Latest Creative Interview Preparation Guide

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I think that it's more important to be lucky, although being very skilled can help to create more opportunities. Certainly, [at my former job, my boss'] confidence in me inspired the decision makers at our firm to trust that I could do the job. But clearly, I also happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Yes! Colors can give you all sorts of insight. If hiring was truly efficient, a skilled hiring manager could reduce the entire process down to watching an episode of Sesame Street and digging through a box of crayons.
Blue:
They're probably in an argument with their spouse. That's not good for a workplace environment.
Green:
Who is this person, Kermit the Frog? It ain't easy being green and it's even more difficult to get a job if you walk around answering questions with 'green.'
Red:
Your perfect applicant probably off'd someone under a bridge. Seriously, that's just common knowledge. Don't bother running a background check, you already know.

If they tell you golden delicious, then you can tell them to get out. They better not say Macintosh either. You don't need crazy Apple fan boys talking about Steve Jobs all day. There's work to be done!
If they answer with Granny Smith, then you have a totally legal reason to hire someone else. Granny Smith apples hurt to eat, and you'll hurt your company by hiring someone who eats them. Bitter apples equal bitter employees.

Another trick question! The real answer would be to paint a fresco along the Moroccan coast. Business is all about thinking outside of the box. If they can't figure their way out of this simple teaser, they don't have a chance in the real business world.

Yes, I believe I'm a creative individual. I'm certainly able to think laterally and to be inventive in terms of finding solutions to problems. Quantity surveying isn't generally seen as a particularly creative profession but I have nevertheless used my creative abilities on numerous occasions, for example converting old manual systems of reporting to highly automated - and much more accurate - spreadsheet based systems. This saved myself and my team a considerable amount of time in the long-term as well as meaning we were less exposed to the professional embarrassment of errors in our calculations.

Don't accept any reply short of, I can't quit because that will break my life-oath to die at this desk in my continuous goal of upping production until the last measly breath slips across my cold lips.
Your business deserves dedication.

This one can sound tricky, but the prepared interviewee will know just what to say.
But I can't live without air!" a terrible applicant may suggest. Please. Air would be the obvious choice. You don't want obvious employees.
But I love my family more than anything! an applicant may exclaim if they apparently don't want a job. This isn't a holiday. You need someone to work. Plus, if someone already has a family, they'll never truly become part of yours.
Well, I don't breath that often and I hate my dream-slaughtering family. I'll go with the gift card.
Hire. This. Person.

Men or women, if the candidates don't answer with George Clooney, you don't want them.

Admittedly, you should only ask this question under certain circumstances…like if you want to go out with the applicant.

Cardigans are slow learners and they'll hate using computers.
V-necks won't add any originality to your business plans, but they'll probably look quite dashing.
Sweater vests combine the best of all worlds, and plus their armpits won't sweat. We recommend option three as the safest bet.
Oh, and anything made of wool will need to be shown the door.
Seriously, wool is itchy.

Nobody wants to work with a Sober Sally or Dry Dan. Morale plays a key role in any company culture. Make sure you and your newest employee know how to boost it with a little bit of grandpa's cough medicine.

I would absolutely love to, but honestly, it's never happened.

If you aren't good at "managing up," you rarely get the opportunity to "manage down." Fortunately, I've always been quite good at self-management. I've never had a deadline that I didn't meet.

First, I would try to credit her publicly with the ideas that were hers. Sometimes, by being generous with credit, it spurs the other person to "return the favor."
If that doesn't solve it, I'd try to work out an arrangement where we each agreed to present the ideas that were our own to our bosses. If that doesn't work, I would openly discuss the situation with her.
However, if the person taking credit for my ideas was my boss, I would tread cautiously. To some extent, I believe that my job is to make my superiors shine. If I were being rewarded for my ideas with raises and promotions, I would be happy.

There are 250 million people in the U.S. Let's suppose that the number of skis is 15 percent of that, or 37,500,000. Of those, let's figure that 21,175,000 of them own skis, leaving the number who rent at 9,325,000. Then let's add the number of tourists who ski, say, one million. So the grand total of renters would be 10,325,000.
Now let's assume that the renters who live here take three trips a year, so three times 9,325,000 is 27,975,000 and add that with 1,000,000 is 28,975,000.

Why is that, exactly? It seems to me that I am probably more qualified to handle this position than anyone, man or woman.
My father's career as a diplomat took our family around the world seven times, and I even spent my junior year abroad in the Far East. I would need far less training than an American man who grew up here and has never worked outside our borders.

Yes, I did very well at my internship, and I had originally assumed that I would come on staff once I graduated from college. However, BB&L drastically cut back the number of new hires they were planning. As fate would have it, they will not be hiring any of the interns they had last summer.
I love working at BB&L, and I brought some references with me today to show you that my job performance there was stellar. Still, in some ways, I consider this new turn of events to be a lucky break for me, believe it or not.

Sometimes you need to take a step backward to move your career forward. Starting in an entry-level role would allow me to learn your business from the ground up.
The career that I've been in is so different than yours that I would love the opportunity to start over again in your field. The salary cut will be well worth it.

I think that the home office located halfway across the globe, there is a very small risk that one might not have the chance to interact with the key decision makers as often as might be ideal. On the other hand, teleconferencing, email, faxing, and having a 24/7 work ethic will go a long way towards bridging the gap.

Philosophy didn't prepare me for a career in architecture at all. But it did force me to become philosophical about my prospects. After two years of trying to figure out what to do with my life, I visited Chicago one weekend, and was absolutely spell bound by the gorgeous architecture all around me.
I came home, applied to architecture schools all over the country, and was accepted by one of the best. I've never looked back... this is definitely the career that I was meant to be in.

I would search for new markets for the product while I spurred the engineers to change the product to make it more marketable to its original core audience.

HSM is a great company, and thanks in part to my team's contributions, they are doing very well these days. But that wasn't always the case.
During the first two years that I worked there, people were being fired left and right, and just hanging onto my job was a feat.
Once the company began to turn around, [my boss] was offered a terrific job at a rival organization and it took HSM six months to replace him and when they did, the new boss was eager to bring in his own people. Once again, I tenaciously hung on to my job, and, even though I was long overdue for a promotion, I really didn't think that the timing was right for me to broach it. No one from the old staff was there to even vouch for my performance!

After I recuperated from the shock both times, it made me feel stronger. It's true that I was fired twice, but I managed to bounce back both times and land jobs that gave me more responsibility, paid me more money, and were at better firms.
The morale here is very high. I've been exposed to the "seamy underbelly" of this business, but I'm still passionate about working in it.

I was working so hard to keep my job while everyone around me was being cut that I didn't have any time left over to look for another job. With all of the mergers that have been happening in our field, layoffs are a way of life. At least I gave it my best shot!

As a career-changer, I believe that I'm a better employee because I've gained a lot of diverse skills from moving around. These skills help me solve problems creatively.