Trick Interview Questions

This Fortune article (via Business Pundit) reviews a new book devoted to brain teasers asked at job interviews to assess applicants' problem solving skills (and, I suspect, their ability to stay cool under pressure).

Reminds me of the story told about an interview at a very upmarket legal firm: the applicant was asked whether he would stand up for an elderly person on a bus. Applicant thinks: if I say yes, it shows I'm soft, if I say no I'm uncaring. Ends up saying he'll make sure the elderly person gets his seat when he goes. On his way out he hears the interviewer say to his colleague: "he catches a bus!"