“… give it away” implies having someone else take ownership of it. Therefore, given the stipulations and my desire, I would release it back to its natural habitat… be it India or Africa. So there.
13 Likes
Pack my trunk and go.
21 Likes
23 Likes
Not replicants, maybe; but it’s totally a BS ‘weeder’ question if ever I’ve seen one.
16 Likes
That is precisely where I got the idea. Rachael: I wouldn’t accept it. Also, I’d report the person who gave it to me to the police.
19 Likes
Man I would have found that pretty funny at least.
12 Likes
when i really want to avoid a subject i always use "ask again later"
or, alternately:
2 Likes
2 end tables, 2 umbrella stands, a chess set and an industrial-sized freezer full of meat.
Kidding!!! Elephants are majestic, intelligent, creatures. People who harm or imprison them are on the wrong side. But I do wonder what the interviewer’s response would be.
If I did get a question like this, I think I’d answer with a bunch of follow-up questions:
How old is the elephant upon time of receipt?
Male or female?
Species and origin?
How can you expect me to make the best decision for the welfare of this creature without more information???
[Also, I’ve decided I don’t want to work for you.]
10 Likes
Start a GoFundMe to return the elephant to a game park in Africa. Releasing it into the wild doesn’t count as giving it away.
eta: if it’s an African elephant. Thailand for Indian elephants; there are a number of parks there that take care of herds of wild elephants.
11 Likes
This is the correct answer.
It’s very likely that anyone that asked this in an interview is not someone you want to work for.
6 Likes
Oh, I love role playing games. I cast “Shrink” so that it will fit in my pocket and be my familiar on my quest to retrieve the Galaxy Sword.
3 Likes
Luckily I checked if someone else had the same idea. Well done Sir!
I find everyone’s weird vehement response to this sort of stuff kind of bizarre. I guess I work in tech (and for what its worth, I don’t ask questions like this) but I think this is a pretty interesting question: What would you do with a large problem you couldn’t get rid of? Everyone’s focusing way too much on the ‘elephant’ part of it which is just fun set dressing and not a legitimate offer to force a large, endangered animal upon you.
I certainly do like to throw some offbeat questions at an interview candidate because I want to see how they reason through things, but I tend to stick to examples inside the field I work in. I don’t find a lot of value in asking stuff people could just Google, for example.
2 Likes
This old Viz strip popped into my head when I read the question:
7 Likes
The power differential is so huge between the two that I find it hard to empathise with your viewpoint. For one person this is a nerve-wracking process that determines their entire future and something they may have pinned their hopes and dreams on, for the other person it’s a Tuesday. So excuse me if I don’t especially care if the latter is playing games.
10 Likes
But yours is the right approach. If you want to know how someone will handle a hard, insoluble problem, then just ask them how they did so in the past.
This question is just HR hiring laziness dressed up in ‘faux’ quirkiness.
Probably the best answer would be to say “this elephant problem sounds like the time I (insert description of thorny problem that you cleverly solved).” Then say something cute about loving elephants.
The only place this question makes any sense is applying at the game preserve of an eccentric billionaire… probably right after the question about hunting man for sport.
9 Likes
This is privilege talking, but the people I interview are (for the most part) not really hurting for a job or pinning hopes and dreams on things I can provide. They can handle offbeat / open-ended questions; hell, their ability to patiently tolerate idiotic questions is a qualification in and of itself (I’m in consulting 
)
I do agree the seriousness/practicality of the interview should be in direct proportion to the power imbalance you describe.
I hope factory line workers aren’t being asked about involuntary elephant acquisitions.
3 Likes
What stood out to me was that no one said they would set the elephant free.
2 Likes
Somehow I think that your interviewees aren’t submitting their interview answers in a web form, like the person in the OP. Which leads me to believe that this is indeed a case where there is a large power imbalance.
7 Likes
Figuring out a way to constructively sell the elephant while legally holding it is exactly the kind of thing that finance consultants make the big bucks for.
3 Likes
