How To Answer Strange / Weird or Inappropriate Interview Questions

Often you will find strange questions being asked in an interview. They can either be inappropriate or simply unexpected. Some examples of oddball questions are:
“What is your perception of the painting in the lobby?”
“What would you do with a million dollars?”
“Can you tell a joke?”
(samples from career news)

In such cases often the interviewer is trying to assess a particular trait like your attentiveness to details or overall personality. It is always better to try to understand his real motives and answer that question after you have answered his original question honestly. You can also use it as a opportunity to highlight the particular trait he is looking for with a small story (hopefully real).

Sometimes he is trying to assess your intellectual depth. One question I sometimes ask is:
How would you estimate the number of crows in the city?

The answer I am looking for is that he should explain how he will use a sample area and actually count the crows by any viable method and then how he would extrapolate. A more intelligent candidate would venture into how he can make the sample size statistically significant.

“What would you do with a million dollars?”
Personally I think it is an amusing question and would use such questions as an opportunity to highlight one of my positive traits which I want to highlight to the interviewer. Something along the lines of starting a business is a better idea than telling them how you would spend it all on a vacation (and booze) on an exotic island with your significant other.

Overall I think such questions present an opportunity to create a positive impression with your interviewers. Never leave them unanswered, leverage such questions.

How to answer inappropriate interview questions

You may sometimes be asked personal questions or questions which forces you to indirectly reveal personal information like asking about the number of children you have or how long you have been married (clearly inappropriate).

There are two distinct strategies you can take. You can try to guess the interviewer’s real motives (like your ability to balance life and work) and answer the hidden question instead of the posed one.

Another approach, which is more generic in nature, is to use a disarming smile and politely reply that you would prefer not to answer this question.