Crazy Job Interview is a game for the smooth-tongued. Each player will take turns convincing another that they are the best for an imaginary job. The twist: they have to talk about things suggested by the other players, and explain why those things would make them a good fit for the job. One player might have to explain why being an “Intellectual” and “A My Little Pony Fan” makes them a great “Supermodel”. The next player might try to make a persuasive case that being “Aggressively Flirtatious” and “Angry With The Queen” makes them indispensable as “Prime Minister.”
If you are worried about a real job interview coming up, Crazy Job Interview (also known as Mock-upations) is a great mental exercise: you will work on your speaking, your positive-outlook, and your quick-thinking. Plus, what is the best treatment for nerves? Laughter!
Set Up:
- Give each player seven small strips of paper.
- Each player writes down five or more “traits.” Just an adjective will do — “Fast,” “Stupid,” “Corrupt,” or “Invisible,” for example — but feel free to get creative. Maybe a background, such as “Irish,” or a previous job, such a “Bin Man,” or an interest, such as “Video Gamer,” or outlook on life, such as “Brexiteer”.
- Each player writes down two or more “occupations.” Mundane or fantastical, it all works well. Even if you use everyday roles, like “Office Worker” or “Waitress,” the player will still have a time trying to work out why the silly traits they are given would fit that job! But if you want to go for “Porn Stars“ and “Dragon Tamers,” that will be funny too.
- In each case above, remember that you can certainly make things harder by writing awkward suggestions — but it’s possible you might draw your own slips of paper!
- All trait slips go into a literal or non-literal hat, and all occupation slips go into a separate vessel.
Rules
- Randomly choose a player. They will be the first interviewer.
- The other players draw an occupation and three traits from the respective hats. They can look at the occupation, but not at the traits.
- In any order, the interview will call on one of the players to be the interviewee. The interviewee will be giving a short speech explaining why they are a fit for the job they have drawn.
- At the same time, the interviewee looks at one of the their trait cards, and starts to give their speech. The first part of their speech should revolve around this trait. If the occupation is “Doctor” and the trait is “Bloodlust,” the player might say that they are far from squeamish about cutting people open, and that they can go into their job with a passion that other surgeons would lack.
- When they are ready, the interviewee looks at their next trait, and beings talking about that trait instead. The interviewee might choose to move on before they have said anything, if they can’t think of what to say, or they might talk about their first trait for a minute or more first.
- The interviewer can force the interviewee to move on to the next trait. They say, “Okay, what else?”. If the interviewee is talking about their last trait, the interviewer would instead say, “Okay, I’ve heard enough.”
- When the interviewee has finished talking about their three traits, the interviewer choose another player to give an interview.
- When all players have given their interview, the interviewer awards a point to whoever they thought was the best interviewee. The interviewer can decide on their own standards: it might be the funniest interview, or the one who made the best case towards their specific occupation. You will have to trust the interviewer to be honest and reward who they feel is the most deserving player. Giving points “tactically” (such as not giving them to somebody because they already have more points than you) is not in the spirit of the game, so chill it!
- The player to left of the current interviewer becomes the new interviewer, and the game starts again. When you are running out of traits or occupations, return to the setup phase to create more.
Notes:
Not everyone is great at talking when on the spot. There is no need to try to be funny or creative in this game — just relax and say what comes to mind. If players do need a moment to compose themselves, though, they can ask the interviewing player to go last in that round.
You could also allow all players to look at their traits when they draw them so they have some thinking time, and/or have the interviewer draw the occupation and have all players give a speech relating to that same job, so that players can use the ideas they heard in earlier interviews to jump off from. Experiment, do what works for your group, and enjoy yourself!
