Actually 100m across where? At London Bridge it's 265m wide. At the mouth it's 18 miles across. At the narrowest point it's only 18m across. At Oxford it's 46m, so you could say you only know the Thames from your time at Oxford.
What a stupid thing to ask in an interview. Answering that would prove... what? That you can multiply and make some wild guesses about a geographic detail you aren't familiar with?
I interviewed for a job in Sweden a long time ago (I'm a US citizen). The hiring team took me to dinner, and I got the impression my future at the company (or not) depended on my willingness to eat every kind of fermented fish offered at the restaurant. They didn't ask me how many liters of water Lake Mälaren holds.
> Answering that would prove... what? That you can multiply and make some wild guesses about a geographic detail you aren't familiar with?
Yeah, it was just weird. The interviews by the team in California were better, to be fair. (Though I still don't understand why they had to fly me there. The day after a 15 h flight across timezones, they spent 8 h giving me brain teaser questions. I was toast after that.)
> my willingness to eat every kind of fermented fish
Actually, not just where, but in which direction? Because during high tides the water can flow backwards up to the Thames Barrier in Greenwich, which they can close if it is too much.
And if you are from Sweden you can ask back: how many IT people does it take to eat a single can of surströmming? It is at least as relevant to doing the job well and to mix with locals, isn't it?
What a stupid thing to ask in an interview. Answering that would prove... what? That you can multiply and make some wild guesses about a geographic detail you aren't familiar with?
I interviewed for a job in Sweden a long time ago (I'm a US citizen). The hiring team took me to dinner, and I got the impression my future at the company (or not) depended on my willingness to eat every kind of fermented fish offered at the restaurant. They didn't ask me how many liters of water Lake Mälaren holds.