How would you cure world hunger?"

Well? Perhaps you weren't ready for that one.

Try this: "Room, desk and car -- which do you clean first?"

Getting a job hasn't been easy in recent years, and being prepared to handle whatever queries are thrown out is the lot of job seekers everywhere. Meanwhile, employers are trying to separate people who will be a great fit from those who might not think in ways that help the company.

And that means asking questions beyond the basics about an applicant's qualifications, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses.

Online job and career site Glassdoor, based in Sausalito, Calif., last year collected about 150,000 questions that people reported being asked during job interviews. It took about two weeks for Scott Dobroski and a co-worker to sift through all the questions to find what they rated the top 25 Oddball Questions of 2011.

"That part is a little time-consuming," admitted Mr. Dobroski, who said the Glassdoor team has been doing this for about three years and still finds it interesting to see what interviewers come up with.

The world hunger one was asked of a software development candidate trying to get a job at Amazon.com, while the room/desk/car question came during an interview at frozen yogurt company Pinkberry.

Some other oddball questions that made the cut:

• "Just entertain me for five minutes; I'm not going to talk," from Acosta.

• "What do you think of garden gnomes?" from Trader Joe's.

• "Name five uses of a stapler without staple pins," from Evalueserve.

The kind of questions thrown out vary by business and job, because different positions require different kinds of thinking. The culture at offbeat grocer Trader Joe's might be rather different than that at online shopping giant Amazon.

But these kinds of queries all require a job seeker to be able to handle the unexpected, even if the individual doesn't have all the answers on the spot.

"They want to check out a job candidate's critical thinking skills," said Mr. Dobroski, who recommends job hunters spend some time practicing answering oddball questions after they've got good answers for the basic queries.

Online job site Monster, in New York, also advocates practicing answering questions that might come up in an interview, including what it calls "brainteaser questions." Examples posted on the site include:

• How would you weigh a plane without scales?

• If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

• Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?

"Don't be afraid of it at all," Mr. Dobroski said, noting the questions can also offer hints about the kind of workplace the company might run. If it's too crazy, the job seeker might choose to move on.

First Published: April 15, 2012, 4:00 a.m.
Updated: April 15, 2012, 4:08 a.m.