10 of the weirdest interview questions ever asked
You’ve heard the standard “why do you want to work here?” so many times you’ve perfected your answer. But what if the interviewer throws something a bit more out there in there? Top companies like Google and Apple often come up with some, um, interesting questions for their wannabe employees. An unsuspecting Uber applicant got hit with this gem: “How would you find the words that became obsolete in English language between the 16th and 17th century? You may use a search engine.”
There’s method to the madness though – the thinking behind these off-the-wall Qs is they show how quickly you can think on your feet and how you handle a challenge. All that stuff on your CV about being a creative problem solver who works well under pressure? Yep, it’s being tested.
We’ve compiled the top 10 weirdest interview questions as ranked by Glassdoor, for your reading pleasure. Coming to an interview room near you… don’t say we didn’t warn you.
1. Which superpower would you like to have? – Topshop
2. If you were a fruit, what kind would you be and why? – Topdeck Travel
3. If you could have dinner with three actors that are no longer living, who would you pick? – BlackBerry
4. How many hours would it take to clean every single window in London? – IBM
5. How do you get an elephant in a fridge? – Gemalto
6. If the time is quarter past 3, what is the angle measurement on the clock? – Standard Bank Group
7. If you had three minutes alone in a lift with the CEO, what would you say? – Network Rail
8. How many people born in 2013 were named Gary? – BT
9. What will you be famous for? – EY
10. How many nappies are purchased per year in the UK? – Aviva
So next time you’re prepping for that big—this is the perfect job for me!—interview, maybe rehearse an answer to one of the above, just in case.
What’s the strangest interview question you’ve ever had to answer? Leave a comment and let us know.