Listen to the most downloaded B2B sales podcast in the world Download 100 additional interview questions to help you find the right candidate. As a hiring manager, you'll probably ask most of your candidates similar questions: What's the biggest challenge you've overcome? What interests you about our company? Now, imagine that you ask your candidate the following: if you were a pizza delivery man, what would scissors benefit you? This question changes the conversation a bit. All of a sudden, you've caught your candidate off guard. He doesn't know how to respond, but after a pause, he says, “I suppose I would use scissors the same way anyone else would.”.
I wouldn't necessarily use it at work, but I could use it at home to cut things. For example, an ideal candidate might say, “If I were on Mars, they would probably have their own problems separate from those on Earth.”. First, it would conduct research to determine cause and effect, and then offer possible solutions. There's no right answer to this question, but if your team likes to be sarcastic with each other, you might want a candidate to say, “If I could get a job like that, I probably wouldn't be here today talking to you.”.
UBS, a Swiss multinational investment bank, asks this sneaky and insightful question in Operations interviews. At first glance, it seems like another fun question to relax the candidate, but it's actually a good indicator of the candidate's intellect. An ideal candidate will take a hard look at the question and give a well-thought-out answer like this: a round manhole cover cannot fall through the round opening of the sewer. A square cover, on the other hand, could pass diagonally through the opening and fall through it.
In addition, a circular cover fits easily and can be easily removed, without much precision or rotation. This ConnectWise question helps you get a better idea of your candidate's reasoning skills. Of course, there's no right answer to this fun question, but it allows you to get an idea of how your candidate thinks, prioritizes and solves problems. In addition, it can relax the candidate and allow her to show you a more authentic side.
Your candidate might say: Since I don't have a place to put an elephant, I would probably send it on vacation or feed it and then ride it to work. Your ideal candidate should say something like this: I would be an oak tree, because I am strong and reliable. Of course, it doesn't matter which tree you choose, as long as he uses his answer as an opportunity to show you why he's a good fit for the position. This is a fantastic question to find out your candidate's true motivation in a position.
You don't want to hire someone who just wants the job to generate money, but rather a candidate who also finds genuine satisfaction in the position. Since companies whose employees are engaged perform more than 200% better than companies whose employees are not, it is essential that you hire a fully engaged actor. PolyOne asks its financial candidates this question. While you might expect green to be the right answer, you'll actually want your candidate to say, “It depends on the country.”.
This type of knowledge of the world in general could be fundamental when evaluating markets and making global financial decisions. This question, asked by companies like Yahoo, encourages the candidate to demonstrate creativity and innovation. In addition, it helps you determine your candidate's priorities. For example, a candidate who mentions that he needs a Kindle with unlimited books and my laptop shows different values than a candidate who says he wants music and a boat.
While there's no right answer, you'll want a candidate who demonstrates the ability to prioritize and think logically in difficult situations. For example, your candidate might say: “I would like to bring a laptop with WiFi with a wind generator to charge the batteries and a lighter.”. I can work and keep in touch with my friends from my laptop, and I can use the lighter to start fires and stay warm at night. You want your candidate to focus her answer on the qualifications of the specific position.
For example, if you're hiring for a content creator position, you'll want your candidate to say, “I'm a collector”. I enjoy collecting critical SEO data and information over time, and I adapt my content to achieve long-term goals. You want your candidate to say something like this: he would have to measure how many cents fit in length, width and height. Then I would simply multiply those three numbers.
This answer demonstrates the ability to use simple mathematics to create formulas for more difficult problems. However, it's also impressive to have your candidate ask you questions in return. Maybe she would say: Well, will there still be furniture in this room or will we remove it? Also, what is the volume of the room? Once I have that information, I could do the calculations based on the volume of a penny. If you think about it, this question really is: Would you rather be in the spotlight or more behind the scenes? Of course, this shouldn't be the only question you should ask yourself to determine a candidate's personality and culture, but it's nonetheless a good initial indicator of where someone will have the greatest impact on your team.
For example, if your candidate says something like, “My brother loves baseball,” so a couple of weeks ago I bought him tickets for a Red Sox game, you have information that will help you create a connection with your candidate and, ideally, create an environment in which he feels more comfortable. This is a difficult question that Goldman Sachs asked during an interview with a programming analyst. The question aims to test your candidate's logical reasoning skills. While you don't need a candidate to get the right answer, you want a candidate who is calm and thoughtful when it comes to making an informed assumption.
For example, your ideal candidate might say: Well, a pizza measures approximately one square foot. If the average American eats one-third of a pizza and eats pizza three times a month, that would mean 12 square feet a year. Then multiply that number by 200 million Americans, and you get 2.4 billion square feet. For example, an ideal answer could be: I would be a horse.
Horses are very strong and capable of performing well both independently and as part of a team. With that in mind, we've rounded up the 100 most ridiculous job interview questions ever asked (genuine examples). If you want to know what their expectations are for the position, ask this question. Strange interview questions are common practice in companies as large as Amazon and Tesla, but you should avoid misusing these interview questions.
Before we look at examples of rare and unique interview questions, let's see how these types of questions are best used in the interview and how these questions shouldn't be used. For example, your candidate may tell you that she wants to interview blind people first and do competitive research before making a decision. Unconventional interview questions can help you identify the right candidates and make your company an excellent opportunity for the people you interview. Fortunately, it's possible to prepare to answer and give as positive an answer as possible to those misleading interview questions.
It's not a question for an interview, but in a job where I started: on the first day (just before it was time to go home) they asked me this question:. When choosing interesting interview questions, be sure to choose questions that give you a better impression of the candidate as a person. To help you get great candidates for the interview, who will love your unique questions, Lever Nurture helps you attract candidates on a large scale with automated, personalized email campaigns. Every company is different, so it's only right for companies to have interview questions that are also unique.
Diversity makes teams and companies strong, and using unique and rare interview questions will help reveal the uniqueness of the candidates you interview. Use these questions to help candidates prepare early in the interviews and to give them an idea of your company's culture. At first you'll wait for the end to come, but a lot of these interview questions have to do with how you think about the blue sky or how to respond to darker topics. This is an excellent interview question to understand your initial goals and if your goals have changed since you graduated.
It's very easy to follow a script when interviewing people, but those interview questions only give you a small idea of the person. In fact, fun and unexpected questions have proven to be so useful during the interview process that large corporations like Apple and Hess tend to use at least one during their interviews. Some jobs require candidates to be creative or quick, and curved interview questions are great for revealing these qualities in candidates. .
