You’re almost at the end of a job interview.

Chances are you’ve never given much thought to that line of enquiry before. Nor which tree you’d be, how to build a tower out of spaghetti, or what your spirit animal is, but obscure interview questions like this are becoming more common in job interviews. With such a competitive job market, employers are finding new and whacky ways to suss out potential employees. From ‘Which fruit would you be?’ to ‘How many elephants can you fit in your car?’, how should you handle puzzling questions like this? “The key is to take your time to think about the question and why they might be asking it,” says Dean Ball, regional managing director at Michael Page. “How can it relate to the company or the role? Is it a chance to show off your mathematical ability, lateral thinking or engineering know-how? Or is it just there to test your personality and creativity, or demonstrate that you have a sense of humour? Apply a reasonable rationale to your answer and your efforts will be recognised.” But squeezing large mammals into vehicles seems positively normal compared to some of the weirdest interview questions you’ve had put to you. Elle, 32, from Edinburgh, was asked ‘What’s your favourite smell?’ in a job for a PR firm. Annie, 29, from London, was asked to pick colours from a chart and explain how they made her feel. That might be understandable if she were applying to be an interior designer, but it was for a job as a legal researcher. Alex, 24, from Surrey, was asked to provide his birth date and birth location, so that his potential employer could do a ‘star chart’ to see if he was a good fit for the role.