What happened or what was the problem? Horrible Bosses It worked!! (Nor accurate, really. There is a long line of people waiting to talk to me. Is it wrong my brain went to Animal House? Ultimately, what youll find is that if you can get past this smokescreen to the real reason theyre not moving forward with you, then youll have the chance to either build value or clarify something they either dont understand or misunderstand. Giving students several seconds to think after asking a questionand up to two minutes for some questionsimproves their learning. I called it in, and was told the squirrel had been in and out of the building for at least a week. I dont think your tree or movie questions are worse. Those questions about trees/movies or whatnot are not relevant to the world of accounting. I would also recommend either writing out each story or rehearsing them with a trusted person to make sure you have your story hammered out but for the interview just bring key word notes not the novel to reduce the temptation to read your story to the interviewer rather than telling them. Me: (thinking how would I know what movies youve heard of?) One positive from the pandemic is that when I interviewed for my current role online instead of in person, I could easily have all the notes I wanted in front of me. If you're not sure whether you want the job and your gut is telling you to hold off on accepting, what should you do? It's okay to mention that you need more time to think than a native English speaker. But hey! Became the building mascot and nicknamed Cyril. Im a big fan of behavioral interview questions anyway, so someone giving an example of actually solving a real problem is better than asking about a ridiculous hypothetical. Like teapots went boom or that time the teapot sales mistake or some other story title that will remind me of the story. Only 4% hear back within one day. Im glad I read this site because I dont think it ever wouldve occurred to me that the windows or golf ball questions were meant to get at how someone solves a problem. Just trying to think of any movie title about work, my brain offered up Working Girl. Ha. This will make them more likely to grant you an extension, since they'll know you understand just how good of an opportunity it is. You can respond with: "Let me get back to you about that." how do you balance two big jobs in a family? In that case theyd be looking more at the process than the actual answer you come up with. I think youre probably dead-on with the last sentence; thatd be my approach as well just admit youre not a movie buff and then describe your work style in a regular fashion because thats what they want to know anyways. HrrmEucalyptus. But I wonder if this resonates with you as an explanation for why youve had trouble implementing this particular interview tip. Having questions in advance due to brain fog or difficulty staying on track can be beneficial. Id really love to hear your feedback on this, and please let me know if Im off-base with any of my assumptions here as Im still pretty inexperienced (Ive only been in the work force for about two years so far). It was originally in the episode called First Day, and then later it was added to a re-broadcast of the episode called Fiasco (which also has an amazing anecdote about a performance of Peter Pan). [1] And editors are crap at maths. Life is not a 30-minute game show with rapid-fire questions that require low-level answers, plus commercial breaks. My brain goes to Dazed and Confused for literally everything. Ditto to Why are manhole covers round? theyre not telling you anything! Personally, I would mark the person down on communication skills unless their eventual answer was exceptionally well-presented. Or the answer lacks so many specific details that it doesnt sound like it really happened. A Christmas Carol. Think-pair-share is a collaborative learning strategy where students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about an assigned reading. They had NO FEAR. Not helpful. sadly the first movies that come to mind are Real Genius and the Princess Bride. You know, now that I think about it, this does sound like a bad joke about engineers stereotypically terrible social skills (assuming Booth Guy was an engineer as well he never actually got around to introducing himself and his role). Questions like the movie one would get rejected by HR. Ive interviewed people who ramble for so long about how the teapot kiln works, that both they and I forget what the question was. 2. And once you do that, youll finally have a shot at winning their business. At least, thats the idea, but not all interviewers do it well! So, there I was, sitting there doing a late night entry control shift into a building, when I heard a scrabbling noise from the parking garage I was watching the entrance from the garage into the building. Ive been on a lot of hiring panels and Ive had candidates ask me to clarify the question or ask about what Im looking for. So I ordered glue traps to appease people. Then I called it in. Good luck. Booth guy (interrupting me): Whats your favorite movie? But I think anyone could benefit from that kind of preparationprobably even more so if theyre not in an interview pool with a bunch of other over-prepared bschool students. I interviewed for a senior-level position and had to ask to come back to a question that I just didnt get. I love your reply though! Often the person questioning doesnt have any quantifiable reason for why its wrong, it just feels that way and sometimes theyre right because theyre the subject matter expert, and sometimes theyre wrong because theyre not the experts they thought they were, or the data isnt presented in the way they expected, so it looks different. Kingsman: The Secret Service I got to Short Circuit as the only answer that made sense at first. Then when youre preparing for an interview, you can look at your notes to get some good answers for the tell me about a time when questions. This was right out of college, not my field of study, and not relevant to the job I was interviewing for. I think it was about4 am or so? __________, generally whenever I tell someone I need to think about it, one of three things is going on: One: Im either weighing other options and want to make sure Im getting the best deal, or Two: What Im looking at just doesnt fit exactly what I need so I want to keep looking, or Three: Its too much money. Its helpful to see as the interviewer and also it shows that you have an understanding of related concepts instead of just fact regurgitation. In visiting many classrooms in the United States and other parts of the world, Ive found that, with few exceptions, these studies are still accurate. First, read the offer letter or email carefully. Agreed. It came across naturally enough and it bought me a little time. At the end, I never did figure out what the question was about even after asking the interviewer to clarify, so I just wasnt able to answer. Im more of a scrambled girl. She said she had asked that so she could see my thought processes, so I went through how I make scrambled eggs. The Balance, 2018 What to Say When You Ask for More Time When you're offered a job, your response doesn't have to be immediate unless you're thrilled with the offer and ready to accept . Having read through some things beforehand helps them stay at the front of my brain for a short time. I came up with Home Alone. I wouldnt be quite that explicit in writing about selling answers! Interviewers know that most people find interviewing very stressful and that it can make answering questions harder. Sometimes this happened during my work day. Lets face it, whenever you get this objection or any other stall that is similar to it like, I need to wait until next week/month, or Ill get back to you it, you know as well as I do that it means your prospect isnt sold and will probably not move forward with you. They also recommended having some notes ready, for these situations and other things that might come up. Not every learner processes thinking at the same speed. As a fellow accountant, I completely understand. So, all three asked me what my three worst faults/qualities were. It IS a stupid question. Have you ever read Gary Schmidts The Wednesday Wars? 0) How does Ms. Ugalde use wait time? I was once asked if you were a tree, what kind would you be? I couldnt stop myself from saying well, thats a stupid question. Pretty much ended the interview. Educators and students may appear to be uncomfortable with silence, hence the typical one-second pause time. This is why I take a notebook and pen to interviews; for questions like this it lets me make notes / organise my thoughts, not forget anything, and have something to visibly be doing while thinking. Depending on age and personality more facts might help, but youre right, well spotted! Booth guy: Nope. SoyeahI did once overcome a challenge involving a squirrel! Brazil? At my bucolic college campus, we called security to get a raccoon out of a student-housing bathroom. Those were always the hard ones for me before I started doing the prep on it. I was once asked in an interview where does crude oil come from. I JUST got off an interview with a very nervous candidate who could have benefitted from taking a moment to think about his answer before plowing forward. Booth guy: Ive never heard of it. Zootopia. "I really appreciate the offer you sent.". :-). I was asked that once as well! I could see where if it went on too long it would be awkward, but this came across as just taking a few moments to gather her thoughts and I thought it was really effective. Make sure to ask when they need an answer. I can only imagine in his future life calling out an interviewee for fake drinking :). You have to prepare for those. Which means, of course, I will never be asked about them. This reminds me of my supervisor at my college job, I watched as a candidate left her office and the look on her face was priceless. Mad Max: Fury Road To this day, I have no recollection of how I answered. The world record is under 10 seconds, which goes by quickly. Its a dumb question. His resume was also way too long and rambling (Im not the hiring manager so not the person who offered the interview). Hoo boy, its hard enough to come up with examples demonstrating my strengths and weaknesses, much less my colleagues. Students choose the starter stem that best supports the topic to be discussed. What do you like about copyediting? ;). I just ran a timer out of curiosity and 30 seconds would be the time I would give (but Im impatient). A trick I used when teaching higher-level college math classes and often needed to think about answers to questions: I was once asked what kind of candy bar I would be. Fair warning, things do not end well for the squirrel in the TAL episode. I immediately said Uh, I dont know, but then continued thinking and then said Because that makes it easy to roll them out of the way.. [1] "Thanks so much for the offer.". (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) 11) She's just looking for a date. If you plan on doing a good bit of negotiation, then be conservative in how much time you ask for. I usually repeat the question, that is, I say, Hmmm, a time that I had to deal with a squirrel at the office which gives me a few seconds to think about an answer to the question. Yeah, for certain types of jobs I can see it mattering that the candidate can think their way through a problem like this. Yeah, Im also curious about the one-minute mark as a threshold if Im actually silent for a whole minute, my interlocutor will probably feel like its been 3 minutes. Typically, you'll be responding to the job offer in an email or phone call, so here are a few things you should include in your message: Thank the employer. (Nope. Giving myself the permission to do so cut the time needed by like 90%. And what about people like me who basically never watch movies and cant think of many movie titles at all? (And of course the piratical possibilities: -Youre passionate about your work like Long John Most jobs dont. Well, why WAS he there and what DID he want?? Whether someone is already known or unknown, you can ask them about the time using this polite expression. If it is in person, I always bring a notepad to take notes, but the first page of the pad is cryptic keywords to remind me to work accomplishments and examples. Let me think about that for a moment . How much context does the listener need in order to follow the story? Ideally do this with a drink your audience cant see into, because it works just as well with an empty cup as a full one! Once I got to know the manager in question, I quite liked him and learned he had a subtle humor that took awhile to figure out. I came up with Working Girl also. If someone feels comfortable asking for accommodation, thats certainly their right, but as Reaf points out, there are a lot of potential downsides to disclosing a disability before an offer. Is this Dug from up by any chance? Or just say Id like to use one of my lifelines. I was asked the tree question too, which wasnt even the worst part of that interview loop. -Youre ambitious and polite like Jim I especially like the notes about 1-2 minutes max on your stories. Yeah, Ive never been asked one of those esoteric questions but then I dont work in a technical sort of industry, I work in publishing, and interviews are usually fairly informal and more about talking through your skills and experience and why youd be a good fit for the job. The one that simultaneously brings you the most annoyance because you cannot figure out where the heck it goes and the most pride when it finally falls into place. Or just that you were responsible for operating industrial ceramics production equipment?) Using wait time is an effective strategy because not every student is ready to have an immediate . As another hardly-ever-see-a-movie person, my options would be pretty limited. 1. If you say you need to think a bit, that will extend the window somewhat, but its still going to start getting tense by about 20-30 seconds and its going to feel like dead air (or a memorial moment of silence) well before a full minute passes. Now, time for pause has to be claimed. But sometimes people did struggle with them a bit. Im the same way dealing with it right now with both my annual self-assessment and, even worse, peer reviews. But indeed, he wasnt mad, wasnt lying, and really just needed the time to get his thoughts in order before speaking. This helps communicate your interest in the position and their . Took me a while to break that habit. After the allotted time, any student can be called on to share their response.