10 Best Creative (vs. Common) Interview Questions

10 best creative interview questions

We are all likely familiar with a courteous question like “how are you” when really the time doesn’t allow for an authentic answer. Similarly when you consider how much time you’ll spend working in your career, the idea of really getting to know you would benefit the employer and you alike. Why not dive deeper and ask creative and effective questions vs. common familiar ones?

The idea behind preparing to answer creative questions (compared to common interview questions) is that the interviewer is able to better understand your character, personality, and agility. Anyone can prepare for the standard questions with rote answers likened to cramming for a test. What does this tell your future employer about the uniqueness of you - that you test well!

More and more employees are implementing a creative approach with a desire to really get to know how you’re different, qualified and a team player.

Consider too, interviewing is not limited to words alone. Outside the interview room, tasks may be included in this process such as asking you to do something under pressure or riding in a car with you to lunch to see your driving style. The holistic approach to interviewing should not be overlooked.

The more prepared you are, you will discover your true self under pressure can show up agile, willing to go with the flow, with a sense of humor when things go wrong and be open to correction. Aren’t these the soft skills you’ve worked hard to embody? Ultimately this is the goal interviewers are getting at with these questions above and beyond any “right” or “wrong” answer you could cram for. They want to see that you are not only qualified to do the work, but truly the best candidate for the long term.

Below are a list of common interview questions compared to creative alternatives. Prepare for both and see how you show up more prepared than your peers. Bottom line: Be prepared, honest, flexible, and concise.

Common Interview Questions: 

1)    Tell me something about yourself.

2)    What did you like about your last job?

3)    Why did you leave your last job?

4)    What can you bring to this company/organization/team?

5)    What specific skills to you have for this type of work?

6)    What is your greatest strength?

7)    Tell me about your work history?

8)    What would your employers say about your past work experience?

9)    In what way do you feel you can make the biggest contribution to this company?

10) What five words describe you best?

11) Do you consider yourself a team player?

12) What motivates you?

13) Describe your working style?

14) What is your biggest accomplishment?

15) Anything else we should know about your work history?

16) Who is your role model, and why?

Examples of Creative interview Questions:

1)    If you could live anywhere, where would you live? This question indirectly asks about your hobbies. Hidden within it, are the questions: Do you like to travel? Would you want to relocate?

2)    If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life what would it be? Better than, “tell me more about yourself?”, this question gets at your interests and openness not to mention cultural awareness and greater worldview. My husband Jeff answered Kale and I answered Asian food! His response, was wait a minute I thought you said food. My understanding of the question was type of food - way more flexible! Even in a simple question like this you can see the discretion and ability to think outside the box!

3)    What was the last gift you gave to someone? And who was it?   The question is getting at are you generous, kind, thoughtful? Do you have a good memory! Are you intentional?

4)    What is an unpopular opinion you hold? Persuasiveness or uniqueness? You decide. I love this question because it tells me that we can hold unpopular opinions and be open to disagreement. It also gives space for contradiction in the simplest of ways from a disliked movie to a deeper political stance. I’d probably err on the side of something slightly shallow in the first round and see where things go from there. (i.e. I think the STAR WARS series is over-rated!)

5)    What is the last best movie (book, article) you read? Are you well-informed, a life-long learner, interesting and/or insightful. Be prepared to talk about something of interest. It may or may not relate to the work you do, relatable is better than obscure.

6)    What advice would you give your former boss? Delicate, yes. But simultaneously insightful into your relationship with past employers or supervisors. As well, notable what traits you value and need in your working world.

7)    If you were an animal what animal would you be? Without asking are you a people person, you can learn a lot about someone from this question. Your answer can speak to traits you share in common with a familiar creature without having to state, I’m funny, fun, loving, etc.

8)    What do you do to rejuvenate? Or describe an ideal Saturday? Again, this question may be asking about hobbies or it may be asking about boundaries. What does your work-life balance look like and how are you caring for yourself. Do we share similar values on the idea of rest?

9)    What does your ideal working environment look like? Whether or not an organization can accommodate your ideal working needs, if this question was asked, I would jump at the opportunity to say I work really well collaborating with others and then going back to my work alone. Basically stating, can I work remotely without micro-management and with or without people?

10) Which year of your life would you like to relive? This question allows you to highlight something others may never ask you about. I love this question as it basically is, tell me more about yourself! What brings you life and why? 

Bonus: What’s one thing about you that people don’t ask but that you’d like others to know?

Preparing with these types of questions in mind gives you the leg up! As you can imagine it also gives you the opportunity to prepare not only for your vocation, but also the relationships that will make up your work environment. A good interview allows your potential future employer to see your unique attributes and learn more about you both inside of work and outside. Don’t be shy, let yourself shine! Be concise and don’t forget that you can also ask intelligent and thoughtful questions in return.

For further reflection:

Which question would you like to answer? Have you been in an interview like this that allowed your best attributes to shine?