Job interviewer asks job seeker 'Sell Me a Pen' as the only question in the job interview: 'I know a guy in Tanzania who can forge it into pure gold pens for 60 cents on the dollar.'

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  _{A job interviewer holds a pen that he wants job interviewees to sell to him.}

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• A company reached out to a young salesman over LinkedIn and asked for an interview. Despite the recruiter being unfriendly over the phone, the salesman obliged. Upon arriving at the interview, the interviewer asked him only one thing: “Sell me this pen.” This is how the salesman responded.

  “I know a guy in Tanzania who smuggles gold for 50 cents on the dollar who knows a guy who can forge it into pure gold pens for $.60 on the dollar and after my cut I can sell to you for $.80 on the dollar by weight. How many do you want to buy?”

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  _{A Tanzanian gold smelter smelts regular pens into gold pens.} 

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• The interviewer was frustrated with his answer, telling him that it was not what the question was about. The interviewee responded glibly

  "I told him if their product was good that’s what the conversation would be, and if I had any sense I would load up the boat. I would have definitely bought that pen.'

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  _{The job interviewer stands by his answer to the pen question.} 

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• Other professionals shared how they would've responded to this corny question. 

  'You know what? Take the pen. It's my gift to you. But the ink is $12 a month.'

  ‘What are you looking for in a pen?’

  ‘Pens are a commodity, thus it would be foolish for me to try to sell you something so ubiquitous that you most likely have multiple already in your possession. Times have changed. It’s 2026 and this is a very rough job market. You posted a position to hire someone to resolve a business problem you have. I believe I am that person for reasons I was happy to explain. However, what I will not do is waste both of our time participating in an antiquated, performative exercise. Let’s not forget that I am interviewing you, too. This does not appear to be a good fit. Thank you for your time, I wish you success in finding the right person, and you might consider refocusing your questions to a more relevant track. I’ll see myself out.’

  ‘So, Sam, where are you from?’

• What would you do if you had to answer an interview question straight out of the 1990s like this one?

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