You've been given an elephant. You can't give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant?
This was the strange question a woman was asked as part of a job application, as Beeta Golshani shared in a tweet that has now been liked more than 100,000 times. Beeta shared the photo of the riddle and said: "This is definitely the most bizarre question I have ever seen on a job application."
While job seekers may be prepared to answer questions about their experience and skills, a question about what they would do with an elephant is a bit of a curveball. However, it may not be as random as it would initially seem.
Job-search site Indeed includes the elephant question on its list of 30 funny interview questions and explains: "Interviewers may ask funny interview questions to see if you fit in with the rest of the team.
"Potential employers ask these questions to get an understanding of your true personality, to gauge your ability to think quickly, and to get the conversation flowing. Your answers demonstrate your critical thinking process, creative thinking abilities, problem-solving skills, and ability to work under stress."
Other questions on Indeed's list include "Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?" and "How would you sell hot chocolate in Florida in the summer?"
On Twitter, Beeta suggested that elephant the question was "probably just something to weed out possible bots applying to the job," adding, "but it was way too funny not to tweet about."
Whatever the reason behind asking the question, Twitter users were quick to come up with their own ingenious answers.
One Twitter user said: "It's a trick question, the answer is neither give it away nor sell it. The answer is you go to war with Rome." Another said: "The answer is to raise it like your child and start a wildly successful Instagram account documenting your life with an elephant son."
Ben Osick said: "I took a class on how to respond to job interview questions once and they used this exact one as an example. The answer they're looking for is 'Open a business where you hire the elephant out for events like birthday parties.'"
Kaitlin Monkman suggested forgetting about the job and riding off into the sunset with their new elephant friend, answering: "Unfortunately I can no longer work here, raising this elephant is my full-time job. We are going to travel from town to town solving mysteries."
Newsweek has contacted Beeta Golshani for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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