Interview Question of the Day: Do You Drive a Hummer?
Posted on Friday, May 1, 2009 by Frank Roche
Here’s my KnowHR Interview Question of the Day: Do you drive a Hummer?
If you answered “yes,” you can’t work here.
Reasons:
- You don’t care about other people. Your car weighs 6,600 lbs. Cars driving on the same road average about half that. You can crush other cars, I don’t want to find out how you’ll behave with our employees.
- You don’t care about the environment. You drive a car that doesn’t even publish its gas mileage with the EPA. Measurements have shown gas usage as bad as 8.6 miles per gallon. F-you, environment.
- You don’t care what other people think. Fugool, as they say on The Sopranos. You drive the most menacing car on the road. You don’t haul anything except ass. If you were on the corner of 17th Street and Market in Philadelphia this morning, you honked your oversized horn for 30 non-stop seconds because a cab was letting people out. Then, when the light was turning red, nearly ran over several of us crossing Market Street. Nice move. If you interviewed with me, I’d ask you if you drive a Hummer to make up for some shortcoming. Then you’d say yes. Then I’d say you can’t work here.
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UPDATE: John Hoderney left this comment below: I’ve driven a Hummer and the ability to do so was a BFOQ…although mine was all green and didn’t have a/c. Property of U.S. Government stamped all over it ~ billions on bail-out money and they couldn’t spring for the a/c. I’m not bitter.
I say that I would hire anyone who drove a Hummer like John did. All I can say is thanks for doing that. Thanks very much. Driving a Hummer for a reason makes sense to me. And hey, give those guys a/c.
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[Photo credit: NZ Herald]
Michael VanDervort
May 1st, 2009
Brilliant question, and true conclusions in my opinion.
Alternative behavioral based question: “If you could drive any car in the world, what would it be, and why?”
Mark
May 1st, 2009
Our past choices and commitments (time and money) reveal who we are more than our words.
Some would regard the choices of the US administration of past years as the Hummer of the world it strikes
Thank God and voter turn-out for the new guy.
Mark
http://integrationtraining.co.uk/
Lance Haun
May 1st, 2009
Why not ask what Wizard of Oz character you’d be and why?
While I think questions like this are entertaining, I don’t think they tell us as much as we’d like. Why shouldn’t we be able to figure out if someone was a jerk in the workplace without asking questions like this?
And let’s be honest, your prototypical Porsche or Lamborghini driver is just as much of a jerk and he’s usually running the company.
Ken Moir
May 1st, 2009
That photo is priceless, and speaks volumes. I lived in Auckland, NZ for a couple of years, and behavior like this is *exactly* why I had to spend so much time defending my home country (”we’re not all like that, mate, I promise you”). Overseas, a Hummer is as distinctly American as a Renault is French, or a BMW is German — all that’s missing here is a flag decal.
Frank Roche
May 1st, 2009
@Lance…you don’t drive a Hummer I hope. (Gulp.) Look, I almost got mowed down by one today after the guy added to the Hummer cliche by laying on the horn for 30 seconds.
This isn’t real HR advice — it’s just a rant.
Frank Roche
May 1st, 2009
@Mark, you’re right…it’s about how we behaved. I can’t tell you how relieved we all were here when November 4, 2008 showed we were ready for something very different in the U.S. I am laughing about the past administration being the Hummer of the World. Great phraseology.
Frank Roche
May 1st, 2009
@Michael That’s a far better question. Far. Mine was from the gut because I saw a big Hummer grill getting way too close to me today.
Frank Roche
May 1st, 2009
@Ken It’s a nuts photo, isn’t it? There is a ton of information packed into that little photo. And it’s why I reacted today…I suppose there are nice, empathetic people who drive Hummers. I wouldn’t be going out on a limb to say they aren’t the majority of Hummer owners.
Kelly Hobkirk
May 1st, 2009
Love the pic.
I once watched a Seattle parking attendant write a ticket for a VW Bug which was parked about fourteen inches from the curb, which was, “Too far away,” she told me. Directly in front of the VW was a Hummer which, although parked close to the curb, stuck out into the road about eighteen inches further than the Bug.
Would you hire the parking attendant who wrote that ticket?
Jenn Barnes / HR Wench
May 1st, 2009
“You don’t haul anything except ass” should be printed on a tee shirt. I love it!
Michael VanDervort
May 1st, 2009
Speaking of t-shirts – once upon a time, I attended a total department staff meeting/retreat for the company I was working for at the time. At the end of the first day of the 3 day function, after dinner, our VP of HR proudly stood up and had a couple of his stooges start passing out t-shirts.
They were nice, grey, with a big logo that read “Thomson Human Resources doesn’t suck any more!”
We all looked around like WTF?
I wouldn’t have minded having a Hummer on that particular day!
Frank Roche
May 2nd, 2009
@Jenn I must admit I chuckled when I wrote that line. It would be a great tee shirt.
Frank Roche
May 2nd, 2009
@Michael OMG…”Thomson Human Resources doesn’t suck any more!” I can’t stop laughing about that. Yeah, a Hummer would be better in the ethical spectrum. Funny how the VPHR thought that t-shirt was something to be proud of. LOL.
Frank Roche
May 2nd, 2009
@Kelly I would not hire that parking attendant ever. That’s just crazy application of a parking policy…I’ve seen a few HR people in my day have that sort of rote understanding of what a policy meant.
That is a great picture you painted. Craziness with the ticket.
Bill Strahan
May 4th, 2009
Follow up question – tell me about your volunteer activity in the community.
If you hear crickets, say no hire!
Frank Roche
May 4th, 2009
@Bill…wow, can I use that with attribution tomorrow? That’s a really good one.
John Hoderny
May 4th, 2009
I’ve driven a Hummer and the ability to do so was a BFOQ…although mine was all green and didn’t have a/c. Property of U.S. Government stamped all over it ~ billions on bail-out money and they couldn’t spring for the a/c. I’m not bitter.
Frank Roche
May 5th, 2009
@John I would hire guys who drive those kinds of Hummers in a second. Green ones in defense of the country — HIRED. I should have been more explicit on that! Thanks for the wake up…and the smile.
Leah
Nov 18th, 2009
Hi,
I was going to ask if it’s legal to ask such a question much less base a hiring decision on the response though I was suspecting you must be kidding around, but then I re-read the comments and see your note about a rant.
So I deleted everything I wrote and figured I’ve spent 10 minutes here already, might as well make a post (for the first time) and say hi, thanks for the good ideas and stuff to think about. I’ve been following on and off for a few months and it’s been helpful.
I don’t much like Hummers either. I don’t get why anyone wants such enormous cars. I suppose it makes them feel safe, or something. Me, I want a Smart though I admit it’s pretty scary with all the Hummers and their cousins out there.
Leah
Frank Roche
Nov 19th, 2009
@Leah Hi, and welcome. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment…that means a lot.
Yeah, it was a bit of a rant that day about a Hummer…but it was just part of a larger point — that you want to know who you’re hiring. We hire for fit in most instances, and when we do that it works.
Thanks so much for saying hi.
Frank