How to Handle Rude Questions in a Job Interview

You may need to adjust your definition of “rude” during your job search.

By Dominique Rodgers

Monster Contributing Writer

 

“Have you thought about losing weight?”

 

Wow! That’s a rude question, but that hasn’t stopped someone from asking it in a job interview, says Barry Maher, a career consultant and motivational speaker. In the situation he observed, it came from an inexperienced member of a panel of interviewers and was targeted at “a heavy-set, but certainly not obese, female applicant.”

 

What would you do if you were that candidate? How you handle those impolite inquiries can determine whether you get the job or not, so consider practicing some of these strategies.

Keep a sense of humor

  

The quick-thinking candidate who was asked about her weight fired back the perfect response with a big smile on her face: “Only every time I look in the mirror -- which is why I try to avoid looking in mirrors.” By showing a sense of humor, she turned the awkward situation around -- and landed the job. (The interviewer got some coaching on better interviewing techniques, says Maher.)

Respond with a compliment

  

You can frame the answer to some rude questions as a compliment to your prospective employer. Chris Delaney, an interview coach and the author of The 73 Rules for Influencing the Interview using Psychology, NLP and Hypnotic Persuasion Techniquesonce had an interviewer try to trip him up by slamming his current employer: “Isn’t everyone who works at that company lazy?”

 

If you’re presented with something like this, Delaney suggests you reframe the interviewer’s opinion to create intrigue and likeability by saying something like "I agree, everyone who works there is lazy, which is why I am leaving to work for a company like yours with good work ethics." Bonus points if you can find a way to do this without expressing agreement with the negative assessment of your current or former employer.

 
Turn the question to your advantage

When presented with a rude or odd question, you can always change it up and use it to showcase some of your good qualities. John Paul Engel calls this answering like a politician. For example, if asked about a scar, the founder of boutique management consulting group Knowledge Capital Consulting suggests, "Funny you should ask. I got that scar working on a family farm. Growing up I learned the importance of putting in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay."

 

Engel has a few go-to stories ready that showcase good traits -- such as work ethic, creativity and executive presence -- and can adapt almost any question to fit with one of them.

Refuse politely

 

Whether your interviewer is testing you, inexperienced and nervous, or truly socially clueless, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to. If you’re presented with a question that you do not want to answer under any circumstances, then don’t. Just keep in mind that the way in which you refuse may salvage the interview.

 

The key is to be prepared beforehand and know how to refuse rude questions, says Donna Flagg, author of Surviving Dreaded Conversations. “It is perfectly acceptable to make light of something and just brush it off as personal. Or if it is something more intimate in nature, you can just say something like, ‘Oh gosh, I never talk about that -- especially in a job interview,’” she says. 

Problems happen when people are caught off guard by these questions. They feel pressure to answer, so they do and then resent it. Or they don’t get out of answering very tactfully because they simply weren’t expecting the question, she added. If you anticipate odd questions, they won’t be a big deal.

Resource: monster.com

5 Great Answers to Awkward Interview Questions

By Dominique Rodgers

Monster Contributing Writer

“I see all the time I spent studying up on Company X’s competition was a total waste. I wanted to offer some new product suggestions in my interview, but obviously I should have focused more on determining my spirit animal!”

Have you left an interview with similar thoughts before? Most people have. Whether you are dealing with an inexperienced interviewer or a pro who’s deliberately trying to catch you off guard to see how you handle yourself, sometimes these awkward questions come out of left field. And it’s your job to deal with them.

 

Here are five great answers to awkward interview questions.

Tell me about yourself.

This one seems deceptively easy. Who knows more about you than you, right? This question gets awkward, though, because it’s so vague and broad. Rather than race through potential topics on the spot, you should be prepared beforehand.

 

“I recommend memorizing a few general statements about yourself. Here is an example of what to say: My name is (X) and I have (X number) years of experience in (X field). My strengths include (choose 3 strengths) and I’m currently looks for a position because (X reason) and this position interests me because (X reason),” says Tracey Russell, a recruited with Naviga Business Services, a national sales and marketing recruiting firm.

What’s your passion?

This one gets awkward because candidates assume the interviewer wants to hear a work-related answer. That might work if you’re applying to be a zookeeper and your passion really is animals. Otherwise, no one will believe bean-counting is your life’s bliss, so don’t pretend.

 

Russell explains, “You want to choose an answer that is not work related. Give an interesting tidbit about yourself that will help you stand out from other people. For example, if your passion is health and nutrition, don’t just say you like to workout and eat healthy. Instead, describe how you’ve recently taken up Bikram yoga and grow your own organic vegetables in your garden.” The more details you provide that show you’re a well-rounded person, the better.

Why are you looking to leave your current job?

This question is an absolute minefield. Does the interviewer need to know that your kids’ tuition just increased and you really need more cash? Or that your current boss aggravates you like a week full of Mondays? Absolutely not.

 

You don’t have to reveal every reason you’re considering leaving, says career coach Caitlin Graham. You should also never reveal anything personal or financial as the basis for the change. It may make the interviewer question your professionalism. Instead, Graham recommends “anything that comes from the desire to make a professional transition” such as “looking for more of a challenge” or a desire to enter a slightly different area of the industry.

How do we know you’ll stay?

If you’ve made a few job transitions lately with different companies, you should be prepared to answer questions. It may be that your industry is a volatile one or that you just had numerous great opportunities. Either way, the company you’re interviewing with will need some reassurances.

 

A great answer would be one that focuses on your learning and adaptability at each position, how in-demand your skills are, and how in making these changes you’ve come to appreciate a stable work environment and the sense of accomplishment that comes along with that, says Fred Cooper, managing partner at Compass HR Consulting.

If you were a fruit or a pizza topping, what would you be?

Yes, interviewers do occasionally pull out the random questions just to see what happens. Executive and business coach Beth Carter recommends answers that will showcase your skills and personality. Her responses: an apple or ham and pineapple. An apple is tough on the outside and sweet on the inside, showcasing Carter’s strategic implementation and soft skills. Ham and pineapple seem like a bad combo, but their diversity actually goes together beautifully, and Carter likes to use diverse teams to accomplish common goals.

Resource: monster.com

Five Questions to Expect at Your Next Administrative/Support Interview

Margot Carmichael Lester, Monster Contributing Writer

Interviewers often ask challenging, sometimes unexpected questions of candidates for administrative jobs to see how well job seekers respond under pressure and think on their feet. After all, those are skills administrative/support workers use every day in a busy office and on high-stakes projects.

Some are off the wall, like this question, lobbed at Mary Herrington during her interview for an administrative position: “What would you do if I threw this crystal ashtray at your head?" Herrington, now a business consultant, was taken aback. “I looked at him and replied: ‘You'd pray you didn't hit me, because I would sue the pants off you, own this company and then fire you without any compensation,’” she says. “He laughed so hard. I was offered the job on the spot and began the next day.”

But other than keeping you on your toes, what are interviewers for administrative positions looking to find out by asking these questions? “Besides looking for an employee who can follow direction and be loyal to the company, it seems most employers are seeking out a workforce who can think on their feet, have a decent amount of self-esteem without being pompous and be independent,” says Rose Strong, an administrative assistant to the chief of ob-gyn and an assistant vice president at a hospital in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

To help you prepare for your next administrative/support interview, here are some challenging commonly asked questions and suggestions for how to answer them:

Why Do You Suppose Manhole Covers Are Round? 

When Erik Lars Myers of Durham, North Carolina, was asked this question during an interview for an admin position, he wasn’t sure what to think. “The first thing I said was, ‘Can you repeat that?’” he says.

That request bought Myers some valuable time to puzzle out an answer. “I said, ‘So they don't fall in?’ which, incidentally, is the correct answer,” he says. “It was the only reasonable thing I could come up with.”

This interview question is asked to test problem-solving skills, which come in handy when the network goes down and your boss is hounding you for a report.

How Do I Rate as an Interviewer? 

“You definitely want to find some positives to share,” says Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University in Boston. “Tell them what they did well...and maybe find something negative that could be positive, like, ‘I wasn't expecting question X, but you really made me think about why that is important to me.’”

Your response shows your ability to be diplomatic as well as your willingness to speak truth to power. These are valuable skills for a trusted administrative worker.

Why Should You Get This Position?

Strong successfully fielded this question by going with her gut. “My response was out of my mouth before I knew it: ‘Because I'm smart,’” she recalls. She followed that up by outlining the positions she’d previously had that gave her the necessary skills for the job.

This question allows interviewers to see how you react when put on the spot, which happens to administrative assistants all the time, and how confident you are in your abilities.

Who Do You Admire Most and Why?

“The why is typically much more important than the whom,” Sarikas says. “So identify someone who has qualities you admire or has done something you aspire to do, and clearly articulate the specific reasons you admire that person. Avoid someone who could be controversial, if at all possible.”

With more businesses focusing on culture and fit, this question allows interviewers to see if your values mesh with the company’s.

What Are Your Favorite Movies?

San Diego-based Angela Watson was interviewing for an administrative support/graphics position with a regional restaurant chain when she got this question. “To show you how paranoid I was, I think I picked something like Schindler's List, Wayne's World, The Big Chill, Silence of the Lambs and Harold & Maude,” she recalls. “I was trying to cover all the bases without being too terribly esoteric.”

You know how many random requests admins get each day, right? This question allows the interviewer to assess how you’ll deal with that.

More Answering Strategy

If, after all your preparation, you don’t have an answer, Sarikas suggests acknowledging you weren't expecting that question and asking for a minute to think about it. When all else fails, go with your gut.

“This is more about thinking on your feet than having a brilliant answer,” Sarikas says. “So don’t ask to skip the question or fail to answer it in any way. That’s much more negative than a lame answer.”
Resource: monster.com

Sample Medical Assistant Interview Questions

If you’re in the market for a medical assistant job, you need to be ready to discuss your skills and previous experience during the job interview. Prepare by practicing answers to these sample interview questions:

• Tell me about your previous work experience as a medical assistant.
• What were your primary responsibilities?
• What type of responsibilities did you have with patients and visitors?
• Did you assist with any medical office procedures?
• Did you counsel patients?
• Tell me about a challenging situation with a patient and how you handled it.
• What steps did you take to protect patients’ rights and confidentiality?
• How did you add value to the patient experience?
• Were you responsible for oversight of equipment and supplies?
• Tell me about your computer skills.
• What have you done at your current/last company to increase revenues, reduce costs or save time?
• What have you done recently to become a better medical assistant?
• What makes you a great fit for this position?
• What type of work schedule are you looking for?
• Would you be available to work extra hours if needed?

Resource: monster.com

Engineering Interview Questions

What to Expect at the Interview

Peter Vogt, Monster Senior Contributing Writer

When Jeanne Knight’s husband was recently interviewing for a mechanical engineering job, he was asked what the letters “E” and “I” stood for in a bending equation for a structural beam.

Once he correctly replied “modulus of elasticity” (E) and “moment of inertia” (I), he then had to explain what each of the concepts meant.

“Hiring managers will ask these types of questions to find out if the candidate is a true practicing mechanical engineer or a paper pusher -- one relegated to writing reports and doing documentation,” says Knight, a career coach who has worked with mechanical engineers as clients.

First and foremost, engineering interviewers want to determine what type of engineer you really are, or what you do best, according to Maureen Crawford Hentz, manager of talent acquisition, development and compliance for Osram Sylvania.

In her own hiring role, Crawford Hentz asks candidates what types of mechanical engineering tasks they’re most interested in. “A bad answer is ‘anything,’” she says.

“There are people who understand process manufacturing, and there are people on the bench, drawing products or designing larger systems,” says Crawford Hentz, who in her previous job as director of career services at Wentworth Institute of Technology prepared about-to-be college graduates for engineering interviews. “A bench engineer is significantly different from someone out on the floor. A bench engineer has a pencil in his hand, while a floor engineer has a screwdriver.”

What else will the typical engineering interviewer try to assess about you? Here’s a quick look at key interview questions you’ll face, using mechanical engineering to illustrate what you might expect across other engineering disciplines.

What Software Do You Really Know?

When Crawford Hentz questions mechanical engineering candidates about their experience with software packages like SolidWorks, Pro/ENGINEER and AutoCAD, she’s looking for more than surface-level working knowledge. “I ask, ‘What’s the coolest thing you know how to do with the package?’” she says.
Here, the employer is attempting to gauge fluency, or applied expertise. It’s nice to merely be familiar with, say, COSMOSWorks, says Crawford Hentz. It’s another thing entirely to use the program for finite-element analysis on the LEDs Osram Sylvania manufactures, which “don’t mind getting cold but hate to get hot,” she says.

Are You Keeping Pace Technically and Technologically?

Just because you felt technically and technologically up-to-date two years ago, it doesn’t mean you’ll be viewed that way today.

“The half-life of knowledge for mechanical engineers is shrinking,” says Greg Hutchins, principal engineer for Quality Plus Engineering. So, he advises, ask yourself: “What are you doing to keep current in technology?”

If you want to be taken seriously, be able to share a detailed listing of thoughtfully chosen continuing education activities with the interviewer. Perhaps you’re pursuing your professional engineering license, or maybe you’re completing a short online course on sensor technology.

Can You Solve Problems with Your Hands as Well as Your Head?

It’s one thing to tackle engineering problems in a theoretical, cerebral context. But often you’ve literally got to get your hands dirty to make something work the way it’s supposed to.

Do you tinker on your own car? Are you handy around the house? You’ll probably get interview questions like these “as a measure of [your] practical knowledge,” says Dominic Halsmer, dean of the School of Science and Engineering at Oral Roberts University.

Do You Truly Understand Clients/Customers and Teamwork?

There’s a difference between the fantasy of engineering as a form of individual expression and the reality of engineering as a business.

“When you’re in school, you’re designing to please yourself,” says Crawford Hentz. “You get to ‘build a robot.’ But in a manufacturing or product development setting, you’re dealing with ‘build me a toolbox that looks like this and can sing [the national anthem].’”

So expect to be questioned about how you’ve dealt with client/customer concerns and personalities in the past. And be sure you’re also ready to explain how you’ve collaborated with diverse colleagues to meet the sometimes demanding expectations of clients and customers.

“We want people who bring value to the group, not only with their technical skills, but also their creativity and their personality, because your ideas aren’t the only ideas,” says Crawford Hentz.

Resource: monster.com

Pharma Sales Interview Tips

Larry Buhl, Monster Contributing Writer

The movie “Love and Other Drugs,” based on the true story of a Viagra salesman in the 1990s, made pharmaceutical sales jobs seem like an easy road to riches with a low bar of entry.

Those days are long gone. The field is much more competitive now, and companies look for pharmaceutical sales reps -- sometimes called managed-care liaisons -- with scientific backgrounds and experience at competing companies, according to Steven Y. Raz, managing partner of Cornerstone Search Group, a pharmaceutical and biotech recruiter based in Parsippany, New Jersey. “Companies are being pickier now because then can be, and more often they want pharma sales reps who have biology or medical backgrounds and can easily speak peer-to-peer with doctors,” Raz says.

The growing competition for pharmaceutical sales jobs makes interview preparation even more important. Experts recommend practicing typical interview questions and answers aloud with a friend, so you can stay on topic but also improvise when necessary.

QUESTION: What is your typical day like?

The unspoken questions: How do you work? Is your work style organized or improvised? Will you fit into our culture, or be a maverick? Will we have to worry about you? Are you likeable?

Response: Tell the truth, but don’t focus on minutiae. This is your chance to highlight traits that are helpful in pharma sales jobs, such as initiative, organization and the ability to follow through.

QUESTION: How competitive are you on a scale of one to 10?

The unspoken question: Do you have the drive it takes to build your margins?

Response: Everyone says they’re an eight or nine, according to Scott Brent, author of the book Tactical Aggressiveness (due out in July 2011), which features job interview tips for pharma sales reps and other professionals. “But you also need to explain why you are that kind of person,” he says. “Give some situations of how you’re competitive both on and off the job.”

QUESTION: Can you think of a time when you didn’t see eye-to-eye with a supervisor?

The unspoken question: Most obviously this question is about your ability to handle authority. But your interviewer also wants to see how tactfully you handle delicate situations and how you pick your battles, both important skills in pharmaceutical sales jobs.

Response: Describe a situation where you were correct, and the (polite) arguments you made to bring the boss to your side. Make sure the result was a win-win.

QUESTION: Are you a lucky person?

The unspoken question: Are you optimistic enough to succeed?

Response: No matter what you really believe, the answer they want is yes. And prepare to give examples. “Even if you’ve hit a stretch of bad luck, you must find the nuggets of gold in your life,” says Paul Bailo, author of The Essential Phone Interview Handbook. “Think about it. Would you hire a pessimistic, unlucky person for a pharmaceutical sales job?”

QUESTION: What have you done to increase your margins?

The unspoken question: Companies want to know in detail how you saved and made the company money. And they want to make sure the accomplishments on your resume are really yours alone and not your team’s.

Response: Be specific. You should come prepared with at least three examples of ways you personally contributed to increased pharmaceutical sales. Back up your points. Before the interview, write three specific situations in your current or previous jobs when you attained goals. Example: “I increased the sales of X with my three-part strategy of…”

QUESTION: Why should we hire you?

The unspoken question: Again, specifics are crucial. Don’t fall into the trap of being too vague or abstract in your answers.

Response: Show them, first, that you’ve researched the company and understand its needs. What are the sales figures for the company’s products? How do its drugs stack up against others in their class? Where is the company headed? Then, explain how your specialized knowledge, skills, network, commitment and enthusiasm will exactly meet those needs. Before the interview, list four to six categories of reasons that best support your candidacy along with supporting evidence for each.

Possibly the most important tip for is to close the interview effectively. “At the end of the interview, thank them, ask for the next step and reiterate why you want the job,” Bailo says. “And a follow-up thank-you note or email is necessary to remind them of your interest.”

Learn more about sales careers.

Resource: monster.com

9 good questions to ask in an interview

Interviews aren't just about giving the right answers—they're about asking the right questions.

By John Kador

The landscape for job seekers today can be difficult. In other words, if you want a job today, the hard work starts when you prepare for the interview.

That means not just nailing the interview questions you are asked, but actually asking the kinds of questions designed to make the interviewer sit up and take notice. It’s no longer enough to be qualified. If you want a job in today’s business environment, you have to shine, and there’s no better way to show your excellence than by asking excellent questions. These questions could also help you avoid a bad boss before it's too late.

Don’t squander the opportunity to shine by asking mundane questions the interviewer has heard before. Your goal is to make a statement in the form of a question. The statement is designed to:

• Highlight your qualifications.
• Demonstrate your confidence.
• Reinforce your commitment.
• Understand the employer’s challenges.
• Make yourself accountable.
• Advance your candidacy.

Questions are the best way to demonstrate that you understand the company’s challenges, emphasize how you can help the company meet them and show your interest in the most unmistakable manner possible—by actually asking for the position.

What are good job interview questions to ask? Based on my interviews with dozens of recruiters, human resource professionals and job coaches, here are nine of the most memorable questions candidates can ask:

Interview questions to ask about the company

• What exactly does this company value the most, and how do you think my work for you will further these values?
• Can you give me some examples of the most and least desirable aspects of the company’s culture?
• How does this company define and measure success?

Interview questions to ask about the job

• What kinds of processes are in place to help me work collaboratively?
• In what area could your team use a little polishing?
• What’s the most important thing I can accomplish in the first 60 days?

Interview questions to ask the interviewer

• How long have you been with the company?
• What do you enjoy most about working here?
• What makes you good at your job?

Bonus interview questions to ask  

• How long is the average tenure of an employee?
• Where would the company like to be in five years?
• Am I going to be a mentor or will I be mentored?
• How will you judge my success? What will have happened six months from now that will demonstrate that I have met your expectations?
• This job sounds like something I’d really like to do—is there a fit here?
• Now that we’ve talked about my qualifications and the job, do you have any concerns about my being successful in this position?
• What is the next step in the hiring process?
• When can I expect to hear back?
• By when do you hope to make someone an offer?
• When is the anticipated starting date for this position?
• Whom should I reach out to if I have any further questions?

Use these questions as prototypes for questions based on the particulars of the position you are interviewing for. Make them your own and polish them until their shine reflects on you. Asking questions like these is not for the faint of heart but, then again, neither is succeeding in today’s hypercompetitive job market.

John Kador is the author of 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview (McGraw-Hill, 2010) and more than 10 books. His other career books are The Manager's Book of Questions: 1001 Great Interview Questions for Hiring the Best Person and The Flawless Interview. Kador is a frequent speaker at job and college career fairs. He can be reached via email or on Twitter. His website is www.jkador.com.

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Resource: monster.com

How to answer the question, 'Why should we hire you?'

Make sure you’ve got a response prepped and ready before you get to the interview.

Catherine Conlan

Arguably, it’s the most important question you should be prepared to answer in an interview.  

If you can’t make a case for why you’re the best person for the job, why should the company think you’re the best person?

It doesn’t hurt to have an answer prepared in advance. Chances are you’ll run into some form of this question. And even if a company doesn’t ask in so many words, it's vital that you address the issue to make it crystal clear that you are in fact the best candidate.

“Don't make them search for the ‘why,’ because they won't,” says Cachet Prescott of Career Cachet, based in Valdosta, Georgia.

The good news is that you’re probably already part of the way to an answer, assuming you’ve written a cover letter. The three things you definitely need to include in your answer:

Show that you know what the employer wants

Danielle Kunkle, vice president of Boomer Benefits in Fort Worth, Texas, says she wants to hear answers that show the candidate has researched the company.

“I want to hear that they read through our website and are interested in this job as an informed candidate, and are not just interviewing for any old job out there,” she notes.

You say: “A fast-growing organization like Company X has to be a dynamic place to work. A company that has outstripped its revenue expectations five quarters in a row provides the challenge and opportunity I’m looking for.”

Show what makes you especially qualified

If you’ve earned an interview, the company already considers you qualified enough for the position, says Prescott. So when you get the question about why the company should hire you, don’t simply outline your relevant work experience, but focus on what sets you apart from other qualified candidates.

“Do not make the mistake of merely restating the content on your resume,” adds Erik Episcopo of Resume Genius in Wilmington, Delaware. “Instead try to answer the question with an anecdote of your prior job experience.”

You say: “The numbers I achieved at my current position show my dedication to performance. My Q3 and Q4 numbers from the past year, which I achieved while also serving as interim department head, are an example of the kind of results you can expect from me.”

Show why you want the gig

Finally, take a moment to highlight your enthusiasm about working for this particular organization, Prescott says. Talk about personal attributes, values or ideas that would make you an asset and a great cultural fit.

You say: “I thrive on high expectations, and it’s clear Company X holds its employees to incredible standards. The results speak for themselves and I’d like to be a part of that.”

Resource: monster.com

The 4 Worst Things that Can Happen in a Job Interview -- And How to Handle Them with Grace

By Dominique Rodgers

Monster Contributing Writer

 

Most people, at one time or another, will endure a job interview that feels more like a comedic dream sequence than a serious professional experience. Everything that can go wrong will, and you’ll just have to find a way to wrap things up as quickly and gracefully as possible.

 

How do you exit these nightmarish scenarios with your dignity intact? Better yet, how do you potentially save the interview and still get the job? Read on to find out.

You're late 

 

“Even if you leave yourself plenty of time to get to the interview, there is always the possibility that there may be an accident on the road or that there is construction that you were not anticipating,” says Cheryl Palmer, owner of Call to Career, an executive coaching and resume writing service.

 

If you’ll be late, call the interviewer’s office as soon as you know. He or she may want to reschedule or may be willing to wait a few extra minutes.

You have a wardrobe malfunction

 

In case you needed another reason to be on time, consider this: You may need time to change clothes. LegalAdvice.comMarketing Coordinator Patricia Campbell once had someone knock an entire cup of coffee onto her outfit while she was on the way to an interview. Luckily, she had about 40 minutes to spare and was able to run into a store, purchase another outfit, change and still make it on time.

 

Anna Aquino once showed up to an interview in super-high heels, only to be taken on a very uncomfortable walking tour of the facility. The author and guest speaker says she had to apologize to her interviewer for not being able to keep up because her heels were pinching so badly. Eventually she just took them off and held them for the rest of the walk.

 

The interviewer laughed about it,” she says. “I got the job. I think he appreciated the fact I was real about the situation.”

Your technology fails

 

There’s not much point in doing a video interview if no one can hear you, the video keeps freezing or the interviewer only gets a closeup of your nostrils. If this happens, you end up wasting everyone’s time and there’s a chance they’ll postpone or cancel the interview.

 

Plus, it makes you look unprepared and unprofessional, says Chris Brown, director of human resources at Web and video conferencing provider InterCall. If it happens, deal with the glitches as quickly as possible without showing frustration.

 

To keep it from happening, however, test your equipment beforehand. “The best thing you can do is ask one of your friends or family members to do a test run,” Brown advises. “This will allow you to check all aspects of your system and determine if everything is working OK. The person on the other end can also tell you if you are making any errors, such as moving your head out of view, talking too loudly, etc.”

Your body rebels

 

Erik Bowitz sweats during stressful interviews. The senior resume expert at Resume Genius says his clothes and the temperature of the room don’t matter, he’ll always sweat buckets. Since carrying a towel wouldn’t be professional, he combats the problem by asking the interviewer questions.

 

“Whenever I feel myself beginning to sweat, I simply double down on the pressure and begin asking my interviewers questions,” says Bowitz. “By turning the tables and putting them on the spot I alleviate the pressure from myself and can cool down.”

 

Recruiter Mark Phillips of Sanford Rose Associates once had a candidate go into mild hypoglycemic shock because of running a marathon the previous day. At that point, what can you do besides acknowledge the situation, make the best of it, and move on?

 

This type of emotional intelligence is what Phillips advises in almost all interview disasters. He says, “Acknowledge the error. Name it. Apologize. Offer explanations without being defensive. The key is to be as ego-less as possible and engage the interviewer on the topic in the moment.”

Resource: monster.com