Outrageous Job Interview Questions – They May Not Be So Outrageous!

Preparation for a job interview is key to its success. A perfectly executed resume printed on the best resume paper. Prepared answers at the ready for the questions you know will be asked. What you did not expect was the hiring manager to ask you, “What theme song should play as you enter a room?” HUH?!

Some companies employ these odd questions interspersed with the usual job interview questions for various reasons. It’s a creative way to assess a candidate’s personality, their flexibility in the moment, as well as their innovative thinking skills.

These strange questions seem silly on the surface, but can sometimes be more telling than the straightforward questions most hiring managers ask.  When a candidate is asked a common job interview question like, “What are your strengths?” they respond with a planned, practiced, beautifully crafted answer. Ask that candidate what they would do if they won a 10 million dollar jackpot and the answer will not be as polished. They will give you a genuine, personal answer giving more insight into the candidate.

Does the candidate flinch, become speechless, or visibly uncomfortable with the out-of-the-box question? How quick is their “bounce-back” from such an unusual question? Does the candidate fully participate and even add some humor into the situation? These are observations that hiring managers look for when they choose to utilize these oddball questions.

These are not trick questions asked to put the candidate off their game. A job interview usually has limited time constraints and a resume is one dimensional, telling only one part of the story. Answers to these off-putting questions provide an opportunity for candidates to share portions of their personal story, well beyond any prepared remarks.

According to Susan Ruhl, a managing partner at OI Partners-Innovative Career Consulting in Denver, “Weird interview questions typically fall under the categories of problem-solving, thought process, and cultural fit.” More technically based job interviews may include problem-solving and thought process questions like, “How would you fit a hippo into a freezer?” or a math-centered question similar to the dreaded math problem that always begins, “Two trains leave the station at the same time….” The interviewer wants to glean information about your logic and how you think. The cultural fit questions are the more creative questions like, “What would the name of your debut album be?” Hopefully this type of question invites the candidate to open up. These cultural fit questions assess your interpersonal skills.

Some younger business owners from Gen Xer’s to Millenials care much more for group dynamics than their predecessors, so these cultural fit questions to assess interpersonal skills are very important. Sitting in open concept offices where privacy is at a minimum makes interpersonal skills paramount to a cohesive office setting.

Training a new hire is an expensive prospect. A full, more robust assessment of a candidate made with these unusual questions may produce a more secure hire. It is never a good thing for a company to put time and expense into hiring a person and then have them leave three months later. That serves neither the company nor the candidate.

Some more traditional organizations and hiring managers consider these odd questions mumbo-jumbo and simply a waste of time considering that job interviews are pre-scheduled, time limited and don’t allow for touchy-feely conversation. These organizations prefer to stick with behavioral assessments and testing, allowing big data to provide more concrete facts about candidates to determine the best candidate for the actual job duties as well as the all important cultural fit.  

I had one hiring manager tell me that these out-of-the-box questions are basically like asking the candidates whether the, “Two-year-old in them can get along with the two-year-olds inside the company.” These emotion-based questions are designed to assess whether we can all get along in the sandbox that is the company. These are valid points too and all a matter of personal opinion.  

If you have a job interview coming up, you may indeed be asked one of these strange questions. If you look on Google, you will find some real doozies! No reason to panic. Don’t overthink these questions. Be honest with your answers and in some cases a little light-heartedness goes a long way. Try to incorporate the actual job skills you are applying for into your answer. Be careful not to be self indulgent or give away too much personal information. Please don’t make your answers into something that puts everyone present ill at ease. Your personal theme song probably should not be, “Bootylicous!”

Proudly consider what your superpower is or what Disney character you would be. There are no right answers, so own it and be able to openly discuss it. Have fun with it!

I offer a free ½ hour introductory job interview coaching session. Contact me today to prepare for your tomorrow!