Here’s what usually happens at an interview: You enter the room, answer some questions, talk about yourself, smile, and leave. Sounds simple? Not quite.

by Azhar Jalil

Job interviews are an entrenched part of the hiring process and are viewed as the key step in deciding on which candidate is best suited for a position...

At the same time however, job interviews are also known to be highly subjective. Interviewers, being human, are naturally biased and thus discriminatory, whether this is made explicit or not. Also, interviews are frequently unstructured and therefore rather limited in terms of gauging candidates and comparing them objectively.

Moreover, traditional face-to-face interviews demand substantial resources from employers but do not effectively forecast candidates’ actual working performance.

These factors have caused employers to create alternative methods of interviewing that are more valuable as predictive tools, so as to better assess potential hires in a more effective and holistic manner.

Stress Test
One of the well known spin-offs is the stress interview. As the name suggests, jobseekers are intentionally put in a discomfiting situation to sweat it out. Often, they are greeted not by an interviewer but by an “interrogator” who will take the meeting in one of two ways.

In the first, interviewees are asked weird questions that are seemingly unrelated to the job. While not the inventor of such interviews, Microsoft is notorious for its obsession with the type and has taken the genre to another level by asking conundrums such as “How would you weigh a jumbo jet without using weighing scales” and “A devil has captured a whole village of dwarves and put them to work…How can the dwarves gain their freedom?” Recruiters might even seem hostile and ask questions rapidly.

Another type of stress interview literally places candidates in tricky situations. In one particular interview, the jobseeker was led to a room where he found his interviewer asleep with his legs on the desk. Attempts to wake him and initiate conversation failed miserably until the interviewee lit a fire.

While you hopefully wouldn’t have to literally ignite your interviewer, it is a likelihood which you should anticipate, especially when applying for positions at dot-com and entrepreneurial firms where the working culture is unconventional.

The first and most crucial step in dealing with such interviews is to recognise that you’re in one. Next, understand that the answer you eventually give isn’t as important as how you justify the solution and the reasoning steps you’ve taken to get there.

Take control of the situation by first taking control of yourself. Imagine that you’re in a typical work meeting where it’s now your turn to present. Stay calm and focus on the task at hand instead of overly seeking to impress. Often, it’s best to just be yourself and deal with stress as you normally would in any other work scenario.

If the situation demands, take it to another level by dominating the interview. Stand up and walk around, assert your presence, and question the interviewers. It’s a risky step to take but the inherently flexible and unpredictable nature of such interviews give you the leeway to be slightly unconventional, less passive and more proactive. Still, refrain from being rude as it’s simply unprofessional.

Lunch Crunch
Lunch interviews are usually similar your run-of-the-mill interview, just that they’re held over lunch. Don’t think the restaurant setting will offer you refuge from a difficult interview though.

Instead, lunch interviews are trickier because besides having to listen intently to the interviewer, respond brilliantly, and remain confident, you now also have to make sure that your tie doesn’t soak up the soup.

More than ever, mind your manners. Even though the interviewer is still more interested in how you formulate your answers, it is just as important to be polite to everyone and aware of your body language. Never talk with your mouth full, do chew with your mouth closed and always thank the waiter.

The choice of meal is of great importance too. Select dishes that are easy to eat, but avoid soupy items that may splatter your shirt or bring on strong breath. Choose food that is similarly priced to that of the interviewer’s and avoid alcohol, even when offered. Tipsy interviewees don’t give good answers, much less impressions.

Of course, don’t be so nervous and engrossed in answering that you forget to eat. At the end of the interview, you don’t have to offer to pay, as it isn’t expected of interviewees anyway. However, do remember to thank your interviewer for the meal.

Group Snoop
Employers typically use group interviews when they need to separate the leaders from the followers by putting you and several other candidates together. Topics are usually introduced by the recruiter who may also intervene to guide the discussion.

Such situations are naturally strenuous because they require you to be extroverted and aggressive, yet polite and diplomatic when pushing your ideas across.

Here is where your opinions matter most as replies that show depth and skilful critical thinking will be valued much more over answers that only address surface issues. Better still if your solution involves relevant industry insights and shows foresight.

If you’re constantly being shut off by another candidate, be flexible enough to react and adjust your stance. However, like the Stress Interview, impoliteness is absolutely frowned upon, especially in a group scenario where resorting to rudeness implies an inadequacy when dealing with difficult people.

Roll With The Blows
In short, dealing with any interview begins with preparation. What readiness doesn’t cover then has to be addressed with a combination of nimbleness, wit, off-the-cuff intelligence and verve.