A research piece by creative communications recruiter, Source, has come up with the ten weirdest interview questions that their candidates have ever been asked.
The increasing prevalence of these difficult questions has led to Source having to brief its candidates on how to deal with them before putting applicants forward to interviews. The job market is getting ever more competitive and, with over 2.5 million people out of work[i] <#_edn1> , there is now a huge pool of talent for companies to choose from.
With budgets tight, organisations are ensuring sure that they minimise upheaval by employing staff that fit well within the company, so that they stay for the long haul. This means that interviews are focusing more on a candidate’s personality rather than skills.
Another problem is that employers are struggling to differentiate between similarly qualified applicants. With the majority of candidates having degrees and the average academic grades soaring, education is no longer the litmus test it once was.
At a senior level, this isn’t so much of a problem, as candidates can be judged on their experience, however at junior or entry levels, employers have had to come up with new and innovative ways to decide between potential employees.
The difficult questions they are asking are as much designed to throw an interviewee as test them and, to give you an idea of what to expect, Source has scoured its candidate database to gather the weirdest ones:
- 1. Zombies have invaded the earth and the survival of the human race depends on you and your crack zombie-slaying team. You’re allowed six people, alive, dead or fictional – who would those people be and why?
- 2. Why are manhole covers generally round?
- 3. How would you explain social media in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew?
- 4. How would you design a spice rack for a deaf-blind person who couldn’t read Braille?
- 5. If you were a miniature person trapped in a bowl of salad, how would you escape?
- 6. How much would you charge to wash all the windows in London?
- 7. What would your epitaph be?
- 8. How do you rob a bank?
- 9. I am going to give you a CV to review, please look at it and tell me what you think I should be worried about, with regards to this candidate’s skills and experience. (then they show you your own CV).
- 10. Define irony.
Questions like these have always been more common at big technology companies, however according to Source; the practice is spreading into the creative communications industry and beyond.
Jonathan Linden of Source says “The idea behind these sorts of questions is to throw you off. They’re aimed to gauge a candidates’ character, mindset and thought process. Some are logic based and others are simply there to see what kind of person you are. Ultimately however, the questions are there to faze you, take you out of your comfort zone and see how you handle pressure.
He adds “Whilst there are sometimes no right or wrong answers, there are definitely better and worse ones. The trick is to take your time and think carefully before answering. Don’t panic and try to answer the question quickly, instead decide on whether there is a logical response or not. If there isn’t, then try to tailor any answer to the person and company interviewing you.”
[1] Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f0d36cf6-f4b0-11e0-a286-00144feab49a.html#axzz1cT5AhFZi
