What kind of animal are you?

Interviewers are using weird, wonderful and off the wall questions during interviews. These include what kind of animal are you? What kind of fruit and even what kind of cereal. So what kind of animal would you be and why? So in preparation for your next interview, don't worry about clinical issues think about some weird and wonderful question you may be asked.

In an Interview recently, I was asked a strange question, "If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?"

Initially I laughed out loud as I thought it was a trick question or a joke but it was a serious question.

My answer surprised them; they said they had never heard that answer before.

My answer was 'I would be a chicken' and my rationale was that there is a pecking order, but they look after each other and work together as a team, they fight over the scraps but protect each other, they work out a strategy to negotiate difficult situations and they are productive.

We could learn a lot by watching animals who often work together as a team. To me, there is a pecking order in health care. We often fight over things. And, if we are a good team, we look after each other. We are productive and have usefulness in life.

Do we always work together as a team? No.

We need a leader to bring things back into focus. Often we resent the leader and don't understand why we have to change what we are doing. So we push back and become nonproductive. In the animal world, we would be excommunicated or killed. In the real world, we are disciplined or fired.

So after the interview I researched the question on the internet and found that interviewers are now using this scenario to decide if you are suitable for a position.

Really! So if I had said Lion, Tiger, Bull or various other strong killers it would be better.

Apparently there are no right or wrong answers, interviewers just want to see how you react under pressure.

I don't know about you but I think it is kind of crazy to compare yourself to an animal.

Sometimes I shake my head at the interview process because we never get it right.

Somebody who is strong, clever and can say all the right things is considered the ideal candidate for a job, yet I believe we can prepare ourselves so well we can talk ourselves into a job, but it is not the right job for that person.

There appears to be so many strategies out there, so many complicated secret ways in interviewing, I think we get lost along the way.

So did I get the job with my 'clever' answer, no I did not. Maybe it was a good thing as I do not really want to run round like a "headless chicken".

So my question to you, "what kind of animal are you and why?

On a more serious note if I was asked what kind of cereal are you? Before I walked out I would have to say 'FRUIT LOOPS'.