"How do you weigh an elephant without using a scale?" This is the kind of question that makes you wish for the good old days, when sexist remarks and favoritism were the only things to fear in an interview. It is a real question, asked by IBM in an interview; unfortunately, the applicant's response was not recorded. The trend of unusual and even bizarre job interview questions is on the rise, and with high unemployment rates creating a huge pool of applicants for every position, it's not going away any time soon.
The author of "College Grad Job Hunter," Brian Krueger, calls these questions "dumb," and says their purpose it to get past pre-programmed responses to see if [the applicant] is capable of original thought. A bizarre question virtually guarantees an unrehearsed response, which the employer may deem more authentic.
So long as the questions do not target the applicant's race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, marital status, disability, age, or sexual orientation, they are legal, according to Findlaw, a legal resources website. However, some critics have spoken out about the practice, calling it a symptom of an essentially untrustworthy and arrogant corporate culture. Treating job interviews like experiments to watch the results can seem disrespectful and may give pause to the most highly qualified applicants.
The bottom line that employers want to know is "Does it work?" Feedback from the companies that use it is guardedly, yes. That is, it provides an honest response which can be evaluated for personality types the company is seeking. Interviewees are well-versed on answering questions about their strengths and weaknesses, but few have practiced answering the question "What kind of fruit would you be if you were a fruit?" The potential fruit, or employee, is showing that he or she has a sense of humor, reacts well to the unexpected and can think on his or her feet. Since there is no right answer, managers have to define for themselves what they are looking for in these situations.
So what should you do if you are shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender- and then asked about it? Experts can't agree on one answer, but being relaxed, not taking too long to respond, relating the situation back to work in some way if possible and laughing about it are all a good start.
