ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Tricky Job Interview Tactics and How to Handle Them

Updated on September 3, 2011

With the economy today, the job market is fierce and employers are receiving hundreds of qualified applicants for positions they are trying to fill. In an effort to filter through all these prospective employees, hiring managers can sometimes resort to some pretty sneaky interview tactics. Here are couple of the most commonly used “tricks” used by employers in their hunt for the perfect employee and tips on how you can be prepared and get the job you want.

The Stress Interview

A stress interview is designed to see how you react to stressful situations, test your communications skills and to test your ability to think fast. In a stress interview, the interviewer will ask you some off-the-wall, sometimes even rude questions to see how you react. For example, an interviewer might say, “I see you were a waitress for 3 years. What makes you think that you are qualified for a supervisor position?” It may come across as the interviewer being rude, but this exactly what they mean do. If you react by getting offended or overly defensive, this tells them that you do not handle stress effectively. Other ways interviewers may try to make you feel uncomfortable are with long silences, smirks, and even eye- rolling.

The best way to handle a stress interview is to remain calm and confident. A good answer to the waitress question above might be, “ If I can handle a table of 12 hungry customers, that have been waiting for 2 hours to be seated on a busy Friday night then I can handle anything”, accompanied by a smile. Don’t take anything personally and make sure to exert a positive attitude, no matter what the question.

One method of conducting a stress interview is by having a group of interviewers take turns asking questions.
One method of conducting a stress interview is by having a group of interviewers take turns asking questions.

 

The Relaxed Interview

The exact opposite of a stress interview, this kind of interview is to fool you into being too relaxed. The interviewer may dress casually and act as more of a “friend” than a hiring manager. They will talk to you about your hobbies and interests outside of work and laugh and joke with you about things. The purpose of this type of interview is to see if you can keep your professionalism in a non-professional environment.

Many people mess up in this type of interview by allowing themselves to get a little too comfortable. The interview may consist of 2 interviewers who play off of each other. They laugh and joke and tell you not to be nervous. After they get you nice and relaxed they ask you something like, “Who was the worst supervisor you ever had and why?” Many people fall for this, thinking it is okay to talk freely and start slamming their current supervisor.

No matter how relaxed an employer makes you feel or how “cool” they seem, remember to always keep your professionalism and never to talk negatively about your current position or supervisor. If you talk trash about your current supervisor, the hiring manager assumes you would do the same to him if he hires you. A good answer to the question above could be, “I don’t think I have ever had a bad supervisor. To me, a good supervisor keeps his team motivated and informed. An example of a bad supervisor in my opinion would be someone who doesn’t review his employees regularly and doesn’t offer them opportunities for improvement. “

Be careful not to get too relaxed in a job interview. Being a little nervous is normal.
Be careful not to get too relaxed in a job interview. Being a little nervous is normal.

 

Non-existent Software

Sometimes an employer may ask you to rank your knowledge on a scale of 1-10 on several pieces of software. The list may start with Microsoft Word or Excel and then throw in some random pieces of software that you have never heard of. Don’t ever lie about your experience with software because there are some employers who will make up a name for a piece of software that doesn’t even exist. You might think you’re playing it safe by rating yourself a 3 so they don’t expect that much out of you when you start working with it. It is all a plan to see if you are honest about your skills and experience.

 

 

Don't pretend to have skills that you don't.
Don't pretend to have skills that you don't.
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)