Week 4 EOC: Interview Responses

In an Interview it is possible that you could be challenged with situations or scenarios the employer may give to test your problem solving skills, and ability to think quickly. In this same regard questions that catch you off guard can also be thrown into the interview. But what about questions that are not appropriate or illegal? Many applicants find themselves to be nervous or have already memorized responses to certain questions they know employers will ask. However, it is important to understand what type of questions are inappropriate and the proper way to answer them without giving the employer a bad first impression. If the interviewer decided to ask about personal life interest, a person is well within their rights not to answer. This behavior could be frowned upon and let’s face it, you are there because you want the job. A way to respond without offending the employer could be to make the question light hearted or break up the tension with a clever yet humorous remark. For instance, if they were to ask you if you were in a committed relationship with children in the home, your response could be “is that required?”. This would not only lighten the mood but it would give the employer a chance to explain the reason for asking such a bold personal question, there could be a marketing team that struggles with reaching that market, and if you were one of those people maybe you could be placed in that department to help offer ideas from a personal perspective. Now the question makes more sense if the employer is asking just to be nosey, you could also reply “I have excellent time management skills, and my personal life will never interfere with my work responsibilities. Another great example is drug testing, often many jobs require them, and you must be able to pass. With this being common knowledge we forget that there is still a right and wrong way to answer this question, honesty is not always the best policy in this situation. You may think expressing how you tried drugs as a child but now as an adult you do not, however the employer could have strong feelings towards this and even though “it was a long time ago” they could still choose not to hire you based on that testimony. The proper way to answer, “do you now or have you ever done illegal drugs?” is “If you’re wondering will I be able to pass a drug test, I can assure you, you will be pleased with the results.” This gives the employer a positive outlook on you as an individual, the confidence from a strong answer like that will be sure to have you ahead of other candidates. You will also notice; the question was never answered so there was no lying involved. These are just a few examples but can be modified to really fit into any uncomfortable or inappropriate question that may come up during the interview.