Do these 12 bizarre interview questions have a purpose?

Finding the best people for your business can be a challenge. But these oddball questions are guaranteed to vent out anyone unable to keep their head on a swivel

Do these 12 bizarre interview questions have a purpose?

Sourcing the right talent to scale your venture takes a lot of effort. However, it’s not easy to get a good read on candidates in formulaic job interviews. That’s why some companies have begun to ask kind of odd questions to see how candidates will react.

From asking hopeful jobseekers if they’d like to fight a horse to asking them about hot dogs, some employers are determined to stretch their candidates’ imagination up to the sky.

But do such questions actually serve any purpose? “If it’s a creative industry and [employers] are looking for candidates that think outside the box, it’s a great way of seeing how the individual ticks,” said Sarah Worssam, senior consultant at Tiger Recruitment, the recruitment agency, when speaking with Elite Business. “Do they take the question seriously? Do they think about it logically? Do they say something totally out there and ridiculous? It shows the client how they think on their feet and under pressure. Unusual questions can be very beneficial to candidates as they can swing the direction of the conversation and you might find yourself talking about giraffes for 20 minutes.”

Speaking of weird questions, here are some of our top picks, allegedly asked by well-known companies:

(1) “When a hot dog expands, in which direction does it split and why?” –  SpaceX

(2) “How many basketballs would fit in this room?” – Delta Air Lines

(3) “Can you say ‘Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper’ and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?” – MasterCard

(4) “How would you solve problems if you were from Mars?” –  Amazon

(5) “What would the name of your debut album be?”– Urban Outfitters

(6) “If you were a pizza delivery man, how would you benefit from scissors?” – Apple

(7) “How many people born in 2013 were named Gary?” – BT

(8) “How much money did residents of Dallas/Ft. Worth spend on gasoline in 2008?” – American Airlines

(9) “If you were a fruit, what kind would you be and why?” – Topdeck Travel

(10) “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk.” – Acosta

(11) “Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?” – Whole Foods Market

(12) “25 racehorses, no stopwatch. Five tracks. Figure out the top three fastest horses in the fewest number of races.” – Facebook

In case you are searching for ideas to freshen up your recruitment process, some of these off-the-wall examples can definitely come in handy. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yoana Cholteeva
Yoana Cholteeva
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