Still another reader was asked "if you could be any animal in the jungle what would it be?" He answered: "I would be a gorilla so I could be the king of the jungle because it is survival of the fittest in the jungle. I would also be able to climb trees well and get a bird's eye view of what is going on so I could stay abreast of what was happening in the jungle scene." The reader felt the employer liked his response because he got a second interview. "I thought it was a pretty good answer myself," he observed.

More off-the-wall "wild card" job interview questions:

• If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?
• f Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
• If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
• If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
• If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs - such as food and water - were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?
• If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?
• If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?
• If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why?
• If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?
• If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?
• If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?
• If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?
• How do I rate as an interviewer? · If you were a car, what kind would you be?
• Who do you admire the most and why?
• In the news story about your life, what would the headline say?

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About the Author

Katharine Hansen is a former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters. She is author of Dynamic Cover Letter for New Graduates; A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market; and, with Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Dynamic Cover Letters and Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, all published by Ten Speed Press. She can be reached by e-mail at kathy@quintcareers.com.