Going for an interview is nerve-racking, and being prepared will always help to calm your anxiety. However, there are some questions that can be pretty tricky to prepare for.
The Questions
A study by the Association of Accounting Technicians has revealed some of the most bizarre interview questions put to potential employees. Some are tricky but make sense when you consider the aim behind the question is to get an understanding of your integrity when it comes to work. Examples include: ‘What would you do if you saw another member of staff kissing the boss?’ or ‘Would you post about work on Facebook?’ Tricky but manageable.
Some questions might be put in there to test your logical thinking skills, such as ‘If a hippo fell in a hole, how would you get it out?’ Again, weird but plausible. However, with some questions it’s really hard to see what the interviewer is getting at – ‘Is a Jaffa cake a cake or a biscuit’ or ‘Do you prefer Coronation Street or EastEnders’ – unless you’re going for a job at the Jaffa cake factory or a TV production company.
Dealing with Weird Questions
Consider speaking to recruitment professionals such as www.lynnrecruitment.co.uk, a recruitment agent in Belfast. They’ll have lots of experience and will be able to advise when it comes to doing well in interviews.
But the reality is that you can’t always predict what questions are going to be thrown at you. Try not to panic – breathe and pause to think. If the question is strange, the interviewer will have put it out there for a reason and won’t expect you to have the perfect answer without a short amount of thinking time.
Think logically about what the company does. If the question allows you to use any specialist knowledge or skills, then use them – it’s likely that’s what it’s there for. There might not be a right answer – just your interpretation and the lateral thinking you use to get there. Allow the interviewer in on your thought process if it feels right – it will let them see how you navigate your way through a problem. Your ability to deal with the unexpected calmly will reflect well on you, and all you can do here is your best.