Perhaps your interviewer was thinking of this koan:
A NEW monastery was to be opened, and the master Hyakujo had to
decide which of his monks should be put in charge. So he called
the monks together, filled a vase with water, and said to them:
"Which one of you can say what this is without giving its name?"
The chief monk, who expected to be given the new mastership, spoke
first. "It stands upright, it is hollow inside, but it is not a
wooden shoe," he said.
Another monk said, "It is not a pond, because it can be carried."
Then the cook, lowest of the monks, arose. He kicked over the vase
with his foot, so the water ran out on to the floor. He had shown
how to achieve emptiness.
Hyakujo gave him the job.