Test emotional intelligence
with unusual questions

How do you describe the color yellow to someone who is blind? How do you weigh an elephant without scales? What do you take with you to a desert island and why? Questions like these are popping up more and more during job interviews.

Many candidates prepare in detail for the familiar job interview questions such as “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Employers, however, are looking for something different. They want to know what kind of meat they have in the barrel. How someone thinks, reacts and cooperates. That’s why more and more organizations are turning to questions that say something about emotional intelligence. Showing empathy, building relationships and regulating emotions are important predictors of success in the workplace.

Unusual questions

Unusual application questions put someone “off script” for a moment. You see how someone handles surprise, excitement or complexity. These questions help get past rehearsed answers and reveal something about motivation, values and thinking style. What questions help with this? Plus, what does an answer actually say?

How do you describe the color yellow to someone who is blind?

This seems to be almost an impossible task. The content of the answer matters less than the way a person responds. Consider creativity, flexibility or the ability to make complex information simple.

Can you teach me something I’ve never heard before?

This could be anything! A skill, insight or a simple puzzle. You see if someone thinks first, communicates clearly and checks if the other person is following. It also shows whether someone shows patience or asks empathetic questions.

Suppose you start a business tomorrow. What are your most important core values?

The purpose of a job interview is to assess how potential employees fit within your organization’s culture. This question reveals what someone values in collaboration, culture and leadership. It gives a picture of the match with the organization.

What do you take to a desert island?

With this question you try to find out whether a person is rationally or emotionally driven. The answer shows direction in motives. Practical, personal, symbolic? Each answer provides information about priorities and decision-making.

What are the three factors that determine your success?

Listen to “I” or “we.” Does someone focus primarily on their own performance or do they name the team? A candidate who constantly focuses on himself does not fit into every organization.

The power of sharp selection

An organization’s success hinges on the quality of its employees. The right job interview questions help you look past the resume and see how someone really performs. Want to act stronger during selection interviews and make better choices? Then check out the training course Recruiting and Selecting New Employees.