Look for these questions in interviews

There have been some various tips that have circulated on social media for both interviewers and interviewees.

Some of the interviewer tactics are listed below along with interviewer’s various intentions.

In general, many of these are recognizable by most individuals, some can be legitimate while others can be underhanded when delivered.

The following are some basic questions or interviewing tactics that have sometimes been considered interview traps.

Interviewer pauses for an awkward silence to get the job seeker talking

Nervousness or people with difficulty keeping their composure struggle with this tactic. Nervous people can begin to fill the silence with incessant chatter, potentially displaying their lack of filter or exposing their lack of an analytical stance.

Interviewer logic or thought process can also be observed during this moment.

An interviewee should be cognizant to keep the silence and smile until the next question is asked.

Interviewer will ask questions about the interviewee’s boss or former boss, or ask the job seeker to spell that person’s name

This is done to get the interviewee in an honesty mode with the interviewer then trying to psychologically turn the job seeker into only giving truthful answers. This tactic can be disruptive if a passive candidate who is not used to job interviewing becomes concerned that a moronic executive recruiter (and yes, I realize that there are many in my profession) will start calling people and alerting to the interviewee’s intention to find a new job.

The interviewer will leave out parts of questions to see how the job seeker will finish the thought

Like point number one. If someone has verbal filter issues or is a ball of nerves in general, this can be indicated if a job seeker becomes too assertive in the interview.

The interviewer makes judgements based on the job seeker’s pronoun usage

This is one that a good interviewer will use but it needs to be done with caution. Some of the best leaders will complement and promote their team and their support group so it is important to distinguish the difference between we “my company” and we “my team.” A we (my company) success can indicate that the individual was just a cog in the achievement but was not truly leading and/or driving the achievement.

An interviewer will listen closely for a job seeker’s adverb usage

High performers and strong leaders tend to deliver answers that are direct, factual and personal. Low performers or followers often qualify their answers which is usually more in tune with their contributions to the overall project. There might be more details included that will suggest that they were less strategically involved. Low performers are also usually much more likely to use negative emotions than higher performers or leaders.

Interviewers will listen to a job seeker’s verb tense

High performers tend to respond more frequently in the past tense. They are about improving things and project completion as oppose to more duties being added to their plate.

Interviewers will listen to see how often the job seeker says the words “always” or “never”

Low performers use absolutes 100 percent more often than high performers. High performers or leaders realize that not everything is black or white. They don’t think that way so they will not paint themselves in a corner in that way.

Interviewers will look for answers that are quick and dismissive

This is usually a sign of someone pretending to be more responsible for a success versus what was reality. They may want to present themselves as being more strategically involved. Sometimes there might even be some attitude delivered in the answer in a proactive attempt to move the interviewer to the next question. This is usually the case with a low performer who doesn’t want to be exposed in a continued line of questioning.

Farewell,

Mike

Recruiting BusinessMike KingSeptember 25, 2017Toronto Headhunter, Recruiter, Headhunters, Recruitment FirmComment