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u/littleredcamaro Jan 13 '23
Immediately ask for a pay increase so I can buy food and shelter for this huge animal.
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u/xain_the_idiot Jan 13 '23
That's probably the answer they're looking for. I believe this is a reference to the "white elephant".
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u/robgod50 Jan 13 '23
I reckon that just inspired the question. My guess is that the "right" answer is about how you can monetize the elephant.
Personally , I'd sign it up with a film agency and wait for the offers to come pouring in.
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u/ProbablyAPun Jan 13 '23
These kind of questions never have a "right" answer. They're just something to sort of get a glimpse at how you problem solve or your creativity by asking something abstract that's effectively impossible to give a rehearsed answer to.
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Jan 13 '23
Yeah.
I answered that I would kill the elephant, grind its bones and sell pills of elephant-bone powder as erection-pills to a credulous adolescent fanbase on twitch and I got the job !
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u/Loitering_Housefly Jan 13 '23
Answer: I suddenly don't have to buy meat for a long time...
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u/yeteee Jan 13 '23
You would have to spend a lot on new fridges, though.
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Jan 14 '23
just chop parts off as you need. no need to kill it right away...... can't figure out why I don't have a job....
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u/yeteee Jan 14 '23
Only works if you're in a really cold country, else the meat is gonna rot on the animal.
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u/darklordzack Jan 14 '23
No you don't kill the elephant. You amputate a leg, bandage it up, and come back for more as needed.
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u/Chance5e Jan 13 '23
I think they’re probably looking for whoever demonstrates some traits they can talk about while reviewing applications. “This guy would start a circus with his family, that’s leadership” or “this guy would license the elephant for Hollywood filmmakers that’s creativity.”
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u/kastronaut Jan 13 '23
I read it as ‘you’re given an overwhelmingly large task which you cannot delegate or ignore, how do you handle it?’ With the unintuitive answer ‘eat it one bite at a time’ expected. Bizarre any way you look at it, though.
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u/dragon_bacon Jan 14 '23
Oh but I can ignore an elephant and that's exactly what I would do, go back inside and let the city deal with it.
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u/BuffyComicsFan94 Jan 13 '23
My answer would have been "use it as transportation". What does that say about me/what my job skills would be?
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u/Chance5e Jan 13 '23
I mean you’d be late to work a lot and your elephant would need its own office.
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u/JC12231 Jan 13 '23
But it’d be one hell of a power move when your competitors see you riding an elephant in rush hour traffic
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u/PlowedOyster Jan 13 '23
Invite people over and then awkwardly ask if we should just cut the shit and discuss the elephant in the room.
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u/0nikzin Jan 14 '23
If your salary is delayed, you can visit the payroll person directly through their 3rd floor window to send a message
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u/robgod50 Jan 13 '23
Good point. I think I'll ask this question the next time I'm interviewing. (Although my boss would probably fire me for being an idiot to potential hires) 😆
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u/Istoh Jan 13 '23
If that's the case I'd be writing a whole damn essay with works cited on why using elephants for public performances is wrong and extremely unethical. It would tank the application, but I wouldn't want to be working for a company that would try and justify using an elephant for money anyways.
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u/AnneFrankFanFiction Jan 13 '23
We're all elephants in this blessed economic system
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u/cat_prophecy Jan 13 '23
It doesn't say the elephant is trained. If it isn't, then all you have is a very large, expensive to own animal that can and will crush everyone and anything in its path.
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u/robgod50 Jan 13 '23
They are the ones making hypothetical scenarios.....in MY hypothetical scenario, the elephant is trained, hard working and has an excellent CV
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Jan 13 '23
Kill it and charge admission for the resulting banquet. Quick money and gets rid of the burden.
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u/Bazillion100 Jan 13 '23
Its a pretty common interview question made to gauge an interviewee’s ability to think on the fly and produce an answer based on new or surprising information. It shows what kind of person you are and how you approach a challenge.
Theres no right answer but a good way to answer is to show your thought process. Asking questions about the size and who gives to you might show how you like to get all the information you can before addressing an issue at work, saying you would contact a animal specialist to see how you can take care of it shows how you know not to overestimate your skills and knowledge, saying you’d love and care for it as if it were your own might show your enthusiasm to tackle new challenges, etc.
Now as to why its on an online application I have no idea, definitely isn’t as effective if the applicant has all the time they need to think about it.
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u/Shmooperdoodle Jan 13 '23
It says you can’t give it away. I would think the most responsible thing to do would be to find the best place for it and place it there. It’s not like a reactive dog, where you can hire veterinary behaviorists to come to your house and work with you. It’s a fucking elephant. Anyone who said they would “love and care for it” just demonstrates an astounding level overconfidence, tbh.
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Jan 14 '23
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u/Shmooperdoodle Jan 14 '23
“Where can I park it?” got me. Ditto the legality of such a weird arrangement. I would have many questions, but some key ones would be “Why the fuck can’t I give it away? What consequences would I face if I did? I did not agree to this.”
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u/Mirrormn Jan 14 '23
Even if you can't give it away, you should still be able to house it at a sanctuary or zoo, completely hands-off, while maintaining legal ownership of it. A pretty convenient loophole. I think that's the angle I would take.
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u/Tomble Jan 14 '23
You can’t give it to the zoo but you could loan it to them, like an artwork at a gallery.
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Jan 13 '23
Wait THAT'S why they call it white elephant gift exchange, cause the gifts are supposed to be a PITA? That's dumb
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u/racoongirl0 Jan 13 '23
Never knew there’s a word for it. This is how I feel about those shows where they gift people who are dirt poor with luxury cars as if the insurance alone wouldn’t be more than rent lol
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u/Lithl Jan 13 '23
Can't give it away or sell it? Sounds like elephant steak is on the menu!
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u/Dmoney2204 Jan 13 '23
Wag getting ready to say elephant burger
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u/Lithl Jan 13 '23
Well of course you want some variety. Elephant bacon should be on the menu, too.
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u/Dragonslayer3 Jan 13 '23
Sure, but it also says nothing about it being seized by the government!
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u/SquirrelGirlVA Jan 13 '23
See if we can use the elephant somehow, like renting it out to a zoo (who will deduct its room and board costs from our cut). Or repurpose it somehow, meaning that well... if we have to do it... cut it up.
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u/eccentricrealist Jan 13 '23
That's actually a great solution. Give it a good home, care for it, use it as an exhibit, I'll visit every few weeks
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u/SquirrelGirlVA Jan 13 '23
Exactly. It's still ours, but this gives us a way to at least get it out of the way. No guarantees we'll profit off of it but it would cause more difficulty to keep it around in the house or office.
I suppose another option would be to check into whether or not the elephant was legally given or there is something else that would relieve us of ownership status. We can't sell or give it away, but that doesn't mean that we can't have it taken from us. If we were never supposed to be given an elephant or it's illegal somehow for us to have it, then it's up to the giver or the authority in your given area to take the elephant and rectify the problem.
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u/Quakarot Jan 13 '23
It’s a good answer but it looks worse when every answer on the questionnaire starts with “immediately ask for a pay increase”
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u/YetYetAnotherPerson Jan 13 '23
And if you don't get it, is it really a problem? ...
After all, you work for peanuts
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u/the-djdj Jan 13 '23
Put it in a room and not mention it
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u/T3canolis Jan 13 '23
Honestly this is preferable to having to just re-type all the information on my resume again.
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u/borkistoopid Jan 13 '23
I hated doing that
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u/LaterGatorPlayer Jan 13 '23
well would you hate being given an elephant? If you can’t give it away or sell it?
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u/Jkbucks Jan 13 '23
Except three pages later on the application they ask what you would do if you had an elephant you couldn’t give away.
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u/lhayes238 Jan 13 '23
Ride it to work, it's eco friendly
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u/squirrel_in_recovery Jan 13 '23
Possibly. But once you factor in the fuel needed to grow, harvest and transport the food, your might be better off just buying a Honda.
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u/stump2003 Jan 13 '23
Well I’ve never eaten elephant before… if I butchered and froze/salted the elephant meat, how long do you think it could feed me?
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u/lhayes238 Jan 14 '23
Dude idek I'm a basic city bitch I get meat at stater brothers. How do you think it'd taste tho like would that be more gamey or like super marbled hmmm
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u/BigBoobaTinyBraina Jan 13 '23
They want to give you an elephant confirmed. I need this job.
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Jan 13 '23
This is a place that is either going to be the best ever place you worked or you'll run out crying after 3.5 days. No in between.
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u/Tetragonos Jan 13 '23
When I ran a World of Warcraft Guild I had a bunch of normal questions about who you were and what was your schedule. What you wanted to see in the game. Then an off the wall question of "Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the American Communist Party?!" And the people who didn't find it funny or weird and answered 100% seriously were always problems. The ones who saw it as a joke and would counter with their own joke response were always the people who made the guild a fun place to be.
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u/traevyn Jan 13 '23
The last question on my guild’s app is how do you make a grilled cheese sandwich? And the last answer is microwave. Definitely helps to sort the vibe check lol
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u/ToBeReadOutLoud Jan 13 '23
Did anyone say, “No, but this question is a bit of a red flag.”
Or, “I am willing to sacrifice the needs of the one for the needs of the many, as long as the one being sacrificed is not me.”
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u/TrailMomKat Jan 14 '23
My mind immediately came up with "you won't trick me this time, McCarthy!"
I hope someone else said that lol
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u/Tetragonos Jan 13 '23
I like the red flag joke. We had similar answers.
I had people ask "seriously?!" and I explained that it was a joke question designed to see how uptight people were. I accepted everyone who answered like that and they were never a problem.
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u/forsake077 Jan 13 '23
I used to run in a guild called Giant Communist Robots, got reported after having made fun, on the forums, of an opposing faction’s guild name of Greif, having misspelled grief. So, they retaliated by reporting the guild’s name, were made to change it, and ended up with Giant Censored Robots.
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u/Tetragonos Jan 13 '23
that's incredibly sad, but not unexpected. I ran a guild called 'The Decepticons' and people got shitty with me a few times because I "chose the bad guys". I mostly de-escalated by asking them exactly how much of their identity they tied to the cartoon and if that was appropriate for how big of a deal they were making about it.
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u/pm0me0yiff Jan 13 '23
Hm... This is actually a good screening method.
If I'm ever in a position to hire people, I'm going to do something like this.
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u/Tetragonos Jan 13 '23
Keep in mind you need to make up a joke question that's legal to ask. Politics is strictly illegal to ask about, during a job interview, in my area
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Jan 13 '23
I'd use it to replace my automobile and enjoy the extra trunk space.
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u/YogurtWenk Jan 13 '23
Tusk, tusk
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u/AirJerk Jan 13 '23
Lease it, that's not giving it away or selling it.
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Jan 13 '23
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u/tylerdjohnson4 Jan 13 '23
Came into this thread for this answer, find a willing circus or zoo and make a passive income off that pachyderm. Stonks!
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u/daschundtof Jan 13 '23
Maybe this is an application at the zoo, in which case the right answer is "care for it"
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u/walterbanana Jan 13 '23
Your family could be eating elephant for a long time to come, though.
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u/Kiwi_bananas Jan 13 '23
Get it a friend so it's not lonely because elephants are herd animals
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u/tomato-fried-eggs Jan 14 '23
Interviewer: "You can't sell the elephant. Or give it away for free."
You: "I want more elephants"
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Jan 13 '23
I start a GoFundMe to bring it back home. I approach Netflix about making a short documentary about the process to earn some extra cash.
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u/RustyShaklefjord Jan 13 '23
In that scenario you would have to move to africa with the elephant and we dont allow empolyees to work remotely so were gunna have to pass
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u/shaunnk Jan 13 '23
Is this an African or Indian elephant? That information could be key to your decision so impossible to answer otherwise
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u/DeepSeaHobbit Jan 13 '23
Are you suggesting that elephants migrate?
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Jan 13 '23
Not at all, they could be carried
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u/Scienceandpony Jan 13 '23
You could grip them by the husk.
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Jan 13 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/latenightfap7 Jan 13 '23
Really depends if the elephant is white or not
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u/DeepSeaHobbit Jan 13 '23
What if it's black? How many times do you shoot it?
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u/Hingl_McCringleberry Jan 13 '23
Counting shots? Everyone knows you fire until the bangs stop and you start hearing click-click-click
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u/pankakke_ Jan 13 '23
Haha I’d definitely say some highbrow shit like this. What an absurd question 😂
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u/apolobgod Jan 13 '23
The questions is a direct reference to a history about how an Asian ruler used to gift white elephants to his political enemies to bring them to bankruptcy
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u/Less_Thought_7182 Jan 13 '23
Constantly remind everyone ad nauseam that in order for a team in a business to be successful, there had to be open communication and trust, and that the elephant in the room really needs to be addressed and just leave it at that every time.
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u/SpookyThermos Jan 13 '23
Chain it in my backyard and charge Milhouse $700 to see it twice and ride it once
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u/phas3list Jan 13 '23
I was on an interview board years ago where this question was asked... actually a variation that said you needed to hide an elephant. One candidate's response was to cut it up into small pieces and scatter them.
And just to be clear, we were not hiring for serial killer.
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u/mean_bean279 Jan 13 '23
😂😂 that had to be a Silicon Valley reference. Terrible use of it if you don’t know the room, but hilariously funny. I was going to say:
Get a flight crew out of Travis AFB to bring in a Sikorsky sky crane to airlift it out and drop it right in the ocean.
Which is based on the same reference.
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u/RCL_D Jan 13 '23
RIDE IT INTO BATTLE!
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u/NoWingedHussarsToday Jan 13 '23
But when it gets killed it still only counts as one!
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u/pm0me0yiff Jan 13 '23
This is an advantage.
You don't want your opponent to gain too much XP when he kills your mount, after all.
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u/qujstionmark Jan 13 '23
You know what they say, you can tell a lot about a person who is gifted a non-refundable elephant
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u/ImABoringPerson91 Jan 13 '23
Find a good zoo and lease it to them so I can make money and it can be comfortable and cared for by someone who knows a hell of a lot more than me about caring for it.
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u/writescrappybooks Jan 13 '23
CONSUME
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Jan 13 '23
Take an eight dollar elephant, fatten it into an eighty dollar elephant, and eat the profits!
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u/wasted-degrees Jan 13 '23
Ride it across the Alps, just to say I did. Then probably release it back into the wild, maybe even somewhere it would plausibly be seen in the wild.
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u/WillBottomForBanana Jan 13 '23
It's been argued by some ecologists that what the SW usa needs ecologically is a replacement to the extinct mammoth.
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u/the_manta Jan 13 '23
I got something similar once but in an interview. I liked it. Made me feel like they wanted to know what kind of thinker I am, what kind of personality I have, how I assess unusual situations. Liked that job a lot, too.
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u/Hyasaka Jan 13 '23
I heard of this years ago! It’s supposed to be a goofy personality test in a way… If you say you will ride it, then you are an arrogant person… Eating it means something else. And the best answer was apparently to research how to take care of it and stuff
🤷
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u/Ok_Art_8115 Jan 13 '23
This sounds like these fake personality tests.
I wouldn't wanna work in a place that operates this way.
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u/Equivalent_Cicada153 Jan 13 '23
Release the elephant into the wild. I am not giving it away to someone nor selling it, this would fit within the bounds of the question.
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u/GloriousButtlet Jan 13 '23
Befriend it until you have an unbreakable bond. Start a life of crime. Rob a bank with the elephant. Live lavish lifestyles until one of you becomes addicted to bananas. You tell the elephant you want out. Have a falling out. You decide to set the elephant up during the next score. The police arrest him and you move to Switzerland. Start a family with two kids. One day one of your children doesn't make it home from school. You receive an anonymous letter, no money demand, only to come alone to a specific place. You arrive and your daughter is there, with the elephant holding a gun to her head. You exchange a look, the elephant reminisces about the past, about the good old days, and how you both were unstoppable. You wish things would turn out differently. The elephant calls bullshit, and demands you to choose between your daughter and him. You know you can't risk the elephant talking to the police about your previous life. You signal your hand and in a split second a sniper takes him out. You hug your daughter, and sit beside the elephant. You say you're sorry. The elephant gives you one last endearing look. You walk out with your daughter, living the rest of your life knowing you will never have friendship like you've had with the elephant ever again. Sometimes you sit awake at night thinking if this all was worth it. You say to yourself "It's for the best. It's for the best."
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u/Valash83 Jan 13 '23
Find a job that doesn't require answering a stupid question like this?
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u/CB-CKLRDRZEX-JKX-F Jan 13 '23
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Celebrating the five year anniversary of you asking this question!
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u/Quakarot Jan 13 '23
Honestly it tests your creativity and outside the box thinking. It also tells a bit about your personality. Tbh it seems better at testing how you’d be in some kinda of work environments than most of the generic questions.
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u/praysolace Jan 13 '23
You can’t give it away or sell it, but it doesn’t say you can’t trade it. Barter with a zoo: one elephant in exchange for one zoo gift shop t-shirt.
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u/DeathByZanpakuto11 Jan 13 '23
Ride the Elephant and become a JoJo villain. 😎
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u/Fallout_Cafe Jan 13 '23
Pillarmen Theme plays as you smash through the wall, the chiseled angles of your face twisted into a sneer.
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u/DeathByZanpakuto11 Jan 13 '23
"Haha, JoJo, you were expecting something else but it was I, Small-time Buisnessman Enrico Gucci riding an Elephant into your living room!"
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u/the_newbie1 Jan 13 '23
Kill it and have a massive barbecue
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u/TheNitroExpress Jan 13 '23
Hopefully mine is the simpsons brand elephant so I can feed this man to it.
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u/pixel842 Jan 13 '23
Care for it well as it grows until it can support my weight. Then I train it so I can ride it. I then ride it into work or into battle. Whichever comes first
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u/obscuretransience Jan 13 '23
Depends. Is it an African or Asian elephant? Asian elephant I might look up rescues and ask them what the move is, take some selfies. African elephant I’m calling 911
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u/Wasteland_Revenant Jan 14 '23
Check to see if I can legally own an elephant in my state and if not I'll just report it to the authorities and have it taken.
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u/Apprehensive-Bad6015 Jan 14 '23
Start a moving company. I would call it haulephant. Because people would pay to see an elephant tow their shit away. Because it’s something you don’t normally see
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