What does the interview question 'If you were an animal what animal would you be, and why?' mean?

Question

What does the interview question 'If you were an animal what animal would you be, and why?' mean?

Answer 1

If I would have been in your place I would have had answered this way: Every animal has some dominant quality depending upon where he or she falls in biological food chain and what kind of surrounding he has to thrive on...

then you can name the animal based upon its quality and that is also need for that specific job.

OR

I prefer to like a few animals (name a few) coz they possess these qualities.

Answer 2

Answer should be like this:

I would be a squirrel, because they plan ahead and are prepared for the storms.

Answer 3

I think the interviewer wants to know where you'd like to be in the " pecking order ". If you were interviewing for a vice pres. position, and the pres. was doing the interview; I don't think that he would like to hear that you would like to be a lion-- the king of the jungle.

Answer 4

I think that the interviewer is attempting to get a feel for your personality and your ability to think on the fly.

So, to me, it doesn't really matter what kind of animal you pick.  You just need to pick one quickly, and provide a funny and/or logical reason for choosing it.

And, in this case, if the answer is somewhat offbeat, that will probably work in your favor.