Interview Technique - Listen to what’s in the question

During a job interview, you’re going to be asked many questions and it’s clearly important to listen carefully for ‘constructs’ placed in the question. Spotting them will help you form great answers and present yourself well as a great candidate. In this short read, we’re going to look at presuppositions, binary choices and universals.

Either by accident or deliberate skill, the interviewer may ask you questions that have various mechanisms embedded in them. Let’s look at three common types.

Presuppositions

A presupposition is defined as: ‘a thing tacitly assumed beforehand at the beginning of a line of argument or course of action’. For our purposes, we might say that it’s something tacitly assumed in the structure of a question. For example, ‘how will you adjust your asset allocation models when interest rates go up later this year?’. Clearly, this assumes that interest rates will go up and that you’ll have to make adjustments accordingly. 

When asked a question containing a presupposition in an interview, you may not agree with the assumed assertion. In which case, you should challenge it, explaining your reasons. It may well be that it’s exactly what the interviewer was rather hoping you would do. So notice it, evaluate it and then challenge it with a reasoned argument.

Binary

The reason that I decided to share the ideas in the short blog is because one  of my coaching clients had an interview with the CEO of a very interesting company.

That CEO posed a question with a binary choice: ‘should we be doing this or that?’. 

My client explored the pros and cons of the presented choices and then went on to say that there may well be additional options that would capture the best outcomes and mitigate the downsides of the binary choices. This is not only more nuanced and more appealing, but also demonstrated an ability to come up with solutions that were creative and practical. It also showcased an ability to challenge the CEO’s idea in a constructive and diplomatic way. 

Beware of ‘Universals’

Universals are words and phrases like: never, always, everyone, no one, every time, ‘they’ (...are responsible for.. ). This kind of language is not precise and allows the interviewer to make broad sweeping statements as part of a question with no real precision. Who exactly are they? Always? Is that really true? ‘No one’- what - no one ever? Tread cautiously and politely ask the interviewer for a little more precision in the question so that you can give your best answer. 

I hope you find this useful. Becoming very aware of what is going on in the construction of the questions asked in an interview will help you ask for clarification, challenge where necessary, and shape your answers in a way that will really help you stand out in an interview.

If you’re preparing for an upcoming interview and would benefit from a 15 minute, no-strings-attached call, get in touch here.