- Describe yourself in one word. …
- Tell me about an interesting experience or encounter you’ve had recently. …
- What is your biggest pet peeve? …
- How do you define success? …
- Do you consider yourself lucky?
What do the people find the scariest during job interviews? Some can say that a new environment is stressful; the others will admit feeling uncomfortable while being evaluated by the other person. But, in fact, what people find the hardest part of the interview is being asked tricky questions.
And even if you’ve prepared for an interview thoroughly, managed a few stress reduction techniques and did a preliminary research about the company, you still can’t be immune to non-standard interview questions. Today, we’ll give a few hints and tricks on how to manage such questions.
Surprise Interview Questions
“If you could choose between being invisible or being able to fly, which would you choose?”
At first, it may sound a bit weird to ask this question. However, Forbes found it to be a great indicator of potential leadership ability, as over 70% of surveyed leaders chose flying over being invisible.
When you think about it, the question is actually asking whether a candidate prefers to be in the spotlight or behind-the-scenes.
Both answers are fine, and this shouldn’t be the only way you determine a candidate’s culture fit, and personality. However, it is a great indicator of where someone could have the most impact on your team.
“If you could compare yourself to any animal, which animal would it be and why?”
This question can help you see how creative, innovative, and quick-thinking a candidate is.
Your candidates should use this question as an opportunity to talk about their strengths and good character.
“How many books could fit in this room?”
While this question is usually intended for candidates applying primarily for technical positions that require a lot of complex problem-solving skills, you can also ask it to candidates applying for other positions.
The point of this question is to see how the candidates will approach resolving tasks rather than providing an accurate answer. This question is frequently used to determine the candidate’s logical thinking abilities.
Why companies use non-standard interview questions
The hiring manager’s main goal is to reveal how you will act in a stressful and unexpected situation. Moreover, such questions can reveal your process of thinking and personality traits, which is especially important for creative or leadership positions.
Here are the examples of unusual interview questions:
The above questions are designed to find out about your motivation and introspection. What is your inner drive and are you really focused on achieving success? When answering them, it’s important to support your answers with clear judgments and align them with the prospective position. For example, if asked about who you’d like to have lunch with, you can choose Bill Gates if you apply for a senior IT development position.
These questions are designed to evaluate your communication abilities. Nearly every applicant claims on their resume that they excel in interpersonal communication – so, this is the way to identify whether it’s true or not. Such questions also show your attention to detail and whether you can summarize simple tasks, especially when explaining things to someone who is not familiar with the subject.
This question is asked to understand your professional goals. So, don’t be afraid to sound ambitious and understand that you have the drive to climb up the corporate ladder. However, do mention how you are planning to achieve this goal; because if you state you’d like to be a CEO but have no idea of what should be done for it, you won’t impress the hiring manager.
Such questions are asked to evaluate the creative thinking skills of a candidate. So, feel free to use your imagination and come up with really unexpected and even nonsense answers; if you manage to think of something the interviewer hasn’t heard before, it’s great.
How to respond to unexpected interview questions
Conclusion
Keep in mind that the main goal of an interviewer asking non-standard questions is to get you out of your comfort zone to check how you are going to react in stressful, unexpected situations. Ability to think on your feet and make decisions in a rapidly changing environment are highly important for many positions; so, make sure to react in any unexpected questions with confidence. And even if you don’t know how to respond to a particular question, make sure to demonstrate the way you think and creative approach.
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FAQ
How do you handle unexpected interview questions?
- How many basketballs can fit on a bus?
- What two things, aside from food and water, would you want on a deserted island?
- How many pizzas are ordered every night in the United States?
- What would you do if you won the lottery?
- Blue or green?
What are 5 questions you could ask to impress in an interview?
- Just Breathe. …
- Be Yourself. …
- Use Unexpected Interview Questions to Start a Conversation. …
- Take Your Time. …
- Explain Your Thought Process When Answering Unexpected Interview Questions. …
- Pivot When You Don’t Have an Answer. …
- Recruiting Experts Can Help You Prepare for the Unexpected.
What are tricky interview questions?
- “How will you measure the success of the person in this position?” …
- “What are some of the challenges you expect the person in this position to face?” …
- “Can you describe a typical day or week in the job?” …
- “How long did the previous person in the role hold the position?
