Chapter 18

Basic principles

Listen!

It’s actually surprisingly easy for your thoughts to stray elsewhere and for you to fail to listen properly to a question. You’re in a stressful situation and you have a lot on your mind; it’s perfectly possible to get distracted. If you do fail to hear a question properly, then don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat the question. It’s not ideal but it’s certainly better than failing to fully answer the question – or guessing at what you’ve been asked, going off at a tangent and giving the answer to a totally different question!

It’s also possible that you might fail to understand a question the first time around. Again, don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat or to clarify the question. At the very least it gives you valuable extra thinking time. But don’t make a habit of it.

Try to understand the meaning behind the question

Why have they asked you this question? What is it they are trying to find out?

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all interview questions have hidden meanings, but it is true that the intentions of the interviewer might not immediately be apparent from the question. If you can work out the meaning behind the question, then you are at least 80 per cent of the way towards determining the optimum answer.

There are three key areas that interviewers will be considering when matching a vacancy with the best possible candidate.

• Can you do the job? Do you have what it takes?
• Will you do the job? Or will you just go through the motions?
• Do you fit in with the other employees and the organisation as a whole?

All of their questions will address one of these three areas in one way or another. Therefore, in trying to understand the meaning behind any particular question you need to first identify which of the above areas the interviewer is trying to tackle.

Beyond that, you need to make sure you see the world from the interviewer’s point of view. When asking you a particular question, what exactly is going through their mind?

Different types of question

As well as questions probing different areas, there are also different ways in which interviewers phrase their questions. You need to be aware of the different techniques they will use because it will naturally impact on the way you answer.

In general terms, most questions can be classified as either ‘open’ or ‘closed’.

A ‘closed’ question is one which can be answered very quickly – often with just one word.

• Are you creative?
• Do you thrive under pressure?
• Are you a risk taker?
• Do you have sales experience?

An ‘open’ question, on the other hand, is one that will force a lengthier answer.

• In what ways would you say that you are creative?
• Can you tell me about a time when you were under significant pressure and how you handled it?
• How do you feel about taking risks?
• Can you tell me about your sales experience?

A good interviewer will normally ask mainly open questions because these are the questions that will extract the most useful information from you. Conversely, a poor interviewer is likely to ask you a much higher proportion of closed questions.

Regardless of the type of question (or interviewer) you’re faced with, you should always avoid ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers to questions unless you’re sure it’s appropriate – because they tend to be conversation stoppers.

Leading questions

Another type of question you are likely to encounter is the ‘leading’ question.

• What character flaws do you have?
• Why haven’t you achieved more in your career?
• You must surely have more than one weakness?

You can see that these questions, whilst open, nevertheless lead you down a very specific path. The interviewer isn’t asking you whether or not you have any character flaws; in delivering a leading question they are making it clear they have inherently assumed that you do indeed have character flaws. Leading questions are definitely something you need to keep a close lookout for.

You should also note that a leading question doesn’t always have to be an open question. By posing you a leading question which is also a closed question an interviewer can really put you on the spot:

• I think you’re overqualified for this job. Don’t you?

Funnel interviewing

A final interviewing technique I’d like to make you aware of is so-called ‘funnel’ interviewing.

In funnel interviewing, an interviewer will first pose you a very general question about a topic (potentially lulling you into a false sense of security) before following up their original question with more and more precise questions (often based on your previous answers) on the same topic until you are talking about precisely what interests them.

It’s a popular interrogation technique, but it’s not as frightening as it sounds. It all depends on the interviewer. Generally their supplementary questions will follow a fairly mundane sequence, starting with the favourite, ‘Can you give me an example?’

The secret to handling this technique is simply to be aware of it and to make sure that you don’t let the interviewer force you into revealing anything that’s not to your advantage.

Engage brain before opening mouth! (EBBOM)

Think before you speak!

Pause to give yourself the necessary time to construct an answer, so that you answer the question to the best of your ability. If you’ve prepared properly – and both this and the following chapters should help you to do just that – then it’s unlikely any question will come as too much of a shock to you. You should already have an answer more or less ready.

However, if you’re taken aback by the question then do give yourself a few seconds before starting to respond. That should be just long enough to get your head around the question and will make a big difference to the quality of your answer.

Keep your answer on track

Make sure that you answer questions fully without waffling or chattering on unnecessarily. Nervousness can all too easily cause you to say too much and to give too much away.

Besides your own nervousness, another reason you are likely to say more than you should is an interviewing technique whereby the interviewer waits for you to finish your answer and then doesn’t immediately follow up with another question. They just sit there silently. It’s human nature for you to then carry on talking, either elaborating on your existing answer or rephrasing your answer just to fill the awkward silence.

This is a technique popular with sales negotiators, because forcing someone to say more than they originally intended to say will generally weaken their position. It’s also a technique used by psychotherapists. They are trained to say very little because this forces you to say more – and hence to open up and disclose more. Whilst this might be very useful for someone undergoing psychotherapy, it’s likely to cause you to come unstuck in an interview. Be aware of this technique and don’t fall into the trap.

An interviewer is especially likely to adopt this tactic after a question such as, ‘What are your weaknesses?’ The more they can keep you talking, the more you’re likely to reveal.

Back up your answers with real-life examples

Wherever possible you should try to integrate real-life examples into your answers rather than just speaking hypothetically. Flagging up specific relevant examples from your own experience is an ideal way of reinforcing your points in the interviewer’s mind.

I’ve already made the point that many interviewers will start with a simple question then probe the topic further by following up with another question, such as, ‘Can you give me an example?’

If you pre-empt this by illustrating your initial response with an example then it’s bound to impress them.

Delivering sound bites

If you watch a politician or a senior businessman being interviewed on television then you will notice that they all have a little trick up their sleeve. If they’ve received any kind of debate or media training they will be adept at making sure they get their point across regardless of the question being asked. This is especially so when they’re discussing particularly sensitive topics or when confronted with a particularly aggressive interviewer.

In his famous interview with politician Michael Howard, interviewer Jeremy Paxman asked exactly the same question – ‘Did you threaten to overrule him?’ – 12 times without getting a straight answer!

It’s vital that you should not be seen as being this evasive. It didn’t do much for Michael Howard’s reputation and it won’t do much for yours! However, if you are able to subtly steer a question around so as to dodge an issue you are uncomfortable with – and deliver a pre-prepared statement you have been keen to make – then it can be a very effective technique. But use it sparingly.

You may not be answering the precise question you have been asked but you should be addressing the topic that the interviewer has raised. You’re simply doing so in the manner that suits you best.

The truth, the whole truth…

Never lie at interview or say something that you cannot substantiate.

For many candidates their troubles start even before they’ve been invited for the interview because a large percentage of people seem to think it’s permissible to tell a few small porkies when writing their CV. Many think it’s acceptable because ‘everyone else does it’, and it is a fact that many prospective employers do not check an applicant’s information as thoroughly as they perhaps should.

I would always strongly caution anyone against telling anything but the truth on their CV. You can easily become unstuck during an interview as a result.

It’s not going to do you much good to be worrying about whether or not you are going to be unmasked as a liar. This is a surprisingly common cause of pre-interview jitters.

It all depends, of course, on how you define ‘lie’. Twenty per cent engage in a ‘significant’ lie – the kind where you could later be sacked for gross misconduct as a result, whereas up to 35 per cent include at least one small porky here or there.

Just because ‘everyone else does it’ it doesn’t mean you should. Not everyone lies – it remains a minority – and it is questionable whether those that do gain any benefit from it.

Whether or not you tell the ‘whole’ truth, though, is another matter entirely. Clearly you should always put as positive a spin on matters, but it’s a fine line and only you can really be the judge of what is and is not acceptable.

Don’t be a parrot

An essential warning to all readers

I will be giving you example answers to a whole variety of questions, but I must emphasise that it is vitally important for you to think through and write out your own answers. Once I have fully explained to you the meaning behind the question and given you my pointers on how to develop your own answer, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to do so.

My examples are purely there to help illustrate the points made; they’re there to act as a guide only and most are unlikely to be relevant to your precise circumstances. It’s essential for you to think for yourself and create your own answers; my job is to help you achieve that.

This will, of course, take some time and effort on your part, but it is absolutely vital as your answers must come across as genuine. It’s time and effort that will really pay dividends. You’ll feel so much more confident.

Too many candidates make the mistake of sounding as if they’re reciting from some old-fashioned book on interview technique, such as 101 Interview Questions.

Make sure you don’t fall into this trap. This is really important. There are no universally ‘right’ answers to interview questions – just answers that are right for you – and I will help you to work out what those right answers should be.

Even if you have prepared and memorised your own answers, you should be careful to make sure that your delivery is natural, not stilted, and doesn’t come across as rehearsed. This is especially important with the more difficult and challenging questions. If you don’t express any surprise and answer perfectly without hesitation, then it’s going to look rather suspicious!