Collage by Lew57.
Brooks continues:
Are they simple questions designed to just start a conversation? Or do they have hidden meanings? Both, if you ask recruiters. I've asked interviewers this over the years, and they all agree it can be a simple question quickly forgotten, the start of a great encounter with an interesting candidate— or a quick end to the interview. Savvy job candidates need to know that the question isn't always as simple or innocent as it sounds and can be a minefield.
That might all sound a little daunting, but the basic idea is that giving an interesting—and sometimes slightly more personal—answer to the harmless pre-interview questions can play a serious role in how the rest of the interview turns out. Brooks discusses the idea more abstractly through her experience teaching a film studies course, then comes back to a few simple tips for preparing for such questions:
Always keep the career field to which you're applying in mind:
- Do you read or watch anything related to the career field— is that worth mentioning?
- Maybe you don't have time to read books, but do you keep up with related magazines or journals such as The Economist or Advertising Age? Mention that.
- Try to avoid controversial or odd answers to the question. The interview may not be the place to bring up that you particularly enjoy movies about serial killers—unless, of course, you're applying for a job with the FBI.
Let's hear how ostensibly innocuous questions have shaped interviews you've been a part of in the comments.
Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.
