Hi there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.
And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you what to say when you can't answer an interview
question. So, lots of you have been reaching out to me here on YouTube and you've been
saying, “Richard, I've got an interview coming up. I am nervous and I'm worried about
what to say or do if I cannot answer a particular job interview question.” Well, in this tutorial,
this is what I'm going to cover to help you pass your interview. I'm going to give you
FIVE CRUCIAL TIPS on what to do and say when you cannot answer a job interview question.
I am also going to tell you HOW TO REACT when you can't answer a particular job interview
question. I will also explain how you can LIMIT THE POSSIBILITY of you not being able
to answer an interview question. I will also give you FURTHER RESOURCES to help you be
successful at your job interview. 4 reasons why you should watch this tutorial fully from
beginning to end. Now, of course, there will be a large number of interview questions that
you can answer. And we don't want to worry about these. And these kind of question include:
introduce yourself or it is sometimes posed as: tell me about yourself. Another question
that you can answer is: why should we hire you? Another one. Where do you see yourself
in five years time? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you want to leave your
job, and why do you want to work for us? So, those six questions and you can answer, and
I will tell you how to answer those towards the end of this video. But what about the
questions that we cannot answer? Here's five crucial tips. Tip number one, this is very,
very important. Don't panic. It is normal. The majority of people who go along to job
interviews cannot answer at least one question, but it is HOW YOU REACT that is most important.
So, remember, if you cannot answer an interview question, you are effectively under pressure.
And how you react to that pressure is very, very important. And I will tell you how to
do that as we progress. The first tip is DON'T PANIC. Tip number two, make sure you react
HONESTLY AND POSITIVELY. Now, remember, you are not just being assessed at your job interview
on your answers to the interview questions. Your attitude and your personality are also
very much being assessed. Make sure you react honestly and positively. And I will tell you
in a second EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY when you cannot answer an interview question. Tip number three.
Do not try and BLUFF your way through an interview question answer. And certainly, do not be
dishonest. Now, if you try and answer the interview question, but deep down, you know
you cannot answer it, you are only going to dig yourself a hole and make yourself look
foolish. Let's assume you are in your interview. They ask you a question and your mind goes
blank, but you think you know the answer. But your mind goes blank. This happens a lot.
Here's what to say. “That's a great question. Can I just take a little bit of time to consider
my response and come back to you later in the interview, please?” Now, all hiring
managers and interviewers will say, yes, no problem at all. And you can come back to that
question if your mind has gone blank. Okay, so you are not just dismissing the question.
You are just asking for a little bit more time to consider your response. That's when
your mind goes blank. Now, here's what to say if you DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER. You genuinely
do not know the answer to the interview question. And there's two things you can say. The first
one is as follows. “I don't know the answer to that question. However, I am somebody who
wants to learn and develop, and I would look forward to learning how to do this in the
role if I am successful.” That is you REACTING POSITIVELY. You are thinking forward about
you being in the job and you are open to learning. You are not just dismissing it and saying,
“I don't know the answer.” That's the first option you have when you can't answer
an interview question. But what about this second one? I think this is brilliant and
this is what I would say. “That's a very good question. I'm an honest person and I
must be truthful with you; I don't know the answer. However, I would genuinely like to
find out the answer and I will come back to you later today with my response.” Now,
this is a SMART thing to say, because what it allows you to do is then to FOLLOW UP WITH
AN EMAIL as soon as you get back with your answer. Now, here's what you should write
in your e-mail. Here's how to follow up after the interview with your answer. Say this.
Dear sir, madam, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed today for the
position of. And then you put the job title. I promised to come back to you with the answer
to the interview question… and you insert the interview question there. I have conducted
some research and my answer is as follows. You would then insert your answer. You then
finish off and say: Once again, thank you for your time and I genuinely hope I get the
opportunity to show you how I can add value to your organization in this role. Yours faithfully,
Richard McMunn. Obviously, you would change my name and put yours there. So, if you would
like a copy of this follow up e-mail, I have put it in the description below the video
for you, and you can use that for personal use. Take a copy of that. Keep hold of it,
and if you can't answer an interview question, I've told you what to say and and follow up
as soon as you get back with that. So that serves two purposes. You are following up
and doing what you said you were going to do, which is give the answer. But you are
also reminding them about you, and you are being very polite and showing there that you
are looking forward to hearing from them. Tip number five. The most likely interview
question you will struggle to answer is commonly called a behavioral interview question. A
behavioral interview question is something like this. Tell me a time when you worked
as part of a team to complete a task. And some of you have been saying to me: “How
do I respond to this if I've never been in a team situation before?” Another kind of
behavioral interview question is: Describe a time when you worked under pressure to complete
a difficult task? To find out the answers to these kind of questions and how to answer
them effectively, there is a link there in the top right hand corner of the video. If
you CLICK THAT, it will go through to my TOP 7 behavioral interview questions and top-scoring
answers right here on YouTube. Make sure you check that out. Other behavioral interview
questions that people struggle to answer are: Describe a situation when you had to overcome
a difficult challenge? Or, a real common one nowadays during job interviews, is: Explain
a situation when you had conflict with a coworker? Let's just focus on that interview question
for a second and let's assume you don't know how to answer it because you've never been
in that type of situation before. Here's what to say if you've never been in this type of
behavioral situation before. So, the interview question is: Explain a situation when you
had conflict with a coworker? Here's how I would answer that. “I have never been in
this type of situation before. However, I am somebody who is always looking to learn,
and I can remember two people in a previous situation getting in to conflict with each
other over a disagreement on how to carry out a task. One of them took a mature approach
to the situation and she asked the other person what she could do to try and resolve things.
I thought her approach to the conflict was mature because she was clearly putting the
needs of the team above her own. I learnt a lot from that situation and if ever I were
to be in conflict, I would be the better person and resolve it through effective communication,
being flexible and above all, considering the team goals and objectives above everything
else.” You are giving a situation where somebody else was in that particular scenario
and you are showing you have strong observation skills and you are learning how to do things.
If they ever say to you, give me an example of when you provided excellent customer service,
but you've never done that before, give them a situation where SOMEBODY GAVE YOU excellent
service and what you learned from the situation. So really, in theory, we should be able to
answer virtually all interview questions! But you will remember at the start of the
video, I said to you that you can answer all of these questions. Introduce yourself. Why
should we hire you? Where do you see yourself in five years time? What are your strengths
and weaknesses? Why do you want to leave your job? Why do you want to work for us? And if
you CLICK THAT LINK in the top right-hand corner of the video, it takes you through
to my website, PassMyInterview.com, and you can download my full set of 21 Great Answers
to tough Interview Questions. I hope you've enjoyed that. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE! Please
to HIT THE LIKE BUTTON. By the way, if you LIKE the video that communicates to me that
you enjoy the content and I know, therefore, it's worthwhile me creating it for you. Thank
you for watching this video and I wish you all the best for passing your job interview.
Have a brilliant day!