Weird and Wacky Job Interview Questions and Answers
Thinking That Busts Right out of the Box
Off-The-Wall Interview Questions
At your last employment interview, how did you really feel as a job candidate and as a person? Did you feel as if you were being dissected by a mad scientist? Did you wonder if there were aliens in the inner office feeding questions to your interviewer telepathically?
Interview questions are becoming stranger every year. In an attempt to catch the interviewee off guard, HR representatives are devising increasingly bizarre questions to ask potential employees.
Some job candidates feel that this trend has gone too far; these sentiments may increase since credit background checks are being ruled unlawful in many US states, and employers will need to find other, more creative ways to delve into a potential employee's past.
But have no fear: Read on to prepare good answers to these horrible interview questions.
The Interviewer-From-Another-Planet
Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits? Where Are These Interview Questions Coming From?
In the last ten to fifteen years, some strange and different interview questions have come into use among job interviewers around the United States. In fact, interviewers are inventing new brain-stimulating questions every five years or more often. Job candidates may find it hard to keep up with the new types of questions!
Some of these questions have the feel of those pop psychology quizzes from magazines, some sound like psychiatric examinations, some seem like logic puzzles, and some don't make much sense at all.
These off-the-wall questions are designed to make you think creatively and quickly, tap into your inner resources, and reveal your true personality.
Unusual questions are often asked by an interviewer in order to find out more about your inner self and how your mind works. It is a way to get to know you better without asking questions that are overly personal (and possibly illegal).
Your answer to such questions will tell the interviewer whether you will be a good fit for the company, as well as reveal how creative you are and how well you can think in spur-of-the-moment scenarios.
Before answering a question you feel is odd, take a deep breath and think for a moment or two, then answer candidly. Remember to think about the company's motivation for asking that question, then find an answer that is both true and professionally savvy.
The Mad Scientist Interviewer Mixing Truth Serum
Wild Card Interview Questions
The following questions have been used recently in job interviews around the country. Some of the questions offer tips to help you understand what the job interviewer is looking for.
Q: If you were a tree (or animal), what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
For either one, pick something strong and/or intelligent like a tiger or lion (no snakes and nothing fluffy or cuddly) and try to relate the animal to the skills needed on the job. For trees, pick an oak (strong and long-lived) and not a weeping willow.
Q: If you were a Star Trek® or Star Wars® character, which one would it be?
This is easy. There are a lot of fun pop quizzes based on sci-fi personalities. Pick a character that is a leader and a bit of a risk-taker: Captain Kirk, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Spock, Sarek, etc.
Q: What is your favorite color?
There are some personality and work-style quizzes based on colors.
Q: You are invited to a large cocktail party at a country club. When you arrive, the room where the party is being held is already over half full of people. How do they react to you when you enter the room?
This question tests for self-confidence.
Q: Why are manhole covers round?
This question is looking for a creative or logical answer. For instance, a square manhole cover requires precision to replace, but a round cover doesn't.
Q: What is your favorite drink?
Personality may be a little like a drink, but an answer to this question also may tell your employer whether you drink alcohol or not. In order to keep health insurance costs low, the company may try to hire non-drinkers or those who don't immediately think of alcohol when they hear the word "drink."
Q: What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
This will reveal your planning and personality traits.
Q: What is the last book you read?
Employers like employees who read the newspaper and magazines related to their industry.
Q: If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Your answer shows your interests and creativity and could give them a clue about what your ideal self looks like and what you're aiming to be.
Q: What was the last movie you went to see/favorite movie/favorite song?
Your answer will reveal your interests.
Q: How would you explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew?
This one shows creativity, depth of knowledge, and your ability to summarize a topic.
Q: How many gas stations would you say there are in the United States?
This one displays how you go about solving a large problem. It's about estimations vs. actual calculations, and sometimes you can do both.
Q: If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet, what would you want?
Your answer reveals your creativity and your professional goals. It's also a bit of a trick question: will you latch onto the idea that you can have anything you desire or focus on what job you could imagine performing on another planet?
Q: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?
Your answer reveals your interests and personality.
Q: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role?
Your answer shows self-confidence, personality, and how you see yourself.
Q: If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Reveals creativity and personality.
Q: If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
Your answer shows creativity and personality and offers a summary of your accomplishments.
Q: If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?
An opportunity to express your goals and your planning style.
Q: If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?
Goes to personality. May also let the company know if you are likely to enjoy unhealthy food and raise their insurance rates!
Q: If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?
Your response shows creativity, goals, planning, generosity, responsibility, and desire to work.
Q: If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?
Your answer reveals personality.
Q: If you were a car, what kind would you be?
Your response reveals personality.
Q: If you were written about in the newspaper, on the front page, what would the headline say?
The answer reveals creativity, personality, and accomplishments.
Q: Who do you like best, your mom or dad?
I'd be careful of this one and say I liked them both. Don't indicate family problems or gender preferences, or preferential treatment in an interview. Say something about what each parent taught you that has helped you become a success in life.
Q: What kind of people do you dislike?
Another question to be careful with. If you name any group (minority class, political party, or make any other sweeping generalization), you will be affiliating yourself with a hate group or branded a bigot. Say that there are no particular people you dislike, although you find some behaviors annoying, such as not completing work assignments on time, wasting the company's time gossiping, etc.
Q: What makes you angry?
Be leery about admitting to losing your temper. Indicate that you handle problems as they arise so that they don't build up to the anger point.
Q: How many close friends do you have?
Most people do not have a lot of close friends, so don't say you do if you don't. Saying you have a lot of really close friends may make you seem like a liar or a shallow person. Most people have a handful of really close friends and many more casual friends.
In a small room, you have a refrigerator. If you left the door of the fridge open, would the temperature in the room fall, or would the temperature in the fridge rise? Why?
For a question like this, if you don't know the answer, it might be a good idea to show your logic by musing aloud about possible contributing factors. For example, if my refrigerator stops running if the door is left open for longer than a specific time (a few minutes), so the refrigerator temperature rises, beginning at the shutoff time. The room temperature may rise by an insignificant amount at first, but the temperature reaches equilibrium between room and refrigerator in an hour or two.
Q: At a Subway Sandwich interview: What's the most important part of the sandwich?
Correct answer: the smile.
Q: What kind of banana are you? A: An extremely hard-working and responsible banana.
A Question of Intelligence: Interview Questions Designed to Test Your Brain
Q: If I assembled three of your former supervisors in a room and asked them about you, what would they say about you that is not true?
It would be good to say that they would all over-praise you; that you worked hard for all your supervisors, but you're a humble individual.
Q: What are the first three things you'd do on your first day at work here?
Include one about getting to know the staff and daily activities and two organizational items.
What were the causes of the Civil War?
You may also be asked this about the Revolutionary War or the War in Iraq. Employers want you to know how to prevent big problems, and learning from the past should help us know what to do (and not to do) in the future.
Can you describe an atom?
Say it is like a tiny solar system. Name the major components (protons, neutrons, electrons) and subatomic particles, if applicable.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you?
You might say you are an eight or nine, but would be a 10 if you could work for their company. However, that might seem too simpering and coy. Much below an 8, though, and the interviewer(s) will assume depression and worry about the high cost of employee health insurance and absenteeism.
Q: How would you describe yourself in three words?
Use solid words like resourceful, intelligent, quick, dependable, energetic, honest, sincere, determined, goal-directed, competitive, innovative, etc.
Q: How would you design a spice rack for a blind person?
Any creative answer would be great–braille labels, "talking" containers, etc. Your answer will reveal your ability to innovate and empathize.
Q: What is the temperature when it's twice as cold as zero degrees?
Convert from Fahrenheit to Centigrade and then double the resulting number. The answer is that 0° F equals -17.8° C, and when doubled, that equals -35.6° Centigrade. -35.6° C is the answer.
A: Tell me about the worst boss you ever had.
Do not complain about former bosses. You might state that some may not have taught you as much as others did and then point out a few good qualities of a favorite past boss.
The following is a quote that can be remembered in answering several types of odd interview questions. It comes from a famous architect (architects often score high on certain intelligence tests):
Less is more only when more is too much.
— Frank Lloyd Wright
This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
© 2007 Patty Inglish MS
Experiences and Suggestions
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on February 10, 2014:
They may have some of their own to add!
HomeBizNews from USA on February 10, 2014:
Great Hub. I' going to share with my friends at work!
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on October 13, 2013:
These are all from my own experiences and some of my clients have also heard these questions, ayanbuaya. In the 2010s, an even odder bunch of questions is being asked and I;ll need to make another list!
ayanbuaya on October 12, 2013:
Such a wonderful post.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on September 15, 2013:
@carrie Lee Night - One of the biggest space mining companies asks soe even more creative questions that are probably better than any on the list in this Hub. I have been asked every one of the questions above and find some pretty odd.
Planetary Resources asks engineer applicants fun questions like:
--What name would you give a crash test dummy, and why?
--Are your soldering skills best described as Cro-Magnon, Offensive, Survivable, Clean and Functional, Mil-spec compliant, or Angelic (cue choir sounds)?
The company is invested by Google leadership, James Cameron and other well known people. They are a lot of fun. I sent them a donation to help buy time-sharing on space telescopes for students and teachers to use. They raised enough in just 2 days through crowdsourcing to purchase/build 100 new space telescopes.
Carrie Lee Night from Northeast United States on September 15, 2013:
WOW!!! Very interesting. I have not personally ran into any questions like these in an interview, however it is always possible. I would like being asked these questions at an interview better than taking one of those one size fits all personality tests that have mutiple choices. But I'm asking myself how far is too deep with some of these questions? If you really want to analyze my personality observe me outside the box :) Thank you for writing these types of hubs, they are well appreciated and valued :) Have a wonderful week.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on February 08, 2013:
Hey, Spongy! Looks like the first company looked at your qualifications, etc. beforehand and pretty much made up their mind before asking one question. I wish all interviews were that type.
Jake Ed from Canada on February 08, 2013:
This summer I was asked only one question for one of my job interviews: "Why would you be good for this job?"
I found out later I was the top candidate had I not ended up accepting a superior position somewhere else which was oddly offered to me without an interview after I sent in my application a day late :/
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on April 17, 2012:
At this time, you will likely be hearing some stranger new questions, Please feel free to share any that you find strange here in this thread. Best of success to you in your interviews!
hon2 on April 17, 2012:
its really a big help for me.. I've been looking for interview questions that i might answer for me to be prepared.. so thankful that you created this list of questions..
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on August 30, 2011:
Ask open-ended questions about everyday life events. Examples:
What would you do if your favorite TV show were suddenly cancelled? Why is it yiour favorite?
Ask similar questions about music groups.
Many reoriters are asking people if they like Lady Gaga or President Obama and why or why not.
Think of things you like to talk about and ask questions about those topics. This sometimes works.
James on August 30, 2011:
This is great, but I'm in a high school debate class, and I'm going to be interviewing someone the making a speech about them, I need more questions that would get a normally shy person to talk more about them self
Carol on August 26, 2011:
Above there is a sub way interview question asking: what is the most important part of the sandwich? according to the answer its the smile. I completely disagree. The correct answer is THE BREAD, reason for this: without the bread the filling would fall apart, therefore no sandwich and definitely no smile. This reflects that the interviewee has a firm belief in team work, without team work there's nothing. the smile should be the second most important thing.
don't know who I am on August 18, 2011:
Great stuff!!!!!!
Ophelia Madden from Pacific Northwest on July 27, 2011:
Great hub!
justmesuzanne from Texas on July 07, 2011:
Yes, and working on odd questions like this and adding humor can take a lot of the pressure and stress out of ESL practice.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on July 07, 2011:
Oh, that's wonderful, justmesuzanne! English is complex enough without strange interview questions.
justmesuzanne from Texas on July 06, 2011:
Great HUB! Voted up and funny and shared with my ESL blog! :)
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on July 06, 2011:
Yes, three different times.
Parimala on July 06, 2011:
Hey Patty,
Love your list of questions and these questions were mind blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.LOL. Anyways Patty,did u got a job by answering any one of these difficult(!!) questions? Eagerly awaiting for your reply.
Even I got a job by answering to the first question in this hub in the HR round???
Cheers,
Parimala
didierdrogba445 on June 08, 2011:
Hi
I read this post 2 times. It is very useful.
Pls try to keep posting.
Let me show other source that may be good for community.
Source: Art teacher interview questions
Best regards
Jonathan.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on May 20, 2011:
someonewhoknows - good idea!
me -- We need to start another list of 100! If one thinks people do annoying things, is it good becuase they know they need to cope, or bad because one thinks people annoying? HArd to get a job these days, is it not!?
me on May 20, 2011:
My personal favorite job application questions
Walmart/Sams Club
"Many things I see at work tend to cause more problems than they solve" agree or disagree
"I know the answers to many questions" agree or disagree
Starbucks
"People do a lot of annoying things" agree or disagree"
SALVAONEGIANNAOLCOM from south and west of canada,north of ohio on May 18, 2011:
I would like questions like these to be answered by politicians during debates so I could record their answers and play them backwards in order to see what they are really thinking.If,nothing else it would be entertaining to say the least.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on May 18, 2011:
Yes, that's true, unless the manhole cover is too small in diameter! That has happened.
Al Allerton III on May 18, 2011:
[It was written on this page]:
"Why are manhole covers round?
This question is looking for a creative answer."
This might have been likely answered already...(?)...
But there really is a reason for manholes being round.
Because if they were any other shape except round, they could fit/fall thru the hole they cover. No other shape has that property (square, rectangle, triangle, oval, hexagon, octogon, etc. would fit thru sideways). But not a true circle.
--
-Al Allerton III-
BlissfulWriter on March 10, 2011:
I got some logic questions before. Once I was ask, "How many gas stations do you estimate is in the city?" Of course, I'm supposed to talk through my thinking process.
PeggyW on February 24, 2011:
thx this is awesome
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on February 22, 2011:
Chris - Best wishes for that interview! Hope it goes well.
ChrisLincoln from Orange (or Lemon...) County, California on February 22, 2011:
Patty,
Great questions - my answers gave me some clues as to what I find important. I'm interviewing for a teaching job after being the interviewer for the past twenty years - I needed to stop over thinking the questions, damn psychology degree!
C
rakoo from Midwest on February 03, 2011:
Nice to have that list. Helps to prepare
GetFitRight from Clark County, WA on January 08, 2011:
I would think that a horse would be a good choice for the animal question because they are elegant creatures that can be used for farming and transportation and all sorts of work.
Good job on getting all of this info together on here.
Dulsara on January 08, 2011:
this is a awsome set of questions. i no my friends will be fed up answering this set of million questions. anyway they will be amazed to ans. im in grade 6b livin in saudi and i am a sri lankan.hahahahahahaha
quuenieproac from Malaysia on November 13, 2010:
Good compilation, funny yes, but pity the interviewee especially the first timers. Once we (my boss and I) interviewed a guy and decided to test him on his selling techniques by giving him difficult customer situations. The interviewee suddenly stood up, said "I do not want this job anymore", he was nervous and left the room!!
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on September 17, 2010:
Christine - He should not have said "personal" and was likley hoping for some info he was not entitled to have. However, sometimes an interviewer wants to see how a candidate overcomes a big disappointment. If the disappointment is work-related, they may see you as dedicted more to work than family and they moght like that. It's hard to generalize.
Thor - Lots of games here with some companies, for sure. Thanks for the sympathy.
Thor on September 17, 2010:
You said at the beginning of the article [quote] ... strange and different interview questions . . . around the United States [/quote]
That is a madness syndrome and thank God limited in the US only. I pity for you my US friends.
Every time in EU we know that a CEO or other personnel comes in our EU HQ bet start to roll. We call it the "Northern Madness Bet".
Cheers
Christine on September 16, 2010:
I had an interview just yesterday and was asked "This can relate to your personal or professional life, but was is the biggest disapointment in your life?" I replied "I wasn't able to save my marriage" and left it at that. probably not the best answer, but it was the first thing that sprang to mind. My question is "What were they REALLY asking???
jaymelee23 from United States on July 12, 2010:
I really hate interviews lol glad I haven't had to go to one in a long time.. they are so nerve racking.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on July 01, 2010:
WRONG! I was asked the manhole-cover question in an interview.
privateye2500 from Canada, USA, London on June 30, 2010:
manhole covers are round because ... square ones would cut tires...?
THESE are not interview questions - these are obviously made up for one of those email jokes.
Jennifer Bates from West Palm Beach on June 25, 2010:
Great hub. I have yet to come across any of those questions on an interview, there are some weird ones in there.
Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on June 20, 2010:
LeanMan! - I am most sorry that this happened to you. A relative's work behavior should not affect a job candidate' s chances,shouls it; but interviewers fear the worst. What a shock to you!
On a lesser note, after high school I lost out on a job when job applications still requested medical history of extended family. A distant aunt had had cancer, so I was out. Not as bad a case as your shock, though.
I'll be reading your Hubs!
Tony from At the Gemba on June 20, 2010:
Here is a true question that I was asked at a very short interview... I should give some background first, I had some inkling that my father who I had not seen for 20 years had worked at the firm, but had no idea what he did, I was applying for a senior post and I was being interviewed by the owner of the firm...
The pleasantries were quite brief and the owner asked if I had any relatives at the firm to which I replied that I believed that my father had worked there but had no idea what he did..
The owner of the firm, looked me in the eye and explained that my father was his chief designer, had designed the last range of equipment which was experiencing major recall problems which was on the verge of bankrupting the company and he had recently run away with the female sales representative of their main competitor taking all of the company designs and information with him.... As he explained this he became more and more agitated and redder in the face until he asked me...
"do you think I am mad?" looking at me to actually answer..