How do you handle personal attacks at the job interview?
Vaclav Sulista
Guiding Careers in Pharma & Supply Chain | 500+ Success Stories | Ethical AI Advocate | Honorary Consul of Czechia in Switzerland | Over 190 authentic Google five ? reviews.
From time to time, a job?interview can turn nasty. Some interviewers would like to see how you react under pressure and can challenge you with very personal questions or even direct attacks.
In this article, I would like to share a few tips on how you can?handle attacks?in a job interview.
?Let's take an example, a person who is?55 years old?is being challenged by the interviewer:
?"We have a very young, dynamic team, and I think you are just too old to?cope with those young guys. "
What is the natural first reaction? We would feel some?anger?inside and may think, "why did you waste my time and invite me for the job interview if you think I am too old? "
And our answer would be probably: "No, no, no, I am a very dynamic personality, and this would not be an issue! "
Do you think this is a good answer? No, it isn't. Because the interviewer may insist on his/her statement and you would be caught in a trap of opposite comments.
It's psychologically proven that it's much better to use the following technique, which we can abbreviate as:
???S W I Q
???Silence; endure the silence, show your vulnerability
? Create the same?Wavelength; show empathy and understanding
领英推荐
? Provide?Information; describe your skills
???Question towards the solution: ask which impact can person like you have on the company
So how should you optimally handle this?
1) Don't?answer immediately,?but keep silent for 2-3 seconds; show the interviewer that this question has hit you.
2) Next step could look like this: "Hmm, yes, your remark has hit me, but I understand your point. You are an experienced interviewer, and I would ask the same if I were in your shoes. "
Nothing creates more sympathy than showing understanding for the position of your counterpart.
3) Now describe yourself with the?3 most essential skills?that make you a great candidate.
4) And as the last point, ask:?"What do you think, how significant impact can such a person do in this job?
The interviewer can't say "None "because he would disqualify himself. As another positive point, you have overtaken the activity in the interview because the person asking is leading the conversation.
Which question could hit you the most? Take this as an example and prepare your set of answers.
Sharing the beauty and culture of Czechia
2 年Great advice on handling any difficult conversation! Thanks for the article Vaclav Sulista ?? Consulting
Head Matrix Management at Sandoz
2 年Honestly, I don’t know whether I would go with this approach. Because it would imply that after the personal attack I would still care to get that position. I believe for me it would rather indicate a company culture which allows for personal attacks, lack of diversity and a bad tone - and I wouldn’t want to work there. In an Interview both sides try to “present” themselves from their best side. If that’s their best side, there will be no second date ;). But that’s just my 2 cents.
IQ für Wissen, EQ für Emotionen – AQ für greifbare Ergebnisse. Deinen AQ zu steigern und Fortschritte sichtbar zu machen ist meine Mission.
2 年The only thing i don't like about this topic and the approach is that it is about subordination - I am for equal footing. But as always an insightful and valuable post Vaclav Sulista ?? Consulting ????.
Business Transformation | Driving Business Growth in Pharma & MedTech
2 年Thanks Vaclav Sulista ?? Consulting for this article. I love ?? the article indeed, it is so relevant to situations we may face during an interview or even during business meetings when we need to close a deal. ?? The way you reflected composure, a structured reply and questioning back the interviewer, it reflects confidence and assertiveness to join the team. ??
From patient-level data, to patient-level impact
2 年I like the framework "who asks questions is leading the conversation" - (I'm paraphrasing)