How to survive extreme job interviews

From immersion tactics to stumping candidates with riddle-like questions, some hiring managers are using non-traditional interview questions and techniques to see how job candidates approach problem solving and how well they can think on their feet and collaborate with co-workers. For job candidates facing these interviews, the preparation is important. The key is finding out in advance what type of interview it will be and then doing your best practice your responses. – Aaron Green, Professional Staffing Group

1. Brain twistersAccording to the book “Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?’’ Google Inc. is renowned for peppering candidates with brain twisters such as “You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown in a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?’’ Often there’s no right answer. The question is a test to find out how creative you are, how you respond under pressure and whether you’re more right-brain or left-brain oriented.

2. Projects To really get a sense of your work, an employer may discuss an assignment with you – such as the opportunity to develop a new marketing plan to reach a new audience. Your responses will show the interviewer how you think, your grasp of the assignment and give you an opportunity to highlight similar past experiences.

3. Reality TV show type interviews Reality shows such as “The Apprentice’’ and “Survivor’’ that spotlight contestants’ social IQ have also influenced the interview process. Assigning a project to a small group can be a good way to see which candidates work well with a team and who has strong leadership skills and entrepreneurial spirit. This type of interview can reveal creative strengths, as well as workplace weaknesses, that might not have come out in a traditional interview.

4. Team interview Team interviews, in which a candidate faces a group of interviewers at the same time, can be intimidating. Employers will hold group interviews to save time and to see how well the candidates can establish rapport with multiple people and how well the candidate does with public speaking. During these interviews it’s important to talk to the person asking the question but to be inclusive and bring others into the discussion at the same time.

5. Group interviewThe opposite of a team interview is the group interview, where multiple candidates are interviewed at once by one hiring manager. The interviewer saves time by not having to repeat information about the job and the company multiple times and can see how candidates perform in a group.

6. Social media To really find out if the social media “gurus’’ applying for their community manager job are digitally savvy, an employer may require that candidates apply or respond to interview questions using only social media, such as Twitter. This technique challenges the candidate and lets the interviewer see how well candidates can differentiate themselves while sticking to the confines of the medium.

7. Multiple interviews in one day Employers will sometimes set a candidate up to spend a short amount of interview time with multiple people. The point to this type of interview is to get a general sense of what you’re like and an indication of whether you’d be a good ‘culture fit’ with the organization. Sometimes each interviewer will have a specific task in this process, e.g. one person asks technical questions, another asks “tell me about a time when…’’ behavioral questions, etc.