Most managers rely too much on a list of standard interview questions for which most applicants have canned responses. Instead, try these queries, each designed to get applicants to really tell you about themselves and their skills. Plus, read the winning entries from our just-concluded HR Professionals Week question: What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever experienced in a job interview?

The change-up is one of the most potent pitches in baseball. Likewise, a change-of-pace interview question can give HR and hiring managers keen insight into a job candidate’s analytical, creative and organizational thinking. Here are 15 of the most intriguing interview questions from the more than 14,000 submitted by job candidates last year through Glassdoor.com:

The results are in—and we have a winner! At the beginning of HR Professionals Week 2010, which wraps up today, we asked you to tell us about memorable things that have happened to you during job interviews. And tell us you did.

What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever experienced in a job interview?

Next came voting, in which you chose your favorite response. Thanks to everyone who took the time to cast a ballot. Now we've got the results.

With competition hot for open positions, the pressure is on for job seekers to have flawless interview skills. But sometimes they choke under that pressure. Here are 10 classic job interview flubs recently uncovered in a nationwide survey of hiring managers. Add your own in a special HR Professionals Week edition of the HR Specialist Forum.

Q. Can an employer ask a job applicant whether he or she can meet the company’s attendance policy?

Does your selection process rely heavily on how applicants handle themselves during job interviews? If so, be aware that courts are often suspicious of such inherently subjective decision-making. That’s why it’s best to document how objective qualifications—such as education and experience—counted for more than the fleeting impression of an interview.

Do you have an employee who consistently applies for open positions for which she falls short on qualifications? You may be tempted to “lose” or “misplace” her applications. Be bigger than that. Instead, exercise patience and handle her applications just as you would for any other applicant.

Q. I read the article last month (“Follow 5 steps to make sure GINA doesn’t trip you up”) regarding the recent passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. What should we do to make sure that we are not violating this law?

If your organization doesn’t respond to interviewed-but-rejected applicants, a new web site, EmailYourInterviewer.com, gives those candidates a way to show their displeasure—anonymously.

While subjective factors such as chemistry can play an important role in hiring, studies show that differences in race, gender and culture may subconsciously influence these feelings—and set you up for a discrimination complaint. Courts have flatly stated that the more subjective factors you use in hiring, the more likely a court will challenge your decision-making.

As hard as it is to believe, some managers still think they can use sex or race as the reason to hire one qualified applicant instead of other qualified candidates. Of course, that’s wrong, and it could trigger a discrimination lawsuit if word gets out. That’s why you should remind everyone involved in the hiring process that his or her decision must be blind to personal characteristics.

Does your organization’s hiring process rely heavily on how applicants handle themselves during job interviews? If so, be aware that courts are often suspicious of such inherently subjective decision-making. If an applicant who belongs to a protected class can demonstrate qualifications that were at least as good or better than those of the chosen candidate from a different class, a court may conclude that interview performance was a smokescreen for discrimination.

Four minority maintenance workers have settled their race discrimination case with Rutgers University. According to The Star-Ledger, the workers—three black and one Hispanic—alleged they were consistently passed over for promotion in favor of white employees.

The interview remains a hiring manager’s most effective tool for evaluating job candidates. Unfortunately, managers too often rely on a list of standard interview questions for which most applicants have canned responses. Here are five common questions to avoid, as well as suggestions for more productive queries that will help you make the correct hiring choice: