The Top 10 Weirdest Job Interview Questions on Glassdoor

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Emma Brudner
Emma Brudner

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Google is renowned for posing bizarre questions to job candidates lucky enough to be called in for an interview. If you're applying for a job with the company, you might want to think about how many golf balls can fit on a school bus, or design an evacuation plan for San Francisco

But brain teasers turned interview questions are no longer exclusive to the search giant. Judging from Glassdoor's recently released list of the top oddball interview questions of 2016, companies such as Dropbox, Whole Foods, and, yes, HubSpot, have also put forward unusual inquiries that have surely made more than one candidate sweat.

After analyzing the wide array of interview questions job seekers have posted on the site, here are the 10 strangest questions of 2015 according to Glassdoor, along with the most upvoted user-suggested answer.

The 10 Weirdest Job Interview Questions

1) SpaceX: When a hot dog expands, in which direction does it split and why?

Top-rated answer: "The stress in the circumferential/tangential direction is always larger than the stress in the axial direction, so it splits in long seams down its length rather than in hoops around its circumference. The equation for hoop stress is pr/t, whereas the equation for axial stress is pr/2t."

2) Whole FoodsWould you rather fight one horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?

Top-rated answer: "Neither. We don't fight at Whole Foods."

3) DropboxIf you’re the CEO, what are the first three things you check about the business when you wake up?

Top-rated answer: "1) Are our employees safe and sound? 2) Are there any major customer issues or service problems? 3) What is happening in the world and our industry today?"

4) Urban OutfittersWhat would the name of your debut album be?

Top-rated answer: No good consensus on this one, unsurprisingly. 

5) J.W. Business AcquisitionsHow would you sell hot cocoa in Florida?

Top-rated answer: No one from the Glassdoor community even ventured an answer. Floridians, post your answers to help a candidate land their dream job.

6) HubSpotIf I gave you $40,000 to start a business, what would you start?

Top-rated answer: "A breakfast stand! I love breakfast. It's low cost (able to maintain good profit margins). It's in high-demand (fastest-growing meal market). I long to be my own boss. I'd be home by noon. And I know the perfect spot."

7) Trader Joe'sWhat would you do if you found a penguin in the freezer?

Top-rated answer: "Call animal control. This shows responsibility and respect for the animal and fellow coworkers."

8) Boston Consulting GroupIf you were a brand, what would your motto be?

Top-rated answer: "Plain and simple. It's how we roll. (Would be especially good if I owned a bakery)."

9) Delta Air LinesHow many basketballs would fit in this room?

Top-rated answer: "That depends. Inflated or deflated?"

10) UniqloIf you had $2,000, how would you double it in 24 hours?

Top-rated answer: "If I could double $2,000 in 24 hours, I wouldn't be applying here."

While some of these questions seem like they would uncover meaningful information about the candidate, others seem engineered to throw people off. 

What do you think? Which are the strangest in your opinion and why? Share your thoughts (and potential responses) in the comments. 

HubSpot CRM

Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2015 and has been updated for accuracy.

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