Science shows that you may only have one second to make the right impression in a job interview.
While most candidates are prepared for typical interview interview questions about their greatest weakness or when they faced a difficult decision, being able to handle the oddest of inquiries can be what sets you apart.
"If you could take anyone on a road trip with you, who would you take and why?"
"How would you find the square root of 1.2?"
"If you were a Muppet, which character would you be?"
Those are just a few of the many surprising queries that made Glassdoor's list of jobs with the toughest interview questions. Analysts at the job search platform combed its millions of anonymous company reviews and picked some of the most difficult prompts out there.
How would you answer these unusual interview questions?
1. "How do you explain a vending machine to someone who hasn't seen or used one before?"
— Global Data Analyst, Bloomberg L.P.
2. "How many fire hydrants are there in Los Angeles County?"
— Software Engineer, Disney Interactive Studios
3. "If your current employer had an anniversary party for you, what five words would be written on the cake to describe you?"
— District Manager, Express
4. "Who in history would you want to go to dinner with and why?"
— Flight Attendant, PSA Airlines
5. "What's the capital of Canada?"
— Team Leader, OpticsPlanet
6. "Name a brand that represents you as a person."
— Brand Strategist, Twitter
7. "Estimate how many employees are in the next building"
— Data Scientist, Risk Management Solutions
8. "How many happy birthday posts do you think Facebook gets in one day?"
— Sales Operations, Facebook
9. "If you could take anyone on a road trip with you, who would you take and why?"
— Educator, Lululemon
10. "What is the first thing you'd print with a 3D printer if you had one?"
— Linux Systems Administrator I, Rackspace
11. "If you had to take only one item to a deserted island, what would that be?"
— Customer Service Specialist, Squarespace
12. "If you are in a boat with a boulder and you drop that boulder into the lake, how does the water level before and after you drop the boulder in the lake compare?"
— Mechanical Design Engineer, Apple
13. "You have been asked to lead a multi-million dollar, multi-year grant that will be supported across several companies and universities. How do you start?"
— Research Scientist, Ford Motor Company
14. "Sell me on one idea, and then sell me on the opposite of that idea."
— Solarwinds Administrator, Blizzard Entertainment
15. "What is the probability of an integer from one to 60,000 not having the digit six?"
— Quantitative Developer, AKUNA CAPITAL
16. "If you were a Muppet, which character would you be?"
— Donor Family Advocate, LifeNet Health
17. "Give me 48 cents using six coins. Tell me quantity and value of the six coins."
— Human Resource Manager, Wintec
18. "What is the angle at 3:15?"
— Implementation Consultant, Fast Enterprises
19. "What part of the newspaper do you read first? What does this say about you?"
— Audit, BDO USA
20. "If a coworker had an annoying habit, and it hindered your quality of work, how would you resolve it?"
— Production Technician, Procter & Gamble
21. "Throw your resume aside and tell me what makes you, you."
— Sales Executive, Zillow
22. "How would you find the square root of 1.2?"
— Hardware Engineer, Jump Trading
