Interview Preparation: What to Do When You Can't Answer a Question

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Interviews are all about questions and answers; whether it is your question to the interviewer or a question that they are posing to you. It is a simple process in those terms. However, I want to discuss what happens when you can’t answer one of the interviewer’s questions (or at least not straight away). In an interview, I was once asked ‘I want a red ladder, not just any type of red ladder, but one that is a certain red colour e.g. crimson. How would you get one?’ I wasn’t expecting a question like that and my initial thought was that I wasn’t sure how I would – under pressure I said the first answer that came into my head. Had I of done my interview preparation I would have been able to give a better answer to reveal my competence. Therefore, being nervous in an interview and having the added pressure of answering all the questions, and to answer them well, can be a daunting experience. So I’m going to provide a few tips below to help anyone who may land themselves in the same situation I was in.

Why is the question difficult to answer?

Firstly, you need to establish why can’t answer the question, do you not understand what the interviewer means. For example, I could have asked ‘What do you mean by red ladder?’ as it is important to fully understand the question in order to give a good answer. A good answer will consist of multiple answers to show off problem solving skills, ‘I would buy a ladder from B&Q and paint it red, alternatively I would check out company contacts and connections, failing that I would a colleague what they would do. Therefore, don’t worry about asking questions like ‘What do you mean?’ if it means you can you can provide a better answer.

How can I buy myself more time to answer a question?

You can understand a question and still not know the answer. It is not recommended to answer your interviewer with ‘I don’t know’, because you will look incompetent. Instead, if you buy yourself sometime you may be able to produce a good enough answer.

Simple ways of doing this would be to ask the interviewer to repeat the question. In doing so, they may as well elaborate on the question, giving you more of a chance to think. Furthermore, don’t be afraid of taking a few seconds to think about your answer before you reply. Nerves can sometimes get the better of you in situations where you may feel under pressure. So keep calm and take a few seconds to think before you respond.

What is the best way to deal with questions I initially can’t answer?

• Quickly establish why you can’t answer the question.
• Remain calm and don’t feel pressured to respond quickly.
• If you believe it will help, you can ask the interviewer at the start of the interview whether you can take notes. This may help you either to understand the question or to have a reminder of the question when you’re giving your answer.

For more advice on interview answers, check out my previous blog post on how to give STAR answers - http://diaryofapublishingintern.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/competency-based-interviews-star-q.html

Interview Preparation: Asking the Employer Questions

Over the last couple of months I've been receiving reader responses for upcoming posts. Job interviews was one of the recurring topics that came up, hence this week's blog post. Instead of doing some simple do’s and don’t's I’ve decided to create a series of blog posts called ‘Interview Preparation’, in order to cover this substantial topic.

The first post in this series is ‘Asking the Employer Questions’, this is an area I’ve been bad at in interviews and some of you may have overlooked it before too. Thus, have a read of the prompts I've created below.

Should I ask my interviewer questions?

This may sound slightly obvious considering the title of this post, but in short, yes you should ask the employer questions. This will reveal the full extent of your job interview preparation. Having no questions to ask the interviewer may give off negative impressions such as, incompetence and ill prepared.

Have your questions already been answered on the company website?

Saying that, you should make sure that your questions aren’t easy ones that the company website already answers. Instead, try to be a bit more original by asking questions like, how do I need to perform in order to be successful in the desired role.

Are your questions good?

Furthermore, once you’ve prepared your questions (this could be up to 10 or more), then decide whether the question is of a good enough standard to ask the interviewer. For example, your questions should be open ended and not closed (typically a yes or no answer is achieved through a closed question). You can get out of asking closed questions by using words like ‘how’ or ‘why’.

Once you’ve done that you can filter your questions down even more by removing the less useful ones. This may include questions that are hypothetical e.g. 'what if...' and so on.

What shouldn’t I do?

Don’t ask the interviewer anything irrelevant or personal. I know a lot of people research their interviewer before the interview – fair enough – but make sure you use any knowledge gained from this to your advantage. For example, are they on YouTube presenting a work-related presentation? Then can you apply this knowledge to one of your questions? There is no point just throwing in a statement highlighting the fact you have researched them – unless you think it’s necessary and/or want to look like a stalker.

I hope you've found this post useful as I’m sure that many of you are in the same position I am in now, and will be undertaking numerous interviews come summer. Good luck with those and keep reading my future posts about interviews!

For inspiration of what questions to ask the employer, visit http://www.krantcents.com/20-interview-questions-to-ask-employers.

Top 5 Tips for Surviving Intern Interviews

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How to survive intern interviews, is certainly an important aspect of your intern application process, which could secure you the internship. Below, I have listed 5 top tips for surviving an intern interview. These tips will cover when you enter the location of your interview, right through till when you leave.

1) Reception Area

Once you enter the location of your interview, your interview has basically started. This is because you don’t know who is watching and where, so be professional at all times. Remain this way even when greeting the receptionist as some receptionists are told to record their initial impressions of the candidate. This will apply to all other staff that you may meet before you meet your interviewer.

2) Initial Interview Questions

Usually, interviewers will asked you the standard initial questions, which essentially are all about your knowledge of the company. This is when your preparation and research will be under scrutiny. For instance, if you have applied for an events internship, make sure you do your research about the company first (check out the ‘About Us’ page), and then check out what events they host. This would be the standard preparation for your interview, and obviously the more you do, the more knowledgeable you become, which leads to better answers, and creates a good impression for your interviewer.

3) Standard Interview Questions

I’ve never had an intern interview go beyond the questions ‘why have you applied?’ and ‘what experience have you got?’ – These questions are standard, right? However, in the graduate world and the internships with stiff competition, then there will be other typical questions that employers will ask, such as ‘What are your strengths?’ and ‘What are your weaknesses?’ These types of questions you can prepare for at home, because many interviewers ask them frequently. Make sure that you’re honest with your answers, but at the same time, make sure that you are clever with them. For instance, you’re not going to set a good impression if you tell them that your weakness is time management. Don’t slip up on these standard interview questions.

4) Body Language

Keep eye contact and don’t cross your arms. People do notice body language, from how you sit, down to how you talk. Make sure that you are aware of what impression you’re giving off.

Control your voice. Sometimes we get a bit nervous and our voice starts to suffer because it. Stay calm and speak in a coherent manner.

Make sure you use your ears properly and listen to the question. Don’t worry if you take a second or two to answer.

If you initially don’t know how to answer an interview question, then create an educated answer. For example, I once had an interviewer ask, ‘If I want a red ladder how would you get me one?’ my initial thought was that I had no idea what I would do. Subsequently, I rushed my answer and it wasn’t thought through correctly. However, had I of stopped to think then I would of said something along the lines of, ‘I would see if the company had any contacts, or I would ask another member of staff if they would know what to do’. So be smart, even it means admitting to not knowing everything.

5) Once the Interview has finished

Similarly to my first tip, don’t forget that you are being scrutinised before and when you leave the interview. Always think about the impression you’re giving, even if you aren’t directly giving it to the interviewer, as they are bound to find out any you say that may be classed as ‘unprofessional’.

Lastly, keep your happy face on and be professional throughout the interview process.

Don’t forget if you want to contribute to this blog email me at steff.lever@gmail.com