Underhand interview questions are designed to throw you off your rhythm and out of your comfort zone so an interviewer can gauge your response under pressure. For example, an underhand or sneaky question inviting an emotional response is “Why have you not been working for so long?”.
The key to answering this question about being out of work for so long is to keep your emotions in check and focus on your accomplishments during this period. This may include voluntary work, travel or receiving an academic accreditation. The key is to be prepared for this question.
Other potential curveball questions are the seemingly wacky and irrelevant questions. For example, “if you were to describe yourself as a breakfast cereal, which one would you be and why?”. The purpose of this sneaky question is to determine how you perform under pressure and how well you can control your emotions. The best tack to take in regards the breakfast cereal question is to ask for clarification before you form your response. If you are still coming up with a blank, the best tack would be to ask the interviewer the same question and explain that you want to get an idea of what they are looking for.
“What irritates you about your colleagues?” is another potential banana skin. This type of question is inviting you to rant and berate your current or previous colleagues and perhaps even identifying who they are. Restrain from doing this and remain general. A sample answer could be “what annoys me most is people who don’t put their shoulder to the wheel when a tight deadline is looming. I believe in going the extra mile in order to get the job done.”
The above examples are just a small selection of the myriad of underhand or sneaky questions you could be asked. What sneaky or underhand questions have you been asked in an interview?
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