With the number of specialists growing by leaps and bounds, recruiters and hiring managers have to resort to unconventional ways to downsize the list of potential candidates. Given two candidates have the same hard skills level, their personality and soft skills will most likely be the decisive factor for making a job offer.
In this article, we provide 16 unusual interview questions to get a sight of the candidate’s soft skills, with explanations on how exactly they can reveal the candidate’s potential and company culture fit.
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The driving force for making oddball questions a part of the interviewing process was the tech industry rise in the early 2000s. Such titans of tech as Google and Microsoft made a particular contribution to the trend. They just recognized how limiting the standard question were. Their effectiveness in predicting the candidate’s future success within the organization was negligibly small. From a traditional focus on qualifications, experience, and hard skills, employers had to seek more innovative approaches to hiring.
Given the dynamic work environments tech companies offered, tech qualifications themselves didn’t help an employee to succeed anymore. Thinking outside of the box became a holy grail of the skills a candidate could possess. Those who did could instantly win the hearts of hiring managers, as providing non-standard answers automatically proved a set of valuable abilities:
How could hiring specialists check the candidate’s ability to think creatively? Right, invent creative questions. Furthermore, employers discovered that cultural fit was one of the crucial contributors to a company’s success. Based on their working environment peculiarities, hiring specialists created questions that were aimed to reveal if a candidate and their company could make a perfect match.
It started with only a small percentage of companies and, over time, has grown into a real trend that will hardly leave the scene in the foreseen future. The research presented in the book “Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google” proves it with these statements:
We call it art because it’s more than just getting the candidate astonished by weird questions. It’s about striking a balance between challenging and pushing them into thinking critically at the same time. Besides that, employers have to provide an environment that promotes self-expression, for instance:
When utilized properly, weird interview questions can benefit the employer in such non-obvious ways:
Firstly, strange interview questions are aimed to determine whether the candidate’s personality, mindset, and approach meet the specific role, industry, or company culture needs. For that, questions should be tailored to this specific role, industry, or company.
Next, all questions have to adhere to legal and professional standards. Questions that touch on overly private topics, promote bias or discrimination, or cause any discomfort to the candidate are not acceptable. Also, questions have to be clear and easy to understand. Confusing tasks may affect the candidate’s ability to provide a meaningful response.
Another important fact to consider is that there is no right or wrong answer. The interviewer has to clearly communicate this idea to the candidate at the beginning of the interview. It will help them get rid of limitations and fear of making a mistake. Every answer will be the right answer as long as it provides meaningful insights about the candidate’s potential.
Let’s have a look at various types of unconventional interview questions and what exactly they are supposed to tell about the candidate.
The question “How many flowers would it take to fill an entire football stadium?” demonstrates how the candidate estimates quantities, considers various factors (the size of the stadium, the density of flowers, and potential methods for estimation) when solving a problem, and applies creativity in finding a solution for real-world scenarios.
Questions like “Why are manhole covers round?” help to reveal the candidate’s ability to go beyond the obvious and come up with several possible considerations when looking for reasons (here it’s practicality, safety, and functionality).
“If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?” Answers to such questions show how well the candidate can think on their feet, the level of their creativity, and if they make fit with the company culture.
Tip for candidates: relate the superpower you’ve chosen to the role you’re pursuing.
“You are a chef on a deserted island. What three ingredients would you choose to have?” This question reveals the candidate’s problem-solving skills, adaptability to challenging situations, and ability to remain creative in a limited setting.
“If you were an animal, which one would you be and why?” This interview question gives insight into the candidate’s self-awareness and perception of their own strengths and weaknesses. It may also reveal their preferred work style, ability to make connections and provide reasoning, and ability to think metaphorically.
The task “Describe the color yellow to a blind person.” is aimed at evaluating the candidate’s ability to communicate complex concepts or express ideas in a way that would be clear for someone with a different perspective or perception abilities.
The question “How would you design a coffee cup for astronauts?” challenges the candidate to seek new approaches because conventional ideas or solutions don’t work anymore. Job candidates are supposed to consider all the constraints, specific needs, and limitations when suggesting ideas to solve a problem.
If a hiring manager asks “If you were stranded on a deserted island with only a paperclip, how would you survive?”, they want to find out how you can solve problems in challenging and unfamiliar circumstances. A limited number of tools is aimed to reveal the candidate’s inventiveness and ability to make the most of available resources.
“How many house painters are there in New York and how would you estimate them?” is the question to assess the candidate’s analytical skills, critical thinking, and attention to detail.
Tip for candidates: the interviewer doesn’t need the candidate to provide an accurate number. They expect to see how the candidate applies estimation techniques and provides logical reasoning behind their approach.
By asking the question “You have 100 red and 100 blue objects. How many do you need to take without looking to guarantee you have at least two of the same color?”, a hiring manager wants to get a peek at the candidate’s understanding of fundamental mathematical principles, particularly the one related to probability.
“If you could receive any amount of money to build your own business right now, what would you do?” such open-ended questions can help assess the candidate’s entrepreneurial mindset, strategic planning, and business acumen. While giving the answer, the candidate also showcases their ability to identify opportunities and prioritize actions to maintain long-term sustainability. Finally, it allows one to demonstrate one’s financial literacy and reasonable approach to managing money.
Questions of this kind “If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be and why?” reveal if the candidate is capable of self-awareness and self-reflection, and also if they can identify potential areas of improvement in their daily life. The answer can shed light on the candidate’s time-management skills, and ability to prioritize, delegate, and identify inefficiencies.
Finally, there are some tips on how you, as a candidate, should act when dealing with unconventional, weird, or funny interview questions:
What to avoid doing:
