What to do if you don’t know the answer in a job interview?

I know it can be quite agonizing if you have no clue on what to do about weird interview questions. You often get that dreaded lump in the throat and feel like running away from the interview venue when you simply don’t know how to handle the question asked. To help improve your confidence ahead of your next interview, here’s some advice on preparing to handle tricky questions that you have no idea about.

1. Relax

My first advice on how to respond to these questions would be to relax and take a deep breath. Just tell yourself not to worry. Anxiety will only trigger stress and ruin even the slightest chance of getting the question answered, causing your mind to go completely blank. Just calm down. It is impossible to know the answers to all the questions asked in an interview process. If you stay calm, you can work on the interview questions with clarity.

2. Take time to think about the interview questions

As far as I know, interviewers are not concerned on making you respond quickly to the questions asked with instant answers. Don’t say the first thing that comes to mind. Take your time to think. You can handle the topic with skill after understanding the question thoroughly. Focus on the solution. Ask the interviewer to be more specific or to give you some time for preparing the answer. Interviewers normally oblige to give you a moment to think and work on the solution before getting the concerned question answered. Ask the interviewer for advice on how to answer the question asked. Based on the interviewer’s clarification, you can start by stating whatever you know related to the question. This will give you a base for working up good answers to the interview questions.

3. Avoid making up an answer

You may often be bewildered and attempt to make up an answer to apparently weird questions. This would only waste time and annoy the interviewer. Not knowing the answers to some of the questions asked in the interview is okay. Always acknowledge your lack of familiarity in certain subject areas. But don’t say, “I don"t know” and accept that you have no idea whatsoever about the interview topic. What you have to do is clarify that you are trying to ask the right questions so as to respond in the best way possible.

4. Never lie about your experience during interviews

The interviewer might ask dreaded interview questions that you have no idea about, viz., your level of experience in a certain area. First, don’t try to bluff the interviewer. Second, don’t say that you don’t have experience. Instead, you can bring up some other area in which you do have experience and talk about the shared principles.

5. Answer when you follow up after job interviews

Another smart way to approach the concerned questions you failed to answer is to research on the topic after the job interview, jot down the points, and present it in the follow-up email.

Well, there is a lot to study on preparing for interviews. Irrespective of what interview question you are asked, it is all about discerning what the interviewer is trying to analyze. And I know for sure that remaining calm, knowing what to do, and trying to come up with the best possible answers for tough interview questions is key to landing the job of your dreams. It’s not about how fast you answered the interview question asked. It’s about how well you handled the interviews and knowing how to respond to questions with enthusiasm.