25 Unusual Interview Questions

Many people would be envious of Alan Sugar’s recruitment budget for The Apprentice. Most of us don’t have that luxury or the time. How do you get to know someone in depth quickly?

Profound and/or obscure questions encourage a candidate to open up and answer off the cuff, rather than recite a pre-prepared, off-the-shelf answer. This can give you, as an employer or recruitment consultant, a real and quick insight into the mechanics of their mind, allowing you to determine whether or not the candidate will fit, culturally, in your office environment.

“During a second interview I would always put the candidate’s CV out of arm’s reach and spend time talking about random stuff,” said Sara Jones, co-founder of Hiring Hub. “That’s when you really find out what a candidate’s like, what their motivation is, and why they’re sat before you. Answers to these questions are often far more rather important than which school or university they went to.”

Here’s a list of 25 Unusual Interview Questions designed by the professionals to help you gain a fast insight:

1 What is your current boss doing wrong?
2 Tell me about a time you misjudged a person.
3 Do you check your emails when you’re on holiday?
4 If the day was 25 hours long, what would you do with that extra hour?
5 Do you have a role model? If so, who is it and why?
6 If you could try any job for a week, what would you do?
7 What is you biggest character flaw or weakness?
8 If I gave you £5000 right now, what would you do with it?
9 How do you stack a dishwasher?
10 How do I rate as an interviewer?
11 What would your work colleagues say about you?
12 Why did you choose to wear that shirt today?
13 In your view, what are the major problems in our industry?
14 Rank these in the order of importance: power, health, status, wealth.
15 What is your biggest achievement?
16 How would you react if you discovered that a colleague doesn’t like you?
17 Give an example of when you have learnt from a mistake.
18 If you did not have to work, what would you do?
19 Who in the public eye would you most like to punch?
20 Why is your best friend your best friend?
21 Tell me about your biggest failure.
22 What did you have for breakfast today?
23 Who has made the biggest impact on your professional life, and why?
24 If you were me and I were you, why wouldn’t I hire you?
25 You’re stuck on a desert island, but items such as food and water were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?