If you’re hit with a Killer Interview Question as part of a job interview, the temptation is to clam up in order to stop making an idiot of yourself. What may be more productive in terms of securing a new job is to keep talking out loud.
Image: David Goehring
That’s the theory of Big Interview cofounder Pamela Skillings, who notes that curly interview questions are all too often not a case of sorting out exactly how many jelly beans can fit into a 747 or what you actually think of Hitler but instead a matter of showing off your problem resolution skills.
As such, talking your way through the problem, even if it momentarily throws you is the ideal way to demonstrate your skills on the spot. As Skillings puts it,
“The key is to show that you can approach a problem logically, ask the right questions, consider all of the key factors, make reasonable estimates and calculations, and arrive at an answer that makes sense. That’s why it’s important for you to think out loud when you answer.”
Here’s the secret to solving this notorious interview brainteaser [Business Insider]
Comments
2 responses to “Talk Out Loud When Answering Interview Questions”
Did you mean “think out loud”? Are you saying that we should shout during interviews?
This headline puzzled me too.
It made me think that maybe I’d been doing it wrong all these years, and that the other applicants had been getting the edge over me in their interviews by using semaphore flags.
Of course the assumption is that the way you think is similar to the thought process that your interviewers, and they may not appreciate the genius that is you, once they hear how an idea percolates through your brain.