INTERVIEWS :Expect the unexpected

Expect the unexpected

Sometimes interviewers ask questions that are so unusual you’d never predict they’d come up at interview.

This is often done to test how quickly you can think on your feet and to see how well you respond when put under a bit of pressure. Examples include:

• If you were stranded on a desert island with enough food and water, what 3 things would you choose to have with you?
• If I were an alien, just landed on earth, what do you think are the three key issues I would need to know?
• In a news story about your life, what would the headline be?
• If you won £20 million on the Lotto, what would you spend the money on?
• If you were a piece of fruit, what sort of fruit would you be?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
• How do I rate as an interviewer?

The trick when answering these questions is firstly, don’t panic, and secondly, to think about how you can use the opportunity to demonstrate a positive personal characteristic or skill that you know the recruiter is looking for.

Here is our attempt at answering an unexpected question.

What sort of fruit would you choose to be?

I would choose to be an orange as they have a bright welcoming colour that makes them stand out. My recent work experience as a supermarket assistant showed that it was important to be welcoming, helpful and friendly towards customers at all times. Oranges are also the shape of a ball which I associate with my love of football and being a good team player. I think an orange has hidden depths and values that you only discover once it is peeled.

Questions that ask for feedback on something like the interviewer’s performance may well be testing your diplomacy and whether you can offer constructive advice.

Share your difficult questions with us

If you have been for an interview, what’s the most difficult interview question you’ve been asked?

Share your experience with others via the discussion below and see if you can help each other to answer those difficult questions.

Interview practice - have a go!

Once you have done your initial preparation and feel more confident about knowing your key selling points and the questions you might face, it is a good idea to practise answering questions in a ‘mock interview’ situation.

This way, you can practise not only what you say but also how you say it. For example, do you sound enthusiastic and display a professional approach? You can also get feedback on your body language and other aspects of your interview technique that you might not have thought about before.

Try this role-play or mock interview exercise with one or two friends

In your group, you can each take turns to assume the role of candidate with others acting as interviewer and observer.

As the candidate, you must first identify what sort of job or course you want to be interviewed for and brief the interviewer so that they can ask appropriate questions. The interviewer may find it useful to refer to the ‘Commonly asked questions’ sheet, available below. If there is a specific set of questions that you know you struggle with, you might ask the interviewer to include these questions as well as ones that you might not have prepared for.

If you have a friend who can act as observer, they should have a pen and paper ready to make notes on your performance using the ‘Interview feedback sheet’. When giving feedback, the observer should try to be positive and make suggestions for improvement.

Conduct a 10-minute interview. The observer should keep time, along with making notes on your performance.

Spend 5-10 minutes discussing feedback – you first (saying how you thought it went) then your friends (remember the positive feedback).