Employers turn to curveball questions in interviews designed to make you squirm

THE toughest and strangest questions faced by jobseekers have been revealed, including being asked how their enemies would describe them.

Interviewers are also demanding to know if a CV contains a lie, and if candidates can reveal the most selfish thing they have ever done.

Jobs site Glassdoor said some of the questions would make anyone “squirm”, although they showed how people should be prepared to answer anything at an interview.

The top 10 toughest questioned compiled by Glassdoor were:

• What on your CV is the closest thing to a lie?
• What am I thinking right now?
• How would your enemy describe you?
• If you had a friend who was great for a job and an identical person who was just as good, but your friend earned £2,000 less, who would you give the job to?
• What’s the most selfish thing you’ve ever done?
• You are stranded on the moon with a group of other astronauts and you need to travel 200 miles back to base, here is a list of 15 items salvaged from the wreckage of the spacecraft you were travelling in. List them in order of importance.
• If your best friend was here what advice would he give you?
• Describe your biggest weakness. Then describe another.
• How do you cope with repetition?
• How would you describe cloud computing to a seven-year-old?

Jobseekers have also been asked if they are a “nice guy”, and to describe their childhood.

David Whitby of Glassdoor, said: “We’ve scoured hundreds of thousands of interview questions faced by job candidates to find the toughest questions which would make anyone squirm.

“Preparing for an interview thoroughly means being ready for anything, even a curveball question not directly related to the job. Remember, it’s not necessarily about getting the right answer, more how you cope under pressure.”

Companies covered by the research included those in computing, accountancy, marketing, advertising and sales.