38 Truly Bizarre Questions People Were Actually Asked During Job Interviews That Left Them Scratching Their Heads In Utter Confusion
Reddit user Correct_Spray5890 recently posed this question to the r/AskReddit community: "What is the dumbest question you've been asked during an interview?" Much to my horror (and, TBH, my delight), hundreds of people shared the awkward, bizarre, and jaw-dropping things they've actually been asked during job interviews. Here's what they revealed:
1."I have a uniquely spelled name. They stopped me while answering a question and asked if I spelled my name correctly on my resume. When I said yes and joked about it being unique, they asked if I was sure. I didn't get the job."
2."'If this job offered no money, would you still want to work here?' No. The answer is no."
3."'What's the most dangerous animal you'd be willing to fight?' When I said, 'People,' that was apparently the wrong answer."
4."'What church do you go to?' This was not in any way a church-related organization, department, or position. I was meeting with the entire department, and the department head blurted that out. The 15 other people in the room fell absolutely silent while he obliviously blathered something like, 'Well, I don't care WHAT church, but I do want to know you have some sort of spiritual life and a moral compass.' I didn't confront it directly, but I mostly deflected with something about growing up in a generic denomination and moved on. There was nothing but crickets after the interview, but eight months later, I got a call that they wanted to arrange a second interview. Sorry, oddly enough, I happened to need food and shelter and, thus, found a different job."
5."About two years ago, I was asked in an interview to choose between spending time with the company or spending time with my family, and obviously, I chose family. The interviewer ended the call right there, citing that I did not possess the values required for the job. The company literally just filed for bankruptcy last month."
6."'If I were to go into your room right now, would your bed be made?' It was for a marketing position at a church."
7."'Do you care if I hit my Juul?' And before I could even answer, he hit the Juul, lol."
8."'If someone tried robbing us, how would you protect the cash register?' They didn't like my reply, 'I wouldn't protect it.' I thought this was some test, but it wasn't. They wanted their employees to put their lives on the line for whatever money would be in the cash register. This was a minimum-wage paying job, by the way."
9."I had this question in an interview for a job I didn't get: 'What would be a good reason NOT to hire you for this position?' My reply was, 'A pre-approved or better candidate.' I had a ton of snarky replies in my mind but opted for the neutral reply."
10."If your grandparents visited, clogged your toilet, and left without telling you, would you call and ask them why they did that?' Lmao, this was for a hotel receptionist, and I got the job."
11."This one was from Subway: 'If you could get away with it, would you steal from us?' I would love to meet the person who said yes."
12."'Are you planning on getting pregnant?'"
13."I was asked where I lived, if I had a boyfriend, and what my father did for a living."
14."'What makes a salad, a salad?'"
15."Interviewer: 'Give me one good reason why I should give you this job.' I replied, 'Give me one good reason why I should accept it.' I got the job."
16."'Do you believe in UFOs?' I mean, yeah, there are all kinds of things flying around that haven't been identified. Not sure if they were asking if I believed in aliens..."
17."'Will you pray with me?'"
18."They asked what my high school GPA was. I was in my late 30s at the time. I honestly didn't remember."
19."'If you needed to eat an elephant, how would you go about it?' I guess this question could assess problem-solving skills or your approach to seemingly insurmountable tasks, but I could think of better questions for that. I ended up quoting that one Shel Silverstein poem about the girl who wanted to eat a whale and how she ate it one bite at a time. They seemed to like that answer."
20."They asked if I went to church and had a boyfriend. I was interviewing for a public school teaching position."
21."'If I asked your friend what you were like in high school, what would they say?' I ended the interview right after that."
22."What car make, model, and color do you drive, and why did you choose it?"
23."While applying for an internal promotion at my last place of work, HR asked me if I didn't like my current job. Recently, I was applying for another job (go figure), and they stopped my supposedly final interview because I couldn't be at their offices the following Monday at 10 a.m. I explained that I was currently employed, and the HR person looked surprised and asked why I was applying for a job if I had a job with another company."
24."'Are you sure you want to start at the top of the salary band? That won't give you much room for growth.'"
25."'What's your superpower?' This was one of only two questions in the interview."
26."I was asked to name my favorite color and defend that choice. I was applying to be the controller of the accounting department."
27."'How badly do you want to work here?' As if anyone's gonna beg, lol."
28."'If you could be any kind of tree, what kind would you be?'"
29."'Do you get along with other women? Because we seem to have a lot of catfights here.' At a DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. I couldn't believe it."
30."'How would you describe a vending machine to someone who doesn’t know what one is?'"
31."'What genre would the movie of your life be, and why? And which actor would play you?' This was during a group interview. Everyone was instantly stressed."
32."'What do you like to have for lunch?' I work in the trades. Why TF did that matter?"
33."'What is your relationship with your father?' This was for a job as a chartered accountant. 'Er, I'm his son?'"
34."My buddy interviewed for the PA State Police. They asked him this: 'If you had no clean underwear, would you rather wear a dirty pair inside out, or would you rather not wear underwear that day?' There was no right answer; it was more of a personality question to assess your thought process."
35."'How is your relationship with your family?'"
36."I got hit with, 'Is your car clean?' as a teenager for an admin assistant job. I answered yes, and we stopped the interview so he could look inside my car in the parking lot because 'a clean car means you are organized and can do a good job.' He said, 'I don't hire people with messy cars because they're pigs.' I didn't work there long."
37."'How did you get to this interview? Oh, you drove? Is it your car? It's your dad's car? Do you have to switch on and off with him frequently? Why don't you have your own car? Can you not afford it?'"
38.And: "I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and became an industrial electrician making $130k a year. I moved towns and applied for an engineering job, and the interviewer asked me, 'Why didn't you get a real job when you graduated college?'"
What's the wildest question you've ever been asked in a job interview? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
