18 Bizarre Job Interview Questions That Threw People Off Their Game

Giving a job interview, particularly for a position you really want, is somewhat of a daunting prospect. The stress is already on, and if the interviewer turns out unfriendly, it just piles up and takes the joy and brightness out of your day. But these interviewers really notched up the bizarre with the strangest questions, some the least related to the job. See how these Redditors handled such situations like champions.

• The job entailed a lot of filing of papers, so I got asked, “How do you best file things in folders alphabetically?”
  I was like, “Uh… with a folder for each letter, and then put the folders in alphabetical order…”
  She said, “Good… good…” and jotted down some notes. dougiebgood / Reddit
• Weird series of questions.
  Interviewer (picks up phone): “What’s your wife’s number?”
  Me: “Um, she’s in the US, and it’s 2 am there. Why would you want to call my wife?”
  Interviewer: “Is your mother also in the US?”
  Me: “Yes. Why?”
  Interviewer: “Well, say I would call your wife or mother. What would they say is your most annoying habit?” MunichRob / Reddit
• I work in the telecom industry. At one company where I was interviewing for a job, one of the people at the table asked me how I felt about police officers. I blinked. I asked what this had to do with the job. He told me it's just a question he likes to ask.
  When the main boss guy was walking me through the lobby, he told me Deputy Fife was a former detective and didn't like to hire people who “don't back the blue.” Needless to say, I didn't go to work there. Unknown author / Reddit
• “If you were given an elephant, what would you do with it?” Apparently “selling it” was the wrong answer. levieleven / Reddit

• “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” I was interviewing for an analyst position, so I went for a “decision tree.” Got the job. ntlslayer95 / Reddit
• “What's your name?” This was weird because I knew the guy already, and we were on a first name basis.
  I laughed, assuming he was joking. He didn't laugh. Apparently, they are supposed to ask the exact same questions to everyone. Subfounder / Reddit
• It was for a tech job at a small company when I was young, Google had just become trendy and cool not long before… It was something like, “How many windows are in New York?” I asked if they were serious, and they said yes, it was an exercise to see how I'd work out the problem, and they wanted me to answer.
  So I went with it, because I wanted to the job, spoke through my reasoning. Then the guy smiles like an idiot and says, “Yeah, really, the answer is if I needed to know I'd just Google it.” billbapapa / Reddit
• I was once asked how I would make shoes out of a “Spherical Cow.” First, I needed them to clarify to me what a spherical cow is compared to a regular cow. I guess it's just like… a cow in spherical form?
  To this day, I'm not sure how that makes the process of making a shoe any different. Anyway, I faffed my way through the process of skinning this spherical cow, then tracing a pattern and sewing a shoe together.
  The guy kept looking at me, saying things like “Aaaannnnnddd? What else? What ELSE would you need to do? Eh? What ELSE?” So after I continued to add detail to my cow to shoe process, the guy finally revealed to me the answer which was “You forgot that you need to make the LEFT shoe too!”
  They called me a few days later with a lowball offer, and I never returned their call. I figured I'd start working there, and I'd always be waiting for the other shoe to drop. SeaTie / Reddit

• “Did you have a close relationship with your father?” I’m a woman (engineer) and this was a totally out of left field question.
  Edit: this was in the late 90s, and people would be shocked by the rubbish female engineers in very male-dominated specialties had to go through. asphyxiationbysushi / Reddit
• “What are you?” This came after them dancing around the issue for quite a while by asking different variations of more PC-versions.
  I’m mixed [when it comes to race] and this happens a lot (said in the exact same way, as if I’m some type of dog breed rather than human) but it took me by surprise in the interview even though I knew they were leading up to it. Needless to say, I turned down the offer. MakinStuffDoinThangs / Reddit
• The guy interviewing me came with a list of questions, which is pretty normal. But the questions he asked were pretty weird. One was, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?” My answer was to fly because it would be fun and super easy to travel. He liked that answer.
  A few questions later, he said, “How much do you value getting things done on time?” I said 7, because you can’t always anticipate how long things can take to be resolved, and sometimes there are complications. He asked me, “So you don’t value getting things done on time, then?” And I said, “No, it’s not that, but I told you earlier that I value honesty more.”
  He really liked that answer. Anyway, they ended up offering me the job and I turned them down. delightfullydemented / Reddit

• “Why is a tennis ball fuzzy?” Joke was on him, because I actually knew the answer: if it weren’t fuzzy, it’d move too fast for the game to be playable. It was for a retail job, one of those “let me throw you a curveball and see how you do” questions. YoungRL / Reddit
• Interviewer: “I see you graduated from [school] in 2013. Did you know a Ms. Jane Doe?”
  Me: “Oh yeah, I know her! She was in my first year classes.”
  Interviewer: “Ms. Doe interviewed yesterday. Why should we hire you over her?”
  I basically responded with, “You should hire us both, ideally.”
  Then I said why I’d be good for the job overall. Neither of us got the job. Notsureifsirius / Reddit
• I was interviewing a potential employee with my supervisor and the last question he asked her was “How are you with dealing with... stupid people?” It was completely out of left field and informal based on the questions we were previously asking. You could tell the question threw her, but she answered. And she ended up getting the job. Happylittlepotatoes / Reddit
• “How long until you cheat on your husband?” The firm had a big cheating club going on. b*******f******2 / Reddit

• A few years back, I was at the second interview stage with a large retailer, and they asked me what my death row meal would be. I immediately, instinctively replied, “steak and fries.” I got the job and eventually asked them about it a few months later. Turns out, they didn’t give a toss about my answer — they wanted to know how decisive I was. apex204 / Reddit
• At an interview for a tech startup, they asked me, “If you could be any animal, what would you be?” I answered “Otter” because I feel they are fun, active, and work well with their hands. They debated whether to hire me on the basis of that answer. They said, and I quote, “We only hire predators, never prey.”
  They weren't sure how to quantify an Otter, because none of them had ever paid the least bit of attention to any sort of animal documentary or read biology, or you know, visited a zoo recently. Got the job, but it was the worst years of my life. rileysweeney / Reddit
• I was being interviewed by a young guy and two older ladies. The guy just stared at me, while the women conducted the interview. After they were done, one of them asked him if he had any questions for me. Before she could finish the statement, he blurted out, “Are your boobs real? They look really good!”
  I was in shock. The woman in charge asked me to please wait outside, and after a minute both ladies met me in the hallway and offered me the position I interviewed for at $2/hour more than what the position tops out at. I'm still here 3 and a half years later, and I've never seen that guy since the interview. AleenaMorgan / Reddit

While workplaces need to be made comfortable for all employees, prospective or otherwise, the reality is quite different. Just like these shocking stories from women bosses, who couldn't believe the level of flak they received at their work!