"That is an interesting question!" Oddball Interview Questions and Organizational Personality Perceptions

Abstract

Oddball interview questions have gained both popular and academic traction in recent years. Regardless of the intentions behind these questions, job seekers will form judgments about the employer based on its selection tactics. This paper examined the effect of oddball interview questions on organizational personality perceptions and subsequent attraction to the organization. In a time-lagged online experiment, we found organizations that asked oddball interview questions (vs. traditional interview questions) were perceived as more innovative and stylistic, which had a positive indirect effect on organizational attraction. Despite the positive effect of oddball interview questions on these organizational personality perceptions, oddball interview questions did not improve participants' overall attraction to the organization. The effect was not dependent on the job seekers’ personalities. Practitioners aimed to improve recruitment success by asking unorthodox interview questions should look elsewhere.