Unusual Job Interview Questions Help Select the Best

Unusual Job Interview Questions Supplement Behavioral Questions

Weird Interview Questions
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Are you interested in a new trend in job interview questions - or perhaps an old trend newly revived? Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA Career Center at the Northeastern University business school, believes that more and more businesses are asking unusual job interview questions as part of their candidate job interview process.

Microsoft's job interview questions are ​legend (examples include: How many golf balls does it take to fill a 747?

Why is a manhole cover round?). (But, Microsoft, at least in their developer interviews, appears to have moved away from puzzle questions and is asking candidates to solve white board code problems during interviews.)

But, other employers are using unusual questions in their candidate selection process for new reasons. The job search advice industry is so prolific that any candidate who researches knows he should prepare brief responses in advance to frequent standard questions.

These include job interview questions such as: "what are your strengths and weaknesses" and "what makes you the most qualified candidate for this job."

Interviewers use unusual job interview questions to assess how well the candidate responds to an unexpected question or scenario. Most unusual job interview questions do not have right or wrong answers. These job interview questions provide the candidate with the opportunity, according to Sarikas, "to demonstrate quick thinking, poise, creativity, and even a sense of humor."

She says, "The interviewers are trying to catch a glimpse of the unrehearsed candidate in an unguarded moment. There is no way to prepare for these off-the-wall job interview questions so the interviewer is able to observe how the candidate responds and composes his or her thoughts.

Some interviewers also ask unusual job interview questions to gain insight into the candidate's thought processes … they want to see how the candidate will think about the unusual job interview question."

Actual Tough/Unusual Job Interview Questions

Sarikas suggests using a couple of the following job interview questions during an interview to assess your candidate's skills and cultural fit.

  • If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs -- such as food and water -- were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?
  • How do I rate as an interviewer?
  • Who do you admire most and why?

Behavioral Job Interview Questions

Simply, behavioral interview questions ask how the candidate handled similar situations in the past. They don't ask a candidate to look into a crystal ball and predict their future behavior. Sarikas suggests the following questions as general, basic behavioral job interview questions. (My suggested behavioral job interview questions follow.)

  • Describe a situation when you took a risk professionally. What was the outcome?
  • Tell me about a time others disagreed with your recommended course of action. How did you persuade them to your plans and what were the results?
  • Describe a situation where you worked effectively as part of a team to accomplish a goal on time and within budget. What was your role? What did you learn?
  • Describe a situation in which you worked as part of a team but your team failed to accomplish the goal on time and within budget. What was your role? What did you learn?
  • How would your current boss or a team member describe you? What would he/she say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  • Describe a complex problem you had to solve and walk me through your thinking as your solved it.
  • Tell me about a creative solution you developed for a challenging situation or problem.
  • Describe a situation working in a group or team where there was interpersonal conflict. Describe how you approached the conflict. What worked and what didn't? How did you manage the outcome?
  • Describe a situation you feel you should have handled differently.
  • Describe a situation in which you aspired to reach a goal. What obstacles did you confront along the way? What did you do to overcome them?
  • What is the most stressful situation you have handled and what was the outcome?
  • Tell me about a time when you had to win someone over to your way of thinking. How did you accomplish this? What was the outcome?

Behavioral job interview questions are your best approach during candidate job interviews. But, the occasional unusual job interview question has the potential to yield thoughtful information about the candidates you interview. Use both for effective candidate selection.

Sample Job Interview Questions for Employers

Use these sample job interview questions when you interview potential employees.


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