Page 175 - You're Hired! Interview Answers
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You’Re hiRed! inteRview anSweRS what if i don’t know the answer?
As we have seen, there are some pretty tough and searching questions in this
type of interview. There are a few things to remember in terms of ‘not knowing
the answer’.
1. First of all, an interview is not a memory test. If you can’t think of an
example immediately, let the interviewer know. Tell them that you need
a bit of time to gather your thoughts. A good interviewer will give you this
time. If you cannot think of an example, you can always ask to come back
to that question later on. If you do this, try to avoid it affecting the rest of
the interview. Focus on the remaining questions, rather than trying to think
of an example while answering other questions.
2. There are seldom clearly right or wrong answers, only good and less good
examples. Therefore, try not to think of it as ‘not knowing the answer’.
The worst that can happen is that you do not have precisely relevant
experience and cannot, therefore, provide a strong example. However, if
you have done your preparation, if you have sought out the organisation’s
competencies beforehand and thought about them, the chances of this
happening will be minimal.
3. If you are unsure as to whether an example is suitable, you could outline
it broadly and then check with the interviewer whether that is the sort of
thing they are asking for.
4. As covered in Chapter 7, you may be asked questions of a technical nature
that are not competency related. These are likely to have right and wrong
answers. As part of your preparation, you will need to establish what the
technical components of the role will be. They are usually outlined in the
job description.
they’re asking me inappropriate questions
Before we get into any details, we need to be clear on what constitutes an
‘inappropriate question’. There is very clear legislation in the UK and the rest
of Europe so far as employment is concerned, and consequently there are
some areas which may not be probed in an interview because they could open
the door to unfair discrimination. Discrimination is unfair when it occurs on
grounds that are not relevant to the role. The current legislation covers:
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