Why do employers ask weird interview questions?
For competitive high-salary job roles employers want to ensure that the interviewee hasn’t Googled “common interview question answers” Left field interview questions can’t be predicted and these seemingly random interview question have a key purpose.
Weird interview questions are designed to be deliberately testing and are actually relevant to the job role. Questions such as “name 5 usages for a tin opener apart from opening tins” test the creativity of interviewees.
And common weird interview questions such as “how many golf balls can fit inside a school mini bus?” (This question was asked at a Google interview) test your ability to solve problems mathematically.
Before answering any weird job interview question, first ask yourself two key questions – 1. What does the company do or what will be my duties or required skills? 2. What is the aim of this question? What skill will this question uncover or test?
We have record ten previously asked weird job interview questions to help you prepare for the unexpected.
- How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap?
- How would you get an elephant into a refrigerator?
- How many cows are there in the UK?
- If you were a Microsoft Office Programme which one would you be?
- Will this company succeed? Why or why not?
- On a scale from one to ten, rate me as an interviewer
- You need to check that your friend, Bob, has your correct phone number but you cannot ask him directly. You must write the question on a card and give it to Eve who will take the card to Bob and return the answer to you. What must you write on the card, besides the question, to ensure Bob can encode the message so that Eve cannot read your phone number?
- Design an evacuation plan for London
- Imagine you have a closet full of shirts. It’s very hard to find a shirt. So what can you do to organise your shirts for easy retrieval?
- If you was an animal what animal would you be?
