I've been including the prompt of "Tell me a joke" in my job listings since 2014 after discovering that Yahoo used it as a means of assessing a candidate's ability to follow instructions and their fit into the company culture. When used in hiring through 📝UpWork it's a required field on the cover letter.
The simple prompt has enabled fast filtering of those with minimal skills in English.
Favorites
- Applicant to a Motion Graphics role —
- Client: Please remove the unnecessary circle at the end of the sentence.
- Me: You mean … the period?
- Client: I don’t care what you designers call it; it is unsightly.
- Applicant to a Social Marketing role —
- Q: Why did the marketer breakup with her boyfriend?
- A: Lack of engagement.
- There are three types of people in this world - those who can count and those who can't.
Filtered
Responses to the "Tell me a joke" prompt that resulted in the candidate being removed from selection:
- "I will work for free"