Lighter Side

Here are some of the questions that I have asked in many of my interviews with geoscientists. Apart from the technical questions, given below are the questions that are on the lighter side of things.

1.Steve Jobs once said, ‘The only way to do great work is to love what you do’.  Do you agree with that?

2.It is usually said, ‘life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away’. Share with me some of these moments from your professional life.

3.What differences did you notice when you turned 30 years, 40 years and 50 years? As an example, some people think 30s allowed them to experiment with options, 40s gave them time for self-introspection and some get naughty at forty. Your comments?

4.Sometimes it is said that experts are more persuasive when they are less certain.  Do you agree?  Could you elaborate on this?

5.According to a survey carried out in the UK some time back, the happiest people are the children (3-8 years) and the older individuals (68+ years).  What does this tell you?  Even if we think we are happy at present, would you take it that we will be happier when we retire, or does it tell you something else?

6. We tend to think about only where we have reached, but not where we could have reached. If we also consider the latter, it might serve as an inspiration to excel even more. What would be your take on this?

7.It is usually said that people who fall in love with geoscience, stay at it and persistently do good work.  How would you react to it?  Is it true in your case?

8.What is the most important thing that you learnt or which has influenced you in your life?

9.Sometimes, coming up with genuine and bright ideas is difficult as they go against some of the existing facts or principles that have been followed for too long. That hinders innovation. Perhaps something like this might have prompted Voltaire, a famous French historian and philosopher to say, ‘It is dangerous to be right in matters on which established authorities are wrong. What would you say to that?

10.It is generally said that women have a stronger sixth-sense than men. Would you agree? Pl. elaborate.

11.If you look back at the developments that have taken place in seismic geophysics, some people say that there are bursts of brilliance interspersed with somewhat silent periods. Would you agree?

12.Why do think common sense is called ‘common’, when it is not common?

13.Walt Disney once said ‘It is kind of fun to do the impossible’. What do you think about it?  Do you believe in this?

14.Do you ever get stressed out at work? What is your biggest turn-it-off approach?

15.What does it take to get over the hardships and challenges? Is it hard work, passion, conviction or something else?

16.During your educational years, what is one important thing that you learnt, which influenced you in your life?

17.What would you say if someone remarked ‘One person with a belief is as good as 100 who only have an interest’? Please elaborate.

18.As geoscientists, we are up to all kinds of challenges. Tell us about some of yours?

19.It is usually said that the definition of ‘happiness’ changes with age. The younger lot associate it with excitement and fun, while the older folks associate it with contentment. Would you agree? Please elaborate.

20.How would you react if someone said ‘…practice is prayer, performance is meditation’?

21.You may be in a situation where you think it seems right, but it doesn’t feel right. What would you do in such a situation?

22. Einstein once said ‘If you cannot explain something simply, you don’t understand it well’. What is your take on it?

23. ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’ is a quote by Albert Einstein. How important is this in seismic interpretation?

24. Stephen Hawking once said ‘Quiet people have the loudest minds’. What is your take on this as it pertains to Geophysics?

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