leaks have exposed some of the agency's most sensitive spying operations.
Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights group Liberty, described the findings as a worst-case scenario infringement into civil rights.
"For governments to access phone calls at the flick of a switch is unprecedented and terrifying," Chakrabarti said in a statement, adding that the Snowden revelations showed the Internet was already being treated as "fair game."
"Bluster that all is well is wearing pretty thin - our analogue laws need a digital overhaul," she said.
The company attached a number of caveats to the report, arguing that it is governments, not communications operators, who have the responsibility to offer greater transparency on demands for data.
The company argues that for one thing, no single operator has the whole picture. It also notes that different operators have different ways of reporting statistical data — or may choose not to publish it at all.
"After months of detailed analysis, it has become clear that there is, in fact, very little coherence and consistency in law and agency and authority practice, even between neighboring EU Member States," the report said. There is also a big difference between governments on the best way to improve transparency.
Though the United States is not one of the countries assessed in the report, the study comes at a time when other businesses are expressing concern about the use of communications data.
Executives in Silicon Valley, for example, have stepped up pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama to curb the U.S. government surveillance programs which collect information off the Internet.
Twitter Inc., LinkedIn Corp. AOL Inc. Google Inc., Apple Inc., Yahoo Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are pushing for tighter controls over electronic espionage — fearing that eavesdropping threatens the technology industry's financial livelihood.




original source:yahoo

Chinese man builds scooter with suitcase

He Liangcai,a Chinese farmer has built a a battery-powered scooter with a suitcase which not only helps in the transportation of his belongings but also himself. He Liangcai demonstrated his invention at the Changsha train station, from where he rode to his home a few kilometers away. The suitcase scooter weighs seven kgs and is capable of carrying two people. It can travel up-to 20 km per hour for a distance of 50-60 km. It also comes equipped with GPS navigation and a burglar alarm.Since it is battery operated, it needs to be charged. It took him 10 years to invent the suitcase scooter. The vehicle is made from a stripped-down electric scooter which is embedded into a suitcase. The rider strides the rectangular luggage and grabs handlebars that control the throttle, breaks and lights. He is already a recognized inventor as he has won a prize at a US-based inventors awards ceremony in 1999 for the invention of an innovative car safety system. He said that he got the idea of the suitcase scooter when he forgot his luggage on his way to accept the award in the US.(IANS)

 

original source:https://in.news.yahoo.com/lightbox/chinese-man-builds-scooter-with-suitcase-slideshow/chinese-man-builds-scooter-with-suitcase-photo-1401871762945.html

Tribal woman killed in front of her children in Meghalaya

Shillong, June 4 (IANS) A 35-year-old tribal Garo woman was shot dead in front of her children in Meghalaya by members of an outlawed militant group after she resisted an alleged bid to rape her, a police officer said Wednesday.

"Josbina Sangma was shot dead by the (outlawed) Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels after she resisted the rebels' attempt to molest and rape her late Tuesday," Lakardor Syiem, the district police chief of South Garo Hills, told IANS.
The murder took place inside Sangma's house compound at Raja Rongat village when two of the five GNLA rebels' armed with AK rifles fired at the woman's head in front of her children.
"It is one of the most gruesome and inhuman cold blooded murder... they used AK rifle and fired five to six shots at her head in front of the children while her husband was prevented from coming out of the house," Syiem said.
"One of the rebels who attempted to molest and rape her was identified as Tengton," the police official said.
Raja Rongat village bordering the India-Bangladesh border is about 360 km from Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya.
Meghalaya Home Minister Roshan Warjri condemned the killing, saying such a brutal act is not tolerated in a civilized society.
"This gruesome incident should be condemned by all right thinking citizens in strongest term. Such elements have no place in a civilized society and the police are already on their job to nab the killers," Warjri told IANS.
Meanwhile, the home minister has directed Additional Director General of Police in-charge Law and Order Y.C. Modi and Inspector General of Police in-charge Western Range H Nongpluh to rush in to the village to assess the situation.
The GNLA, one of the five Garo tribal rebel groups, is fighting for a separate Garoland to be carved out of Meghalaya.
GNLA rebels, who number around 100, unleashed terror in five impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the last five years and killed over 100 people, including security personnel.



original source: http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=485751

The BMW i8. THE MOST PROGRESSIVE SPORTS CAR.

The BMW i8 is ready to revolutionize its vehicle class. As the first sports car with the consumption and emission values of a compact car. The strength of the plug-in hybrid lies, among other factors, in the perfect synchronization of electric motor and combustion engine, which makes itself apparent in maximum efficiency and dynamics on the road. The first sports car that even accelerates the zeitgeist.

Progressive driving pleasure.

The BMW i8 film.

Experience a sports car
that changes a lot.

Progress in motion: a vehicle that fascinates. With innovative LifeDrive architecture, ground-breaking materials such as carbon, layering design and numerous intelligent BMW Efficient Dynamics measures. Discover the BMW i8 in action.

Development.

Every great pioneering achievement has its own story. In the case of the BMW i8, it begins in 2008 with the launch of Project i – and with no lesser objective than the reinvention of urban mobility. Just one year later, the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics concept showed what a technology leader geared fully toward energy saving can look like. This was the basis that gave rise to the BMW Concept i8, which demonstrated in near-production-ready form where the development would lead. All available BMW EfficientDynamics technologies were already united within this vehicle, an intelligent lightweight concept had been implemented, and the idea of a sports car for the future was already detectable. Series production of the BMW i8 marks the current peak of the development: a plug-in hybrid with the appearance and the breathtaking performance of a sports car, which at the same time exhibits the consumption and emissions of a compact car. And thus convincingly resolves the apparent contradiction between efficiency and dynamics.

EFFICIENCY & DYNAMICS.

Opposites attract.

The BMW i8 unites the best of both worlds – and offers sporty driving performances with low consumption and emission figures.

Design.

Through its overall concept, the BMW i8 embodies the accomplished vision of a modern and sustainable sports car. The highly emotive design instantly shows which qualities the BMW i8 has to offer. Yet is doesn’t rely entirely on its sports car character. Its aesthetics also pursue functional aims: more aerodynamics for maximum efficiency.

Drive system.

The BMW i8 offers far more than pure athleticism. With its unique drive concept, it essentially reinvents the idea of sporting mobility. This is because the powerful plug-in hybrid system with the combination of BMW e Drive technology and a BMW Twin Power Turbo 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine brings together the benefits of an electric motor and a petrol engine to produce an outstanding driving experience.



Original Source: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/i/i8/2014/showroom/index.html