Answering Out-of-the-box Interview Questions In The HR Round

Interview questions being asked to candidates are getting tougher with the inclusion of logical reasoning and behavioural questions. Here are a few examples to help you crack the interview.

By Anuj Mishra

All those job seekers who are freshers and are preparing themselves for their first job, the round they are most eager, excited and anxious about is the interview. An interview is a phase when it is decided whether you'll be selected for the job or not. Thus, it is a critical scenario where you need to employ all your intellect, courage and confidence and give your best shot.

 

As important the interview is for a candidate, it is equally important for the recruiters of the organisations as it is the first time they come face-to-face with the person who will be working under them. An interview, for the employers, is the way of testing a candidate's personality, their presence of mind and calculating the worth. For the same reasons, many companies conduct interviews in more than one round, maybe two or three.

Out-of-the-box Interview Questions

With the growing competition and expectation of workplaces, the techniques of interviewing candidates are also evolving. They are adopting more complex yet effective techniques to judge a person internally. And, one of the ways of this technique is to ask the job seeker weird and tricky questions which help the employers in several ways. Every strange question has its own advantage of conveying a particular quality of the candidate.

Having said all that, let's have a look at five of the most out-of-the-box questions mostly asked in job interviews and how they could be answered in the right way.

1. What Did You Eat For Breakfast?

This may sound like a very simple question to answer and you'll wonder what the employer would judge from your answer. But, every question in the interview is sensible in its own way and helps the judges learn a thing or two about you.

From your answer to this question, the jury estimates your level of organisation and time management. They come to know if you manage your time efficiently enough to take out time for breakfast which is the most important meal of the day. You should probably tell them that you had a healthy and filling breakfast at home.

2. If You Were Made A Brand, What Tagline Would You Associate With Yourself?

Rather than asking you about your strengths, interviewers may ask you this type of question. They want to know what you think of yourself and how optimistically you would represent yourself in the public. For this question, you should take your time to think of something positive which would convey you are confident of your qualities.

The jury member may not care if you are come up with your original tagline or copy a famous brand's. All that matter is it should be impressive. Perhaps, something like Nike's 'Just do it' would give you extra points.

3. If You Are To Be Granted A Supernatural Power, What Would It Be?

There could be various purposes the interviewer is asking you this question. He may want to know your level of imagination or this might be crammed in your interview just to make it interesting and funny. No matter what they think, you must try to make this answer as funny and interesting as possible and by being frank.

A candidate once said that he would like to be able to fly which would lessen the office-home commute time. Guess what? The interviewers chuckled and were impressed. Similarly, not every question demands you put in a lot of thought; a bit of creativity helps too.

4. How Would You Spend Your Money If You Win A Huge Lottery?

There may be some questions which are not about right or wrong but to know your perspective towards something. In this question, it's money. You don't need to hurry in the attempt to answer this question quickly as you may think it will make you look smart. But, it doesn't. Pondering over a matter represents your thoughtfulness in taking crucial decisions.

Even if you cannot come up with something very smart, it's is acceptable to give an honest answer. You may say that you would deposit some of it in the bank as a fixed deposit so that you keep getting the interest and, with the rest of the money you will buy something you strongly desire.

5. If You Become The Prime Minister For A Day, What Would You Change?

Many people who are well acquainted with the current politics may go on to speak overly sensible and politics-oriented topics but that's not what they expect. Maybe the employer just wants to know what things you desire on a personal level.

Additionally, they might also wish to know how would you sum up as a leader at the workplace. Try and craft your reply in such a way that your actions would be beneficial to almost everyone.

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