Three Out of The Box Questions You Could Encounter

When you’re actively looking for work and interviewing at numerous companies, you’re likely to encounter the generic ‘run of the mill’ questions that many employers ask such as previous employment, previous experience and other generic questions such as the below:

1. Your motivation
2. Team work examples
3. Your skills
4. Your personality
5. Your interests
6. What are your weaknesses

In addition to the above, many employers will ask potential candidates ‘out of the box’ questions that are designed to not only catch you off guard but to efficiently gain as much information as possible from the candidate and out to maximize the results of the interview.

With the rise of social media and company branding in general, one of the main ‘out of the box’ questions that you can expect to encounter relates to company branding and your view and understanding of company culture. Questions that relate to this might include:

1. What company do you admire most and why
2. What company comes to mind when you think of company culture
3. How would you describe company culture and what examples can you provide

In addition to company culture, customer service plays a big part in many jobs and because of this you are likely to encounter questions relating to it. Although you may be able to provide examples of yourself providing customer service, you’re more likely to remember your own experience with customer service at other third party companies. Questions you may encounter could include:

1. When have you experienced bad customer service & why was it bad
2. When have you experienced good customer service & what made it good
3. When you think of customer service, what comes to mind?

Finally, you’re likely to encounter questions that relate to your ability to not only problem solve but to determine your ability to deal with challenging situations. Being asked these types of questions not only allow the interviewer to determine your ability but to gain an understanding of your experience in these scenarios. Potential questions that you can expect to encounter might include:

1. When have you been in a difficult situation & how did you deal with it
2. What notable hurdle if any have you overcome at work
3. What project or process have you been in charge of from start to finish
4. When have you used analytics or data to make an important decision

In addition to the above questions, candidates might potentially face a variety of other questions from interviewers that are designed to catch them off guard, as always it is advised that you enter an interview prepared with knowledge of common interview question as well as information about the company that you are interviewing at.