The job search process is rough. You send out dozens, or if you’re like the majority of job seekers hundreds, of resumes in hopes that maybe one of those companies will take the bait and bite down. When one of them finally does and gives you a call to come in for an interview, the feeling is ah-mazing. Finally, all of your efforts have come to some sort of fruition and you may have potentially found a new job. You prepare all of your documents, all of your questions and do your research- that is of course if you want to be fully prepared for this interview. Which, if you are an avid Spark News reader, you know is highly important. You also scour the internet, and hopefully Spark News, for what some of the most popular interview questions are. You can do this until you’re blue in the face, but there’s no way you can be prepared for some of the questions employers will throw at you. Especially the weirdest interview questions of all.
Most companies like to keep it pretty traditional. What are your greatest strengths? What are your greatest weaknesses? Tell me about your career goals. Tell me about yourself, etc, etc. You can certainly prepare well-versed answers for all of these typical questions. But what about the weird, unconventional questions companies pull out of their hats? These days, the competition for jobs is so fierce that companies have to find some way to find the candidate that really shines and works well under pressure. One way of doing that is asking absolutely ridiculous questions and seeing how the candidate reacts and answers.
Take a look at some of these weird interview questions and see how you would answer them if they ever came up in an interview. You never know, an interviewer may ask you a couple of these!
Name 5 Ways You Can Use a Stapler Without the Staples
Huh? Yes, they really just asked that. They’re likely asking you this to see how well you think creatively and if you are capable of thinking outside of the norm. Saying, “uhh…I dunno” is such a lame answer and you’ve successfully proven yourself dull. Great. So instead, think of ways others may have asked this question and think of new ones. A snazzy belt accessory? A paper weight? Exercise your creativity here!
If We Shrunk You To The Size of a Pencil and Put You in a Blender, How Would You Get Out?
Now, I’ve heard of this one before. It’s my understanding that very large corporations with rigorous interview processes ask this one quite often to see how creative their candidates are. Why are they asking this weird question? To see how fast you can think on your feet. Don’t take too long to answer the question and be sure to answer it with confidence.
How Many Times in the Day Do a Clock’s Hand Overlap?
Whoa. When you force me to start working with numbers, my brain has a temporary lapse. I am a word person, obviously, and loathe all numbers and the mathematical formulas, ideas or whatever goes along with them. However, this is the kind of question that you can take your time answering. In fact, the interviewer is asking you to see how well you can work out a problem. If you give up right away, forget it- you failed. The right answer is 22, but it’s not really about the answer. It’s about how hard you try attempting to find it.
What Do You Think of Garden Gnomes?
This is a company culture kind of question. If you look at them with a weird, “what in the world are you talking about” and can’t find some kind of humorous response- you’re probably out.
If You Were an Animal, What Would You Be?
This is testing your characteristics. I’m 100 percent positive that once in your life you have though of an answer to this question. Doesn’t every kid? I, for one, would definitely be an owl- in case anybody was wondering. If you know what kind of characteristics they are looking for in this position, see if you can cater your answer to them.
Interviews can be so dry and boring that I would happily welcome any of these questions in an interview. Most of them are aimed at seeing how well you can think outside of the box and if you would fit in with the culture. If you don’t think you can answer any of them, then you better get to brainstorming so you’re ready when they come up, in the event that they do!
SOURCE: Visual.ly
IMAGE: Courtesy of Write Me Happy
