Don't Get Flustered, Get Factual
Written by Frances Cole
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| Don't Get Flustered, Get Factual |
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There appears to be an epidemic of inappropriateness pervading the job interview world these days. Several people I know have gotten questions that left them, literally, speechless—and one wasn’t so much disconcerted by a question as by the manner in which it was asked.
Following, a few suggestions I made for how each of them might have responded. If any of you have additional ideas, I’d love to hear them. (Alternatively, if you’ve been asked anything, or experienced anything, that left you confounded, I’d love to hear those stories, too.)
Q: “Do you know the average age of the people who work in this company?”
This was a question an older client of mine got when she applied for a position in a very youthful organization. While I can only speculate about what the interviewer’s intention might have been, I can tell you the result was my client was left feeling shamed for even applying.
How did I recommend she handle this kind of leading question?
Leading questions demand fact-based responses. You don’t want to get into what you think your questioner is after, or do the dirty work of negating something that hasn’t been overtly stated.
Consequently, my Monday-morning quarterbacking coaching to her was to have responded, “I do.”