6 weird job interview questions that have actually been asked

Err, neither … I go to the supermarket. No, this question isn’t actually asking how you source your food. In reality, this is simply a broad behavioural interview question that gets to the heart of what kind of person you are..

Gatherers are people who spend time collecting facts and figures, they do careful research before making decisions and are often great at multitasking. Hunters are more assertive and up for trying things on the fly – they’re also sometimes thought to make natural leaders.

The option you go for will depend on the job you’re applying for, as some roles naturally call for hunters, while others require the more steady approach of a gatherer.

Again, no right answer here, but this one is all about prioritisation and problem-solving. After all, an unexpected elephant represents a rather large problem.

Similar to the gnome question, it’s a good thing to show a sense of humour if you get asked something like this. There’s definitely no problem in having a laugh with this one, in fact, it’s actually a good idea. However, while you don’t want to get wrapped up in an intricate plan for dealing with this elephant, the interviewer will expect some sort of an answer.

A good one could be “crowdfunding in order to create a suitable habitat for the elephant to live in”. You can’t give the elephant away, so you can’t crowdfund to send it back to the wild, but this option is the next best thing. It shows organisation in order to raise the funds, as well as empathy for the animal.

This is a little bit like the “tell me about yourself” job interview question, but it gets you to focus specifically on your personality and habits, rather than, for example, your employment history.

You might already have an answer to this one up your sleeve – after all, it’s quite a fun thing to think about. But, whether you do or don’t have a response ready to go, make sure that you sense check it before rolling it out in front of an interviewer.

For example, while you might think an answer like “shark” might be a good one – powerful, ruthless etc. – these are also solitary animals that are known to fend for themselves above all else, so this doesn’t give off good team player vibes. Of course, just about all animals would have their downsides, so we aren’t saying you shouldn’t say “shark”, just be ready to back it up. Also, and we hope this goes without saying, don’t say sloth.

This is a more fun way of asking, “what’s important to you?”, and, again, getting you to prioritise. Our advice for answering this question is to give one thing that’s purely material and demonstrates a hobby – a guitar, a surfboard or a camera, for example. This just gives an insight into your life and what you get up to outside of work. For the remaining two, go for something practical and, ideally, something that shows a desire to keep some connection without the outside world. Even if a desert island on your own sounds great (and we get that!), you probably want to show the interviewers that you want to maintain connection with your friends and family. So, maybe a satellite phone and a solar charger? Just a suggestion.