It is important to be prepared in off-the-wall interview questions if you want to land your dream job with the competition in the job market today. IT hiring managers are looking for more than just brains. Businesses want engineers who can think quickly on their feet. It’s your responsibility as the IT job seeker to handle what questions the interviewer may ask, no matter how off-the-wall it may seem.

Imagine ADAPTURE sending you on an interview and the interviewer saying, “You are doing great. I have just one more question for you.” You think to yourself, “This is perfect. I’m one question away from getting a job offer.” Then the interviewer asks, “If you were a brick in a wall, which brick would you be and why?” Your heart sinks into your stomach and panic sets in. You never expected this question, and you have no idea what to say.

Off-the-wall interview questions are becoming increasingly popular. These types of questions enable interviewers to assess your creativity and problem solving skills. Most of the questions they ask do not have a right or wrong answer, yet the interviewer does expect you to respond. “I do not know” does not show a potential employer your ability to think on your feet.

When asked these difficult, seemingly impossible-to-answer questions, consider utilizing the following tips:

Do not get flustered.

Simply, stop to take a deep breath, and think about it. The interviewer is aware that the question could throw you off guard. In most cases, this is what they are attempting to do. Do not let them. They want to see how well you react to stress.

Give the interviewer the first appropriate answer that comes to mind.

Be careful not to go too in-depth or say anything that may offend the interviewer. But your answer can be funny and unrealistic. This shows the interviewer your personality and creative side.

Prepare ahead of time for the unexpected.

While it is impossible to prepare for every curve ball question that could be thrown at you, reading over examples can help you deal with the stress and train your mind to think quickly.

You can also preview typical interview questions asked during a Google interview. You will find off-the-wall questions mixed in with application questions. It is beneficial to prepare for both types of questions. You can also check out The Weirdest Job Interview Questions And How To Handle Them written by Susan Adams at Forbes.  Both of these articles contain examples of questions that could easily take you off course during an interview.