Graduates: How To Answer Those Weird And Wonderful Interview Questions

I’m sure you’ll all be aware of the increasing competition between uni leavers to get a graduate job and believe it or not the poor recruiters are having a tough time differentiating you all as well. You may have been to a couple of interviews already or you might be a bit of a newbie to the career world – but there will probably come a time where you get asked the most bizarre question ever during an interview and find yourself wanting the ground to swallow you up!

When I was applying for a job – I went to an interview and got asked “If you were a kitchen utensil what would you be?” After going rather red to say the least – (and if I’m honest thinking to myself what kind of daft question is that) I somehow thought of an oven as I like to be at the centre of the action.

It can be really off-putting having a curve ball thrown at you like that and if you’ve just read that question and thought I would have no idea how to answer that – then have a look at my top tips on how to tackle weird and wonderful interview questions!

1) Answer The Question

So imagine this… you get asked the most random question ever and you end up burning bright red from embarrassment and sitting there like a lemon not saying anything. This is actually the worst thing you could do – make sure you say something – even if you don’t think it’s quite right. They want to see how you deal with pressure and if they ask you what fruit would you be and why and you sit there silent it’ll show that you’re not the best under pressure – which is usually pretty important for a lot of employers because, like it or not, the working world isn’t always stress free.

2) Research

You need to make sure you prepare for that slightly uncomfortable feeling you’ll get when you get asked a weird interview question so have a look online and see some of the weird questions that you might find yourself being asked. You probably won’t get asked the majority of them however it helps you to prepare for your reaction to a random question. This way you can keep your nerves at bay as much as possible because you’ll feel nice and prepared. It’s better to be prepared than feel like you’ve no idea what to expect – and sitting there, dwelling on the whole situation!

3) Keep Calm

In order for you to answer the question in the first place you need to try and keep yourself calm – a lot of these strange questions require you to think on the spot. If you’re sitting there in a massive tizzy then you’re probably not going to think of an amazing answer. So take a deep breath and try to think clearly – this way you’re much more likely to give a decent answer. If you’re struggling to keep calm then have a look at our post that helps you deal with interview nerves. Remember they’re testing how you react under pressure – so prove to them you can handle this rather horrible situation.

4) Keep It Relevant

I know the weird question may have taken you off guard a little bit – but it’s really important to link your answer with the job role. Make sure you’ve had a look at the job spec when you’re preparing – this way you can drop those buzz words in wherever you can! For example if they’re looking for a self-starter make sure you show this by talking about your ability to work independently. So remember no matter how much a question takes you off guard, keep on topic!

5) Justify Yourself

Your interviewer may ask you a logic question like “Would you rather fight a horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses?” In this instance you need to take a second to actually imagine 100 duck sized horses! So take your time and think about the best way to answer this question. After you’ve thought about it make sure you show them your way of thinking – I’d probably say that horses have a tendency to kick so I would prefer 100 horse sized ducks as they would probably be less vicious. This way you show that you’ve broken down the question and justified the answer – remember there’s no actual wrong answer as long as you explain yourself!

So there we go – five tips to answer those weird and wonderful interview questions that may be thrown at you. Remember to stay calm and always answer the question clearly – good luck!

Graduates: How To Answer Those Weird And Wonderful Interview Questions