People generally come across some questions that are considered “standard interview questions.” These are generally family members that any or all are expected to answer. Questions like ‘tell us about yourself’, ‘where do you see yourself in the next five years’, describe your greatest achievement’ are the kind of questions that candidates generally feel ready to answer. But it becomes difficult for HR professionals to differentiate between candidates as they would hear a range of responses from candidates and furthermore it becomes difficult to hire the best one for their organization.

In the past, job seekers typically asked about the main interview questions. Now, to change the routine, recruiters have added some tricky questions to their repertoire. These may sound strange, but they are much more stimulating and will also create rich opportunities for deeper questioning. Below are some of the “weird questions recruiters ask.”

• How do you miss your memory?
• On a scale of one to ten, would you rate me as an interviewer?
• If you were a Microsoft program, which one would you be?
• Room, desk and coach. Which would you clean first?

The questions can sound a bit unusual and unrelated to the candidates and can also catch a candidate completely off guard. These are designed to test a candidate’s analytical thinking as well as worldview, and the process of arriving at an answer is often more important than the answer itself. This can be treated with more intense thinking than an immediate response. That is expected to be the first thing a candidate is supposed to do; Take your time when you are asked an unusual question during the interview. The interviewer has designed them to intentionally assess candidates and will not expect them to have an immediate answer at their fingertips.

Always make sure you have enough knowledge about what the company does and what the role in question aims to achieve. If an opportunity is found to show the technical ability, specialized knowledge, or mathematical ability to answer the given question, it is more than likely that the question is designed for that.

These questions, for the most part, are an opportunity to demonstrate the candidate’s powers of lateral thinking. So always make sure you approach answers creatively. Some of the questions may have several possible answers; not all answers are always right or wrong. Candidates must apply reasonable logic and respond with confidence.