Weird Interview Questions You Might Get Asked
As you get ready for a job interview, you should prepare yourself to answer a few key questions. And while you may be ready to answer the most common interview questions, are you prepared to answer some strange questions? Hiring managers don't always stick to a script. You should expect to answer a few weird interview questions. Even though you might not be prepared for every question, you can be ready for most of them.
Hypothetical Situations
One of the strangest questions you might get is a hypothetical scenario. This type of question is also one of the more popular ones. If you're not ready to answer a hypothetical question, you could set yourself up for failure.
Although the hypothetical scenario could be about anything, interviewers like to ask about historical people. They might ask you one of the following questions:
Which former president would you like to eat dinner with?
Which current or former celebrity would you like to have dinner with?
If you could spend a day with anyone in the world, who would it be, and what would you talk about?
You might be wondering why someone would ask you this question. After all, it probably seems a little irrelevant. Why would a potential employer care which president you ate with? In reality, the employer doesn't care about the answer to the question. They care more about how you answer the question.
An employer uses this question to test your creativity. If you can make yourself stand out by answering in a way no one else does, you could have an edge on the competition.
Testing Your Problem-Solving Skills
Some hypothetical questions test your problem-solving capabilities. To determine how you might handle issues in the workplace, a hiring manager may ask the following hypothetical questions:
If you were lost in a foreign country where no one understood you, and there was no internet or phone, how would you get home?
This question might not seem relevant to the workplace, but it is. By the way you answer this question, an employer can tell whether or not you can think quickly on your feet. You can never fully prepare yourself for obstacles or conflicts in the workplace.
Imagination Questions
The last type of hypothetical question tests your imagination. Generally, these questions involve asking what type of person, animal, or object you want to be. Here are some examples:
Which famous person would you want to be?
If you were part of a car, what part would you be?
Which animal best describes your personality or work style?
As with all the other hypothetical questions, there is no right or wrong answer. The interviewer will pay attention to how quickly you ask the question and how much creativity is in your answers. As long as you can justify your answers, you don't need to worry about being wrong.
Preference and Opinion Questions
You should also be ready to answer questions about your opinion and preference. By asking these questions, an employer hopes to get a glimpse of your true nature. They want to know if your personality is the right fit for their company and culture.
These questions tend to be simple and straightforward. For example, a hiring manager might ask you:
Do you prefer cats or dogs?
What is your opinion on the garden gnome?
What's your favorite local restaurant?
What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
Obviously, your favorite type of ice cream flavor won't keep you from getting a job. But your answer could affect your job offer. If you clam up and seem uncomfortable, the hiring manager might not think you're a good fit for the company. As you answer these questions, be friendly and warm. Try to give a funny short story to explain your answers.
Morality Questions
While an employer can't ask you about your religion, they can test your morality. They want to know about your personal values and whether or not they align with the company's values. Therefore, you should always expect one or two morality questions. If the hiring manager doesn't ask them, at least you were prepared.
Consider one of these questions:
What crime would you commit if you knew you would get away with it?
What's your worst sin?
How would you handle seeing a co-worker who's doing something unethical in the workplace?
Although there are no black and white answers to these questions, there are a few guidelines you should follow. The employer wants to see that you have a certain character. Typically, they look for answers that show integrity, thoughtfulness, and honesty.
Travel Questions
It's not common for employers to ask about your travel history or future travel plans, but it is possible that travel questions will arise. If an employer asks you travel questions, they might want to know if you fit in with the company culture.
Examples of travel questions include:
What's the craziest place you visited?
What countries are on your bucket list?
If you were offered to go on vacation tomorrow, where would you go?
When you answer these questions, don't take too much time crafting a response. Show the hiring manager that you can think on the spot. For the best results, deliver a polished answer.
What's the Right Answer?
It's easy to get caught up in delivering the right answer. However, your own concerns could be your downfall. An employer doesn't care which country you want to visit or whether you'd rather be a cheetah or a pelican. Instead, they care that you can handle weird interview questions.
The goal of the interview is to determine if you're the right fit for the company. If you research the company before your interview and practice a few of these strange questions, you should be ready for the interview. You don't need to have the perfect answer. As long as you answer honestly, uniquely, and quickly, you should have no problem getting a job offer.