Engineering Test
Murphy, a young man, applied for an engineering position at an Irish firm based in Dublin.
An American applied for the same job.
Both applicants, having the same qualifications, were asked to take a test by the department manager.
Upon completion of the test, both men only missed one of the questions.
The manager went to Murphy and said, “Thank you for your interest, but we decided to give the American the job.”
Murphy asked, “And why would you be doing that? We both got nine questions correct.
This being Ireland and me being Irish, I should get the job.”
The manager said, “We have made our decision based not on the correct answer but rather on the question that you missed.”
Murphy then asked, “Just how would one incorrect answer be better than the other?”
The manager replied, “Simple. The American put down on question number 5, ‘I don’t know.'”
You put down, ‘neither do I.’”