Curveball questions and how to catch them

In this episode Helen McCabe and Jamila Rizvi prepare you for the questions you can’t really prepare for. From which kitchen utensil best represents your personality to how many tennis balls would fit in a Boeing 747, employers love a curveball question. We’ll explain how to stay calm, understand what the employer is trying to get at and how to reason through a great answer.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Shortlisted is brought to you by Future Women's Jobs Academy.
Getting back to work after a career break isn't easy.
Future Women's Jobs Academy is a free online programme supported
by the Australian government. It's proven to increase confidence and
connect women with meaningful and flexible jobs. Apply today at jobsacademy.uwomen.com.

(00:23):
We'll support you to find the right job and thrive.
Nothing makes a person go weak at the knees quite
like a job interview. Enter shortlisted. A podcast by future
women where Helen McCabe and I hold your virtual hand,
walking with you every step of the way, right to

(00:43):
the interview door and straight onto the shortlist.
In this episode, we prepare you for the questions you
can't really prepare for. From which kitchen utensil best represents
your personality to how many tennis balls would fit in
a Boeing 747, employers love a curveball question. We're going

(01:06):
to explain how to stay calm, understand what the employer
is trying to get at, and how to reason through
a great answer.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Jamila, what's a curveball question? Oh, so

Speaker 1 (01:17):
a curveball question is one of those totally unexpected or
really unconventional questions, those questions that are designed to help
the interviewer understand your personality.
Understand your intelligence, which in itself is terrifying, to understand
your approach to critical thinking, and to understand your ability

(01:39):
to think and respond on the spot to a particularly
complex set of scenarios. Let me say a few things firstly.
These are highly unlikely in the public sector or in
a very formalised recruitment process with strict selection criteria.
They're just not gonna throw these kind of curveballs in,
because there's such strict rules about what they can and
can't ask you, what can and can't be in the

(02:01):
selection criteria, who gets through to the interview process in
the first place. It's likely to be very formal and
follow a series of very expected questions. I would say
you're most likely to get these wild sort of curveball
questions if you're going for a job with an organisation.
That is a startup, that is in the sort of

(02:21):
technology type space, that is in the consulting kind of space.
Something

Speaker 2 (02:26):
highly creative,

Speaker 1 (02:27):
an ad agency, something where you need to be creative
with words, rather than with art, so to speak. And
the only times I've been asked these kinds of questions
has been by organisations that are fast moving.
Let's break things and try things and see how they
go and throw stuff at the wall. Like if there's
beanbags in the office when you walk in, you're gonna

(02:49):
get a curveball question.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
So, some examples, specific technical questions like definitions or industry concepts.
Describe yourself in three words, I mean,

Speaker 1 (03:01):
yeah, or you go first.
Collaborative.
She hates that word, everyone. Empowered. She's also empowered. I

Speaker 2 (03:08):
empowered. What kitchen utensils or animal would you be?

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Oh, this is hard because it's the thing is, to
come up with a cute, funny, clever answer takes time.
That's why these things are difficult. And I'm really hoping
this episode isn't making everybody panic, because
The whole purpose of these questions is for you to
give a gut quick answer. So there isn't a wrong one. No,

Speaker 2 (03:33):
and I reckon with both of us having poor poker faces,
we would probably express our distaste to them. Why is
that relevant? What? I'm not answering that. What's your greatest
failure or happiest memory?

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Can you give me an example of a time you
changed your mind about something?
And then there's the really random one, folks, like, what
would you do if you won the lottery? How many
pizzas are ordered every night in Australia? How many tennis
balls fit into a Boeing 747? They seem completely absurd
and silly.
I think as with every question that is asked to

(04:05):
you in an interview, and we say this again and
again in this podcast, you have to think about what
they want from you. And here, they are trying to
see how you think under pressure, what your personality is like,
what your intelligence is like. Being quirky, being silly, giving
an answer that is not mathematically correct, is totally fine.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
That's right. And you can throw the question back at them, too,
and have a laugh and not actually give an answer,
cause I don't think anyone really expects a proper answer. So,
what do you do? Be yourself. While you wanna to
be professional and strategic, there's often no way around these
questions without simply being yourself and answering authentically.
I used to do it on the Today Show when

(04:48):
Karl Stefanovic used to ask me the most absurd questions
live on television. I hope this makes someone feel better
about getting an awkward question, because that was tough. Take
your time. Stay calm. It's OK to ask, to think
about it, and circle back at the end of the interview.
They know this isn't a question you could have prepared for.
So they fully expect you to kind of go, Oh,

(05:09):
I don't know.
Can I answer that in, you know, in a couple
of minutes, or can I come back to that? That's
a reasonable thing to say. I

Speaker 1 (05:14):
also think that's a good character trait of an employee, right?
If you're given a very difficult question that throws you off,
that you don't give a gut reaction, that you take
a moment to have a think and go through a
process and come back with an answer, I think that
probably would show a potential employer a little bit about
how you work.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, so explain your thought process. Talk it through with them. Go, Oh, OK. So,
tennis balls in a Boeing 747. So, tennis balls, how
big's a tennis ball? Like, just, just kind of start
to kind of go through the thinking that might be
required to answer that question seriously and see if you can.
Just get away with it.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
It's like your maths test in your final exams, right?
If you just write the correct answer, you don't get
all the points. They wanna see you're working. They wanna
see how your brain works. Again, no right or wrong
answers here. One of the best questions I've ever been
asked in an interview, which has stayed with me ever
since was, tell me about your oldest friend.

(06:14):
And at the end of the interview, I went back
and said, Can you tell me why you, why you
asked that? Like, why was that relevant? And the interviewer
said to me that, firstly, they liked to understand how
people related to their friends, what they valued in a friend,
and that question often got there. And if a person
didn't have many old friends, if their oldest friend was

(06:34):
quite recent, there was usually a reason for that, and
it was interesting to understand. We
you were a kid that moved around a lot? And
how did that shape your personality? Were you the kind
of kid that struggled to fit in in school and
after school and didn't find your types until you hit
the workforce, or similar, that it started a conversation about
who the person was in terms of their character rather
than anything else?

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Are these questions in that example, often masking some kind
of bias?

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, I think so. I think these questions are hugely,
hugely biassed. I don't think there would be many organisations
who make a final decision on a question like this
and this alone. If they are, I think that's pretty perverse.
But I do think they tend to be asked by
organisations who have a type, that they have a type
of person, type of personality who they like to work

(07:20):
with and who they want to work with. And it
can mean they've got a pretty homogeneous culture. I reckon
I'm being a bit judgmental there, but

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Look, I, and I think it's worth noting that. So
if you get one of those questions about who's your
oldest friend, is the bias that you wanna see, whether
that future employee has long-term friendships and you're gonna judge
them accordingly. And as you say, Jan, there might be very,
very good reasons for why you don't. What if you
draw a blank?

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Stay calm, stay calm, do not panic, be professional. I
think you don't want to sit there going, oh my gosh,
I don't know. Um, oh, I don't know, I don't know.
You're not on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. You
know what I mean? Like, don't react like you're having
a little panic attack, even if that is what is
going on. Try to stay calm. There's nothing wrong with saying, wow,

(08:09):
what an unusual question. I didn't see that one coming.
Do you buy yourself some buy some time by talking
and say something like,
Could you clarify for me what you'd like to know
or understand from me in answering that question? You're allowed
to ask questions in response to the question, as Helen's
already mentioned, you're allowed to ask for time. There's nothing

(08:31):
wrong with saying,
That is fascinating. Do you mind if I have a
little bit more time, and we continue our conversation and
we loop back to this at the end? Also perfectly reasonable.
And finally, just give it your best shot. I think
interviewers want to see you rise to the challenge. They
wanna see you give an answer, whatever that answer is,
and they wanna see that you can explain your thinking
and your thinking, and the insight that might come through

(08:54):
from your thinking is far more important than the answer itself.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yep, absolutely right. And I, I do agree with Jamilla.
If you're one of those people that does freeze, which
is completely normal, ask a question back. Just, just go, Oh,
that's an interesting question. How big is a Boeing 747?
You know, just, just buy yourself time with a response
and see if you can, if the, the interview moves

(09:18):
on and you can kind of scooch around that one.
Tough one, won't happen very often. We're just trying to
give you all the answers in case you do find
yourself in one of those really tricky spots.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Shortlisted is produced by Future Women's Jobs Academy. To apply
to join, head to jobsacademy.uwomen.com or go to Futurewomen.com to
become a future women member today.