Interviews: The Psychology Behind the Questions

Today, I'd like to shed some light on interview techniques and why many recruiters, myself included, use them. Obviously, I am not the first person to write about interview questions on LinkedIn, or the brilliant/maddening techniques used by Fortune 500 CEO's.  But what I'd like to do today is pull back the curtain on the psychology behind interviews - why I ask the things I do.  I know that this won't be an "aha!" moment for many, and some of you may disagree with my approach, so feel free to contribute your thoughts in the comments section.

There are several different types of interview questions, including fact verification (What was your GPA? How many years of experience do you have using Adobe?) and competency (Give me a specific example of your leadership skills). These are pretty self-explanatory. I'm making sure you have the skills and experience you say you do.

Then there are the brainteaser and case-type questions: "How many marbles could you fit in a school-bus? " or "How many gas stations are there in Sub-Saharan Africa?" Now, I understand why these questions might be asked, in the right situation. Most of my placements have been in the Human Resources arena. I would not expect an HR Manager to know these answers, as these are problems they will hopefully never have to solve in a professional environment. 

(I also happen to know that some employers will ask these questions of any applicant who walks through their door. Please, do not do this. It's mean, watching someone squirm for your amusement.)

Finally, we have the behavioral based interview questions. Here, we are generally seeking to understand how you approach a problem, what steps you take to handle that problem, and the results.  Example: "Tell me about a time when you dropped the ball on a project, and how did you handle that?" We ask behavioral questions for a couple of reasons:

1. Past behavior is often a good predictor of future results
2. Can you define and articulate the situation, task, your actions, and the result?
3. Does it make sense? I want to understand your reasoning behind your actions. Did you take responsibility for dropping the ball or did you pass the blame to another team member? How you answer the question is often as important as the answer itself. 

Which leads us to the fun stuff.... at least in my mind! These are the so-called "random" questions. I actually saw these listed as "dumb questions" on CollegeGrad.com: "their purpose is to get past your pre-programmed answers to find out if you are capable of an original thought."

First of all, I would not waste my time interviewing someone who was incapable of original thought. And second, you may think they're dumb, but I'm reading more into your answers than you realize. 

"Tell me something that's not on your resume." Sure, this inquiry might seem benign, but this is where I most often see candidates slip up. Because not only are they designed to find out more about you as a person (versus just a candidate), these questions are also intended to disarm. I'm engaging you in topics that seemingly have nothing to do with work. I'm getting to know you, getting to know all about you... not just through your answers, but your choices.

For example, when I ask you to tell me something about you that's not on your resume, you have tons of choices. Your favorite color? Your volunteer experience? Or are you  going to choose to reveal something that will make me question your judgment - touching on topics that are in no way suitable in a professional setting. 

Call it manipulative, but if your random fact is that you "like to get drunk and watch Paul Blart, Mall Cop on the weekends," I won't just scrutinize your entertainment choices - I'll wonder why in the world you thought that was appropriate to bring up in a job interview. 

And, if you're that comfortable now, who knows what you'll say once you're on the job? I'm supposed to be the expert at screening people, so what would that do for my own professional reputation? 

Here's another one: "If you were a brand, what would you be?" or, "If you had a walk-up song, what would it be?" Here, I am looking for two key pieces of information: Does the brand or song you pick represent a trait that I'm looking for in a candidate, something that's important to the job? And 2. Is it an appropriate answer? Believe me, I would much rather hear, "I don't know, that's a good question," than "Gold Digger" (unless you can come up with a very clever and amusing answer why we should hire someone like that.)

To give you an example of a very strong answer, one candidate I interviewed once said, "My brand would be Avis: 'We Try Harder.'" Brilliant. He got the job, of course.

I do not suggest you seek to copy this answer, nor do I want you to spend hours coming up with a slogan that best represents you. I am cautioning that the next time you are sitting across from a smiling recruiter who starts asking these "dumb" questions, think of where you are. I'm not just a recruiter; I'm a psychologist. Again, your behavior (read: answers) in the interview is a strong predictor of how you will perform on the job, and how well you may fit within the company culture. I do want to see you loosen up a bit, show some personality - that's just as important as your skill set. And I'm also playing psychologist -  But do you really want to be remembered as the guy who loves watching Mall Cop - and thought it was OK to mention - even if you do get hired?

I didn't think so. 

Leave your walk-up songs, and favorite interview questions, faux-pas and total nightmares in the comments section.

This post was originally published on LinkedIn.

Read my other posts here:

• What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
• The Rainbow Dilemma aka What Do You Really Want?
• What You Can't Afford Not to Give... and Why
• Play To Your Strengths

Photo credit: blisstree.com