Each interview has at least one question that you really don’t know the best way to answer on the spot, and it can leave you thinking about your answer for hours afterwards if it goes wrong, or knowing that you have job the job when it goes your way.
There is no way to avoid these types of questions – interviews wouldn’t be so nerve wracking if that was the case. But one way to build up your confidence with interview questions is practise answering them – in your head, on paper and to friends and/or family.
This is life, not a quiz show
Do not feel that you have to answer immediately after you have been asked a question? You are not on a game show where the fastest contestant to answer wins.
Pauses show your interviewers that you have take time to formulate your answer, instead of steaming ahead without thinking about your response.
If you are concerned by a prolonged silence – don’t be, it is normal. If you are asked a question that you don’t have an immediate answer for, ask for a moment to think of an appropriate answer. This is better than taking a long time to answer without explaining what you are doing.
It’s ok to ask for more time
If you really can’t think of an answer off of the top of your head, ask if you can come back to the question in a moment – keep trying to think of an answer. Don’t think that if you get to the end of the interview and you haven’t answered the question that you are off of the hook. Even if your interviewer doesn’t ask again, it has not gone unnoticed that you didn’t respond to a question.
The best case scenario is for you to bring the topic back to the question and answer it accordingly. Thank your interviewer for giving you the extra time to come up with the right answer.
If it is a lengthy question that is broken into parts, break it down – don’t try to answer it all at once – you can always ask for parts of the question to be repeated.
