The job market is has been pretty weak for the past few years, which means that job hunting has become rough. With both employment rates and salaries dropping for new college grads, finding a rewarding job may be harder than you’d like. And the outlook isn’t much better for people already in the workforce—young professionals who’ve been laid off are in the same boat as new grads when it comes to finding work. Many people have returned to school through an online university or a local college to boost their resumes, which has improved the lot of some, but finding a job is still a challenge.
If you’re lucky enough to get an interview, you’ll need to be prepared for anything—and that includes some funky interview tactics. Crafting a plan for successful interviewing, from first contact to post-interview communication, is the best way to make sure you have a fighting chance at landing the kind of job you want.
Job Reconnaissance
Do your homework and research the company you’re interviewing with. This may mean scouring their website for the company’s history, e-mailing the HR director or interviewing rep for more information, or talking to current employees. Researching the company before your interview can also help you avoid being over- or underdressed—fewer companies are expecting suits and ties, and knowing the company culture ahead of time can help you fit in. What’s important is that you go into your interview knowing as much as you can about the company, the job opening, and how your potential job fits in with the company’s overall mission.
Say what?
Chances are you won’t encounter the weirdness listed in the illustration below, but you may get some out-there questions. Here are a few strange questions that jobseekers have encountered in real interviews with companies like Facebook, Google and IBM:
• If you could be any superhero, who would you be?
• How do you weigh an elephant without using a weighing machine?
• Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 how weird you are.
• How many basketballs can you fit in this room?
Questions like these might seem like the interviewers are trying to catch job candidates off-guard—and they are. Most questions like these are supposed to show how well you think on your feet, how creative you can be, and how adaptable you are. If you get a question that makes you scratch your head, don’t be afraid to give an appropriately strange answer. It’s a safe bet that they don’t expect you to know the answers—though, if you do, that would be really impressive.
The Aftermath
Once you’ve made it through the interview, the most important thing you can do is follow-up with a personal note to everyone you talked to during your interview. Sending thank-you e-mails used to be a faux pas, but it’s perfectly fine—as long as you send them no more than a day or two after the interview.
If you end up landing the gig, it’s time to celebrate—of course, with the job market being the way it is now, there’s a chance you might not get the job. If you find yourself staring at a “your qualifications don’t match our needs” e-mail, accept it and move on. Rejection always stings, but each interview you do is a learning experience. Putting all your eggs in one basket is a recipe for disaster, so make sure you keep your options open when it comes to job hunting. Bottom line: When you’re getting ready for an interview, be prepared for anything and everything, from start to finish.
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Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
When you are doing interviews and you have had no luck in hiring someone the questions do get a bit crazier as you go on…
I used to drop a few things on the floor in the doorway where the person had to walk through.. If they walked over them without picking them up I didn’t hire them.
I also used to ask them if they would like a break from the interview to have a cigarette.. Some people said yes!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Win a Free WPSubscribers WordPress Plugin
Twitter: BestKinectGame
says:
Great infographic and good investment in your time – I have had a few infographics created and the traffic was always incredible, especially via StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon users didn’t often convert the best but it was still an incredibly long-term and valuable investment if utilized properly.
Very nice!
Thomas recently posted..Successful Internet Marketing
Interesting read Jesse. I certainly think infographic are becoming more popular, specially within the blogging world.
What I like about it is you can say a lot of things in an infographic that it would take pages if you would write them. Its kind of like the picture thing, but in a different and I think more efficient way.
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Great article about the infographic interview,I think it is a better way to judge a person.
psd to zen cart
Love the visual element to the post really adds a lot and worth the effort to put together.
I’d add as one of the top 10 mistakes – Not clearly communicating how you would contribute to the goals and profitability of the company.
Regards
Mark
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Job Reconnaissance
- does this mean any walk-in interview should be avoided?
Liana recently posted..Ideas to Help the World updated Tue Sep 13 2011 12:27 am CDT
Twitter: funtainmentclub
says:
Hilarious questions…really…but i liked them…thanks for the post…
aritraroy recently posted..9 Amazing Watercolour Paintings that You Must See!
well, I think they ask those question to test your logic skills or…. the person doing the interview run out of questions
and he need to produce more since the applicant has answered all of it correctly. 
Patrece recently posted..The Art of A Good Photo for an Average Geeks updated Mon Sep 5 2011 4:45 am CDT
This is a great article with an awesome graphic! I’ve shared this link with a few of my friends who are currently interviewing!
I had an interview with Google for a marketing position and was asked how to find a needle in a haystack. Interestingly, the answer that many people give–”with a magnet”– did not come to mind at all. Instead, I blurted out: “I’d burn the haystack!” My friends joked that Google’s rejection of me as a job candidate was quite obvious–who would want to hire a pyromaniac? However, what consoled me, is that the most common answer about the magnet would also prove incorrect (and no longer creative), since most needles are made of stainless steel, which a magnet does not attract
Good luck, everyone,
Julia
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thanks for the tips…i really tell my students not to talk to much of bad experiences or complaints with there previous employers..is this the right thing?
Timothy Smith recently posted..DoUpTo- The Fastest Way to Make Money Using Your Talent updated Tue Jul 26 2011 1:56 am CDT
I appreciate that you wrote about what to do after the interview, saying thank you is very important but often forgotten by applicants. I hope this tips will reach out to all job seekers.
Liana recently posted..Ideas to Help the World updated Tue Sep 13 2011 12:27 am CDT
Hi, Jesse,
Some of the questions you presented here are really weird…they seem to be for laughing out loud and, yet, depending of the answer given, they can say a lot about the person and his psychological side. I have been so far on a few job interviews, but never had the opportunity to face such questions-however, since I like challenges, I wouldn’t mind them at all.
They seem to be like an excellent way to trigger your brain and make it work in a rather philosophical way.
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These interview tactics can really reveal a lot about a person. The fact that they are caught by surprise most of the time means they will have to trust their instincts and respond, and this can show a lot of their character especially if it is a trick question to see *how* the person answers the question rather than what the answer is.
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Twitter: jenniferdrai
says:
It’s interesting how interviewers can tend to catch someone off-guard to test how the candidate would react in strange situations. That is a good tactic but a risky game for the job-hunter. In this job market, it is essential for job-hunters to also work on personality enhancement skills. After all, that is the first thing that impacts the interviewers. Thank you for sharing.
Jennifer Rai recently posted..Employee Performance Ratings – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Twitter: PRLuv
says:
Oh I can’t stand those ‘check how quick they are on their mental feet’ questions. I had an interview last year for a position working as a federal officer and had 3 interviewers at my interview. A psychologist, the warden of the nearest federal prison, and someone else, I can’t recall. Anyway, they asked two of those questions, and I’m pretty quick on my feet but already on pins-and-needles at an interview, so the ‘right’ question can definitely give me an immediate kidney stone, haha.
I also never liked the ‘tell us how you resolved this sort’ve thing at your last job.’ Mostly because it’s hard to really convey to the interviewer that I’m absolutely serious, not making a joke, that in my last job things were different – and a lot of times, when an interviewer is asking ‘how did you resolve a fight,’ the easy and real answer is I ‘smoked the dog sh*t out of them.’ Which in Army talk, means I gave them corrective training with physical exercise for an extended period of time. You have energy to get into a fight at work, you have the energy to stay up all night doing push-ups and low-crawling in full equipment with the new buddy you wanted/tried to fight with.
Ah well, I’m done interviewing. My own business, my own income. Plus I get paid to go to school by the military, so the next few years I can forget about stressful interviews.
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Job hunting it is difficult but finding a good candidate can be a real challenge as well. That’s why the interview questions are getting weirder and weirder – employers want to fish out these original, thinking outside the box people and creative thinking is on the roll. All depends from the sector of course, but fast decision making and ability to react in some unexpected circumstances are valued everywhere.
the questions might be a little weird but it can be interesting. will make applicants enjoy answering them at the same time testing logic skills. its like knowing who the person is in a way who you’re hiring is. nice post jesse
Timothy Smith recently posted..DoUpTo- The Fastest Way to Make Money Using Your Talent updated Tue Jul 26 2011 1:56 am CDT
Twitter: mycoportal
says:
Very well-said. Landing yourself to an interview is an accomplishment in itself these days. Take it with full pride, and give it your best shot. I like your point of researching the company ahead of time and making yourself fit right in. Thank you for sharing.
Twitter: RelationshipCir
says:
Those weird questions were awesome! I couldn’t even imagine what I would say to what I would do in blender to get out – seriously, talk about on the spot pressure. Or weighing an elephant? I don’t know. I’m glad that I don’t have to interview.
My husband is a pro though. Because he’s been on contract work he’s had more interviews in a few years than most people have in a lifetime. He’s so confident going in that he literally never sweats it.
Last interview they asked him some questions like “What was the last book you read?” and “What chapter did you find the most interesting and why?” Luckily he had some pretty good answer for them even though he didn’t expect a question like that!
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There’s some very amusing questions there, and also some excellent advice.
In the current economic climate, there is no doubt that it’s an employers market and some of the obscure questions are simply to gauge a reaction and how quickly a candidate can think on their feet. Sometimes it can really backfire and candidates can be put off by these type of questions.
Job interviews come along with crazy questions nowadays – totally true! People hiring workers are more interested in the to-be-employee’s general knowledge than his actual qualifications! I guess no judgement should be passed on without testing them on their actual skills. Am I right?
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