The job market is evolving rapidly along with the techniques and methods used by employers to attract and hire employees as are the nature of some of the questions put to candidates in order to identify those with the best fit.
Some of these recent questions include the one that asks candidates to tell the interviewer something they could not know about just by reading their CV or more challengingly tell the interviewer something about themselves that nobody else knows. The vast majority of candidates have not prepared, or practiced an answer to this type of interview question and so are put immediately onto the back foot.
So what type of response is the interviewer asking this type of question looking for? Obviously every interviewer has their own reasons and drivers to ask this question but here are a few that you might like to consider when preparing your responses. When preparing such answers remember that you just don’t write one and remember it word for word as any interviewer will recognize such a response. Better still is to put together the bare bones of an answer and construct your response on the day.
One reason is that todays candidates are generally better prepared so perhaps they are hoping to catch them unprepared to see what they are really like and to see if they can think on their feet. They also probably want to see how well constructed your answer is and if you are able to structure it and present it logically. What they will also be looking for is what you are actually talking about and are sure to pickup if there is any information in there about colleagues and former employers that you should actually not be divulging.
Remember that whenever you relate such an anecdote during an interview it’s always beneficial to map it back to a job attribute and display that you are indeed a good candidate for the job. However don’t overdo this and make the whole thing sound false. The whole essence of a job interview is to remain calm and collected and deliver you answers and questions in a structured and controlled way always being alert to natural ways to map your answers to strengths and behaviours you can bring to the job.
Steve Blythe (Recruitment and Social Media Commentator).