The 20 Craziest Interview Questions We’ve Heard

The 20 Craziest Interview Questions We’ve Heard

Some employers are taking interviewing to an entirely different level by asking job candidates creative, outside of the box, seemingly absurd, but effective and unique interview questions during the hiring process. The following are 20 of the craziest questions we’ve heard of that are asked in interviews at companies like Google, Marriott, Bain & Co., and Mastercard.

  1. If you were to get rid of one state in the U.S., which would it be and why? (Forrester Research)
  2. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus? (Google)
  3. Why are manhole covers round? (Google)
  4. How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building? (JetBlue)
  5. What do you think about when you are alone in your car? (Gallup)
  6. How would you rate your memory? (Marriott)
  7. Can you say: “Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper” and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time? (MasterCard)
  8. If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us? (Trader Joes)
  9. How would people communicate in a perfect world? (Novell)
  10. How do you make a tuna sandwich? (Astron Consulting)
  11. My wife and I are going on vacation—where would you recommend? (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
  12. You are a head chef at a restaurant and your team has been selected to be on the TV Show “Iron Chef”. How do you prepare your team for the competition, and how do you leverage the competition for your restaurant? (Accenture)
  13. Estimate how many windows are in New York. (Bain & Co.)
  14. What’s your favorite song? Perform it for us now. (LivingSocial)
  15. Have you ever stolen a pen from work? (Jiffy Software)
  16. Pick two celebrities to be your parents. (Urban Outfitters)
  17. What kitchen utensil would you be? (Bandwidth.com)
  18. If you had turned your cell phone to silent and it rang really loudly despite it being on silent, what would you tell me? (Kimberly-Clark)
  19. On a scale from 1 to 10, rate me as an interviewer. (Kraft Foods)
  20. How would you direct someone else on how to cook an omelet? (PETCO)

On the surface, these questions probably appear to not be relevant to any job, but often these employers are looking to evaluate and test skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and initiative.

These creative interview questions just go to show that trying new interview practices and getting creative and unique in the hiring and interviewing process can help better evaluate your job candidates…or at the very least…provide a more entertaining and unusual interview experience for your job applicants!

Source: Inc.com “Interview Questions that Really Work” and CBS News “25 Weirdest Job Interview Questions of 2012”