The Telegraph have published a list of 25 tough interview questions. Unlike the usual what are your strengths and weaknesses, some employers are asking much trickier questions!

For help with preparing for an interview see our interview tips page or speak to your consultant at Optima who will be happy to help.

The questions:

1. “If you were to win £1m what would you do with the money?”
   – Asked at PwC, Associate candidate (Birmingham, England)
2. “What do you think is the most useful function in Excel?”
   – Asked at FirstGroup, Business Analyst candidate (London, England)
3. “What makes you happy about work on a Friday evening?”
   – Asked at Tesco, International Deployment Manager candidate (London, England)
4. “How do you fit a giraffe in a fridge?”
   – Asked at UBS, Sales Trading candidate (London, England)
5. “What is it about this job you would least look forward to?”
   – Asked at BP, Category Manager candidate (London, England)
6. “If you were the Head of Barclays Corporate what would your strategy be with the recent European Crisis?”
   – Asked at Barclays, Risk candidate (London, England)
7. “If your friend was seriously injured and you had to get him to a hospital, would you speed and go through a red light?”
   – Asked at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Trainee Solicitor candidate (London, England)
8. “Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?”
   – Asked at BHP Billiton, Dry Bulk Marketer candidate (London, England)
9. “Tell me about a time when you failed at something.”
   – Asked at Lloyds Banking Group, Analyst candidate (London, England)
10. “What are the three words that your parents would describe you with?”
    – Asked at YO! Sushi, Team Member candidate (London, England)
11. “What have you done in the past to get out of a tricky situation?”
    – Asked at Virgin Atlantic Airways, CSA candidate (Heathrow, England)
12. “Why is 99pc not good enough?”
    – Asked at Parcelforce Worldwide, Delivery & Collection Manager candidate (Milton Keynes, England)
13. “How many ways can you get a needle out of a haystack?”
    – Asked at Macquarie Bank, Senior Java Developer candidate (London, England)
14. “How would you explain Facebook to your Grandma?”
    – Asked at Huddle, Sales Executive candidate (London, England)
15. “If you entered into a room full of people with different interests, what would you do?”
    – Asked at Ernst & Young, Actuarial Analyst candidate (London, England)
16. “What do you mean by ‘leadership’?”
    – Asked at Moody’s, Marketing Strategist candidate (London, England)
17. “By what criteria do you judge your own performance?”
    – Asked at Gatwick Airport, Project Manager candidate (Gatwick, England)
18. “Which football team do you support?”
    – Asked at Sky, Reporting Analyst candidate (London, England)
19. “What is the main thing that gets you out of bed each morning?”
    – Asked at Everything Everywhere, Customer Advisor candidate (Royal Leamington Spa, England)
20. “Describe the hardest decision you have faced in the past 12 months.”
    – Asked at Accenture, Software Developer candidate (London, England)
21. “Who is your biggest hero?”
    – Asked at De La Rue, Procurement candidate (Basingstoke, England)
22. “Give me an example of your extreme levels of tenacity.”
    – Asked at ALDI, Store Manager candidate (Chelmsford, England)
23. “In a fight between a lion and a tiger, who would win & why?”
    – Asked at Capco, Associate Consultant candidate (London, England)
24. “How would your delegates describe you?”
    – Asked at Harvey Nichols, Learning & Development Manager candidate (Edinburgh, Scotland)
25. “Do you think the quality of our menswear products are as high as our home department products?”
    – Asked at Marks & Spencer, Technologist candidate (London, England

Reference:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/10104103/25-tough-interview-questions.html