8 Top Interview Questions from Unlikely Sources – 2024 Guide

Interviews are often known to make people nervous, which is the major reason candidates often search for probable interview questions.

A recent survey in the year 2019 showed that most of the companies had an average of 9 stages for their recruitment procedure. So, if you are also nervous to walk through that doorway, take a look at these interesting and mind-boggling questions.

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1. How would you solve problems if you were from Mars?

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This question was asked to a candidate for a job opening at Amazon. When a recruiter asks these types of questions, they don’t expect anything wrong or right. Instead, they assess your comfortability and confidence while thinking outside the box! If the candidate gets nervous or fails to answer the question, they cannot adapt to the new workplace.

The ideal answer can be anything as long as it can reflect on your creativity. However unrealistic it might be, make sure you present the interviewer’s solutions in front of the interviewer.

2. What do you think of garden gnomes?

This is one of the weirdest questions that you will come across. However, it was asked in an interview for a job opening at Trader Joe’s.

Although it may sound ridiculous and silly, the answer to the question gives a great insight of the candidate. It reflects on the candidate’s natural personality helping the interviewer understand the fun side of him/her.
A candidate can diffuse the situation by stating that “If I couldn’t get a job as one, I wouldn’t be here interviewing for this position” If you want to know more questions like these, you have to check out Interview Kickstart Questions !

3. Why are manholes round?

Source: manholes

I am sure that all of us have seen manholes. Still, a company like UBS, which is a Swiss multinational investment bank, ended up asking this question to the Operations Team opening candidates.

This question may feel like it is an ice-breaker, but it shows the intellect of the candidate and how much a candidate can think on their feet.

An ideal answer to the question would entail the thought of how any other shape will not accommodate space easily and how a round cover will not fall through the round opening. They can also back up their answer by saying that around cover fits easily, and accessing the same is quite easy, too. This answer demonstrates that the candidate has a solution against all adversities or does not give up at all!

4. You’ve been given an elephant. You can’t give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant?

If you think that this question was a joke, then you are completely wrong! It was asked in an interview for ConnectWise, and it tests the reasoning skills of the candidate.

This is a funny question, which is meant to loosen up the candidate, and you can never think of the right answer to this question. You will also get to see the candidate’s true side and what they will add to the table emotionally.

You can counteract by saying that you will send the elephant on a long vacation or feed it and ride to work every day, or start a business by using the elephant to offer rides to smaller kids. This way, the interviewer will know that you don’t easily give up.

5. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?

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Walgreens ended up asking this bizarre kindergarten question to all their candidates. This was a way to test the candidates’ imaginative and creative prowess and how they would perform against all adversities.

There is usually no right answer for a question like this, but the interviewer would expect a witty answer. So, what can be a witty answer? It can be something like, “I would be an oak tree, as an oak tree is strong and dependable.” This answer also draws a relation between the quality of the candidate and the job opening they are applying for!

6. We finish the interview and you step outside the office and find a lottery ticket that ends up winning $10 million. What would you do?

If this happened to you in reality, you would be ecstatic about it. However, as a hypothetical question, this is a witty one and lets the interviewer know about the candidate’s true motivations. There is a right answer associated with it, as your job depends on it! You just can’t afford to say “I will leave the job and live life with the $10 million lottery ticket.”

Instead, you must say that you will keep the $10 million, and spend it on various portfolios like vacations, traveling, investments, donations, savings, etc. However, you must finish with, “I love my job, so work will still be a priority whether or not I find the money.”

7. What’s the color of money?

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This is not a trick question. There is a correct answer to the question, and it depends on the country as the color is not universal for money!

8. If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?

This is another hypothetical question, which has no correct answer. However, you may want to know that an interviewer asks this question to understand the motivation of the candidates. You can save the crisis by answering that you would want a lighter, kick start the fire, and fuel to keep the fire alive. This shows the interviewer that you are analyzing the situation and thinking of probable solutions.

Final thoughts!

Well, these are some mind-boggling questions that can come in handy when your nerves don’t seem to calm down. A recent survey showed that the task of seeking a job is difficult for 73% of candidates. But not for you, not anymore!