No matter how much stressing you go through before a job interview, there may be questions you are unable to answer. Here are 4 tips on what to do when you don’t know how to answer an interview question.
- Stay Calm – I know what you are thinking, “How did I miss this piece in the job description?” Do not panic, stay calm!
- If you start to freak out your body will go into stress mode… your blood pressure will raise, heartrate will increase, and your brain might not think clearly. When this happens you may throw out an answer you know isn’t correct. At this point, there is nothing you can do, so stay calm to find the right answer.
- Ask Questions – It is okay to ask questions. Was it the way the question was asked? Or was it a skill they wanted to know more about?
It is okay to ask to better understand the question. Or you can always say, “That is a great question, would you mind if we come back to it? I want to give this one some additional thought.”
- Don’t make things up, or say “I don’t know” – Mull over the question, give it some thought. Always acknowledge the question, but your immediate response should never be, “I don’t know.” If you really don’t know the answer to the question, never make up an answer, the interviewer will be able to see right through it.
Instead of responding with “I don’t know”, or a made up answer, think out loud. How would you come up with an answer to the question? Sometimes interviewers are looking for you to come up with a process. For example, if you get a question, “Tell me about your process for saving money on production of [product]”, but you haven’t given thought to a process for this company (yet), a good approach would be to imagine that you’re putting together a process for your current company and talk through the steps out loud. Add transitional adverbs like “first,” “then,” and “finally” to give your answer some structure. You can also finish by saying, “the process may vary depending on the situation, but that is currently the process I use” which shows that you’re flexible even if your answer isn’t what the hiring manager would do.
If the answer is something that you will only know looking it up, then it’s probably best to admit that you don’t know the answer, as it may be impossible to figure it out independently. Here’s what you can tell the interviewer: “It’s a good question, but I’m sorry, I don’t have the answer off the top of my head. I will be sure to follow up with the answer after the interview.” In any career, you may need to look things up; however, if you say you will follow up, make sure you do.
- Follow-up E-mail – If you told the interviewer you would follow up with the best answer, make sure you follow through on your word. If you get out of your interview and you think “shoot” I do know the answer to the question, you can also follow up with an email.
When responding to an unanswered question that you now know the response to, instead of saying, “I’m sorry I did not know the answer to that question” tell the interviewer that after more time and thought, you managed to come up with a couple of solutions that could work. Make sure you thank them for their time, and that you appreciated the opportunity to interview.
iMPact Business Group is a staffing agency specializing in Information Technology, Engineering, Finance/Accounting, and Business Administration/Process positions. To connect with one of our professional recruiters, view our job board for all available positions, or submit your resume for consideration here. Click here to learn more about our available work from home opportunities and to submit your resume for consideration.
