Beyond the qualifications you attain with National Training, landing the job, or even promotion, has a lot to do with the impression you make during an interview. Oh, we’re sure you’ve prepared for all of the standards:
- What makes XXX the ideal company for you?
- What qualifications do you have?
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
But some interviewers throw out interview questions that seemingly have no place in your interview. This is done for a few reasons. Weird questions come up to see how you think on your feet. They might be thrown out there to measure how you handle yourself under pressure. You might even get asked a strange question to evaluate what your background qualifications are (i.e. if you’re applying for a position in the Accounting sector, but have a background in Chemical Engineering, you’re likely to answer a weird question in an innovative way.)Here are some of our favorite bizarre interview questions (that have actually been asked!
- How many cows are in Canada?
Someone on an interview for Google sincerely got asked this one. - How do you know that the light in the refrigerator is really off when you close the door?
An innovative answer was to attempt to grow a plant in the refrigerator. - What is the philosophy of Martial Arts?
Asked during an interview for Aflac. - If you had 5,263 participants, how many games would need to be played to decide on a winner?
Amazon posed this tricky little number. - An apple costs 20 cents, an orange 40 cents, a grapefruit 60 cents. So how much is a pear?
We’re still scratching our heads. - How many traffic lights are in Manhattan?
Can you imagine actually knowing this answer? - How do you weigh an elephant without using a weigh machine?
Profound. - Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are.
Though not technically a question, getting this request during an interview for Capital One would, indeed, be strange.
What’s the weirdest question you’ve been asked during an interview? How did you respond?
