Another addition to the killer interview questions collection: Tell me something about you that’s not on your resume.
Picture: Getty Images/Ethan Miller
- “I have a fine collection of knives and blades”
- “I find conventional rules on underwear just so… restrictive”
- “I worship a Dugong called Gerald, who lives in my backyard pool surrounded by flower petals.”
- “They won’t let me in the big people library downtown, there was some… unpleasantness, I can never go back.”
All of these are terrible answers to this particular question which, like so many, is really designed to make you think on your feet, as well as challenging you not to think about things you’ve deliberately omitted from your resume. Given it’s apparently yet another question that Google favours, the odds are pretty good that they know a lot of your trivia already.
So how should you approach the question? Some of it could be contextual depending on what you’ve just been quizzed upon, because it does open up the possibility to expand upon a previous answer, showing additional skills that may have been pruned from a simple resume. Equally, however, if you’ve got an interest or skill that you can spin around the role you’re chasing but that wouldn’t have looked good as a single line on your resume that you can expand upon, the opportunity is yours to grasp in order to show how that skill or interest could make you the ideal hire. Except perhaps for Gerald. Best to keep his existence to yourself.
How would you answer the question?
21 of the trickiest questions Google will ask you in a job interview [Business Insider]
Comments
One response to “Killer Interview Question: Tell Me Something About You That’s Not On Your Resume”
My tip on something like this (and I’d recommend this for any interview, not just one where you’re expecting this question) is to have a think about your hobbies (or anything non-work related) and whether there’s anything about them that can be turned into an interview story.
For me – throughout uni and a few years afterwards, I was a member of a juggling club and was involved in organising a few juggling conventions around Australia. Now I’ve got a story that captures attention, and I can talk about how I successfully lead teams of people to organise a major event. Everyone’s got something they can talk about – maybe you’ve done some theatre, played a team sport, organised some elaborate international travel, or even just have a dog that you rescued from the RSPCA (yay, social conscience story). Just make sure the story catches attention and plays you in a positive light.
doing mdma and smashin acid tabs?
I got the job. Woo hoo!
Finally a ‘killer’ interview question that doesn’t seem like complete nonsense!