Page 53 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

THE RULES OF THE GAME

So what kinds of self-deprecating joking can pass the humor
test? Dialect is too risky. Leave it at home. Sarcasm may be misin-
terpreted. Personal anecdotes can sometimes work. But make them
personal, short, and to the point. One candidate reports that the fol-
lowing line, delivered tongue in cheek with a broad smile, sometimes
led to a laugh and real feedback:

How do you like me so far?

A line like this can work, concedes Nancy Levine, VP of client ser-
vices at San Francisco–based Pacific Firm, but the risks are very
high because it is so obviously a line. “If I happen to feel that the
candidate and I have created a close rapport, that our senses of
humor are on the same wavelength, then it’s great. But there is noth-
ing more irritating to me than someone trying to be funny whom
I don’t find funny. Proceed with caution if you want to use humor.
And then, use it sparingly, just to add spice, like pepper on the finest
filet mignon.”

Another candidate got some mileage out of a similar expression,
by finding just the right time in the interview to say, in a dead-on
New York City accent:

As Ed Koch used to say, “How’m I doing?”

(Ed Koch is a former mayor of New York who managed by walking
around the city and offering that phrase in order to get feedback
from citizens.)

How about jokes? Is it ever useful to tell a joke in a job interview?
Jokes are probably too risky, but it may pay to memorize a couple
just in case. I know one HR director who is known to ask candidates
to tell him a joke as a test of how nimble the candidate’s mind is.
Every once in a while—perhaps if the interview is at a more informal
setting such as a restaurant—it may make sense to offer a joke. The
quasi-social nature of the event might allow for more flexibility. But
even here I urge caution.
Some interviewers will tell you a joke, either to break the ice or to
illustrate a point. Occasionally, unprepared or unprofessional inter-

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