Questions to Expect: Creative thinking

Interviewers, inevitably, seek the ideal candidate. To become this perfect hire, put yourself in the mind of the interviewer. Take a good look at yourself. What does this person look like? How does this person dress, and carry him or herself? Which qualities does this interviewee demonstrate in his or her answers? Increasingly, interviewers will ask behavioral questions -- questions that seek to understand you through the prism of your past behavior and accomplishments. Here's a look at some questions you might receive. These questions are designed to get you to discuss your creative thinking skills.

How you think

The interviewer will want to measure how well you think on your feet, on your seat -- how you think, period. How does that brain of yours channel and process information -- rationally, creatively, sporadically? Companies prize the ability to think analytically. Many of the most successful people in business attribute their success to the fact that they surrounded themselves early on with intelligent people.

A number of questions in the interview will give you an opportunity to demonstrate how your mind gathers, sorts, files, and discards information. Sometimes the best thing to do when faced with a difficult question is to take a deep breath or to ask for a minute to consider it, instead of launching into a hurried, muddled answer. Especially if your answer is well considered, the interviewer will respect your decision to think it over more carefully.

In addition to being a necessary attribute on the job, possession of a rational thought process can be a tremendous asset in terms of getting a job. If you can offer an impeccably-reasoned, airtight case for why you should get the job, the interviewer, having difficulty refuting it, may simply surrender and hire you.

1. Describe the most creative things you've done in past jobs. In your personal life.

2. If you were hiring someone, what attributes would you define as being the most desirable

   and why?

3. What criteria did you use to determine your career path?

4. If we could form a perfect job for you within this organization, what would be some of the primary characteristics of this job?

5. What are the criteria you would use to determine success? How should a company determine success?

6. Describe your most rigorous intellectual challenge to date.