For those walking into a job interview, it isn’t enough for anymore just to be able to answer questions on the greatest weakness or biggest achievement. Now, job seekers have to be ready to answer questions like: “If you were a dog, what kind of breed would you be?”
Popularized by companies like Apple and Google, weird interview questions have slowly made their way from Silicon Valley to the offices of most hiring managers around the country, and you must be prepared to answer them before your next interview.
The following odd interview questions can help you prepare for these increasingly common curveballs.
“What Do You Think About Garden Gnomes?”
Commonly asked as part of the interview process for Trader Joe’s, this borderline absurd question is designed to see if a candidate is capable of loosening up in a high-pressure situation – a job interview.
The substance of you answer here isn’t as important as your approach. When you get a question like this, your interview is giving you permission to relax, at least momentarily. Try to think of something glib to say, like a safe-for-work joke or a personal anecdote.
“If You Have Been Given an Elephant that You Have to Keep, What Do You Do with It?”
At first blush, this might also seem like a question meant to get you to show a lighter side of your personality. While it is a bit silly, its main purpose is to get a sense of your ability to solve an unexpected problem.
When handed an odd, abstract puzzle to solve, the best approach is to talk out your thought process: Identify the main problem, cite the aspects of it, lay out your priorities and come up with solutions.
“How Many Tennis Balls Would Fit in This Room?”
Brainteaser questions are like puzzle questions, but they ask you to do a bit of work. So, in addition to laying out your thought process, it’s also important to use logic. A good response to this question would include measuring the dimensions of a tennis ball and the dimensions of the room.
“If You Were a Dog, What Kind of Dog Would You Be?”
This question is designed to get a sense of your creativity. Obviously, there is no wrong answer to this question, but some answers are better than others.
Since you’re being asked this question in a job interview, a good approach is to tie your answer back to the discussion at-hand: Think of one of your professional strengths and use it in your response. For instance, if you’ve got a strong record of organization, you could say you’d be an Old English Sheepdog because you would be good at keeping your sheep herd organized.
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