Be polite and ask questions when a face-to-face takes a turn for the unexpected.
You're interviewing for a new job, and the interviewer starts talking about how he views his company as a fruit basket. As in a fruit basket, all the workers at his company have their own specialties, but they work together to create a pleasing product.
Just as you're wondering what the heck this guy is talking about, he pops a startling question: "Which fruit are you in the fruit basket?"
Don't laugh - this scenario was among several unexpected interview situations actually perpetrated on clients of Heather Stone.
Stone, president of the career advice site myjobsearch.com, gives this advice when you're confronted with an off-the-wall interview question: Ask what they're looking for.
"Don't play the read-my-mind game," she says. "Open a dialog -whenever you get a question you don't understand, ask why they asked the question."
Expect the unexpected
In the case of the fruit basket question, the interviewer was apparently trying to find out whether Stone's client was a leader or a follower. Whether an apple, orange, or banana was a follower fruit in the interviewer's mind was yet another question.
In most interviews, you're not going to be asked what kind of fruit you compare yourself with, but interviews can have a strange way of turning into something unexpected. Often, the interviewer is trying to catch you off guard, trying to see how you react in a non-scripted situation.
Those interview situations can range from the odd question - "Did you come across the way you wanted to in this interview?" - to a skills test you weren't warned of, to a six-person, four-hour marathon interview when you were expecting a one-on-one lasting an hour.
In almost every case, opening a dialog will help you figure out what your interviewer's intentions are, Stone says.
Most times, the person who gets hired "is not the person who has the best answers to the questions in an interview," she says. "It's the person who develops the best relationship with the interviewer.
"They're looking for people who'll fit in with the team," she adds. "If people wanted to hire you based on a set of skills, they'd hire off your resume."
What if ...
Stone gives her advice on potential interview disasters:
Instead of the IT manager, you have the CTO, the CEO, and half the technology team waiting for you when you get there.
Shake their hands, say hello, then politely do a process check. Ask what everyone's role will be during the interview. You'll have time to compose yourself while everyone else is talking.
You're asked a self-analysis question: What are your strengths, or why did you leave your last job?
Often, the interviewer wants to know if you have a true sense of yourself. "Can you assess when you're over your head, or when you're excelling?" Stone says. "It's expensive to your employer when you don't know yourself."
The key to answering these questions well - and you can probably anticipate most of them - is to get a friend to ask the nasty questions beforehand. Practice your answers until you're comfortable with them. "If you're not prepared, you'll squirm, and your interviewer will pick that up."
You're asked to give up negative information about yourself, such as, "Tell me a time when you had a conflict with your manager."
Answer the question, but use past tense, and explain how you've fixed the issue. Don't say, "I have trouble with so-and-so." Instead, say, "I had trouble with so-and-so."
No one's perfect, and hiring managers realise that, Stone says. "They're looking for whether you can spot your mistakes and correct them," she says. "If you can talk intelligently about something negative, you're ahead of 99 percent of the population."
You're asked for your salary requirements.
You can deflect the question: "I'm making a fair-market wage, but I'm really interested in this opportunity, so I'm sure we can agree on a salary."
At the beginning of the interviewing process, the question is often about job expectations, so engage the interviewer in a dialog about what the job entails. Sometimes, what you thought was a US$70,000-a-year project manager job may be an assistant project manager job at a much lower salary. Best to deal with that issue up front.
If it's late in the negotiation, the interviewer is probably ready to talk about an offer. Turn the question into an opportunity to sell yourself: "If you're ready to talk salary, we seem to be in agreement that I'm the right person for the job."
If an interviewer continues to press, give a range and volley the question back: "I'm expecting something in the mid-50s, is that what you had in mind?"
You're asked a specific technology question, and you just don't know the answer.
Don't BS you're way through it, you'll just get caught. Say you don't know, then follow up by asking the interviewer why she asked the question. She may want to know if you can learn without supervision. If that's the case, tell a story about how you learned another piece of software.
"There's always an intangible issue behind the question," Stone says. "You redirect. If they ask you about something tangible you don't have, get to the intangible."
You're asked an inappropriate question, such as "Are you married?" or "Do you have children?"
Usually, it doesn't make sense to make a major fuss, Stone says, but you may decide later whether or not you want to work for the company. Often, there's an underlying reason the person is asking the question – maybe the job involves a lot of travel or weird hours. "I realize that, a lot of times, people don't like to ask what they really mean," she says.
Her advice: Answer the question, then ask why the interviewer wants to know. Then you can address the real concern. If you're still not comfortable, keep sending out resumes.
You're given an unexpected skills test.
When confronted with a pop quiz, ask questions about what the company's looking for, and ask yourself if you're in the right state of mind. "If you can do it, just do it," Stone says.
If you're the type who lies awake the night before, obsessing about the interview, beg off. "I can certainly take this test, but I'm a little busy today. Can I come back tomorrow?"
Show your soft skills
The key to getting through interview surprises is to stay calm and be polite, Stone says.
"Interviewing is so fun," Stone says without a hint of sarcasm. "If as an IT person, especially, you can get the hang of it and talk about yourself - make it a dialog instead of an interrogation - you're going to stand out.
"In IT, soft skills are so important."
