CEOs often use creative interview questions to evaluate candidates in unique ways and see how they think on their feet. Some example questions CEOs swear by include asking about a candidate's spirit animal, what they would do in a zombie apocalypse, an unpopular belief they hold, their last costume, or having them summarize their life in three minutes. The purpose is to step outside traditional interviews and observe how applicants handle unconventional problems.

1. Creative Interview Questions
CEOs Swear By
CREATED BY SUSIE ALMANEIH

2. CEOs often know what they want, and some
have creative ways of figuring out who can
deliver.
WHY do they do this?
They want to step outside of the traditional
interview box, and provide an opportunity to
watch a candidate work his or her way through
a problem live, right there, in that moment.

3. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how
weird are you?”
-Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

4. “What’s your spirit animal?”
-Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite

5. “What would you do in the
event of a zombie apocalypse?”
-Ashley Morris, CEO of
Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop

6. “Tell me something that’s
true, that almost nobody
agrees with you on.”
-Peter Thiel, PayPal
cofounder and president of
Clarium Capital

7. “What was the last
costume you wore?”
Neil Blumenthal, co-CEO
of Warby Parker

8. “Summarize your
life in three minutes”
Brian Chesky, CEO of
Airbnb