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» Do’s and Don'ts
of Handling Interview Silence
You’re at a meeting or job interview. You’ve
just answered a difficult question or made an important point
and are met with an unmovable silence. You wait, growing
a bit uneasy, but the room remains deafeningly still.
What
would you do? According to executive coach Mary Kay Scarafile,
most candidates rush in to fill the void by
talking a blue streak. "Most people are so intimidated
by the silence that they slip into the role of someone
who has goofed and is trying to recover. They’ll
do anything to end the silence, so they begin to qualify
and expand on their previous answer hoping to hit on something
that will fix the problem.
" This most often results
in candidates offering more information than they need
to - information that is irrelevant,
even damaging, to them and their cause."
A senior advertising copywriter says her panic over an
interviewer’s silence cost her dream job.
" When asked whether I’d
still work if I won a $10 million lottery, I said that
if I worked for this
agency, yes, because I would be doing what I loved. It
was an honest answer and I thought a good one, but the
creative director just stared at me suspiciously."
" After
a while I got so nervous, I began conceding that there
were a number of changes I would make if I won
the money... It was all down hill from there."
Whenever
you are confronted with silence, the best strategy is to
refuse to be intimidated by it. Remember, some people
use silence as a test to see how you respond under stress.
And if you actually did goof, remaining calm will do more
to defuse the situation than a stream of chatter.
Scarafile
recommends that if you ever encounter the silent treatment,
you should keep quiet yourself for a while and
then ask very sincerely: "Is there anything else I
can add to fill in on that point?"
This puts the responsibility
back on the interviewer, and if you have said something
that is troubling him or
her, will give you a better idea of how to recoup.
Knowing
what to say is important. Knowing when to stop is vital.
To keep from talking yourself out of a job remember
these Do’s and Don’ts.
Do your homework beforehand.
Anticipate questions that are likely to be asked and prepare
brief (two minutes or
less) compelling answers to each.
Don’t spend time
talking about dates, chronology or other information readily
available on your resume unless
asked to do so.
Do pause briefly before answering a difficult
question to gather your thoughts. It not only helps you organize
what you want to say, but will make you appear more sincere.
Do
pay attention to verbal and non-verbal cues from the others
in the room to gauge their reaction and adjust your
responses accordingly.
Do bring along a portfolio of successful
projects (if applicable to your line of work) so that the
interviewer
can see and get a feel for the breadth of what you can
do and ask about the projects which interest him or her.
Become
comfortable with silence. Remember, eloquence is saying the
proper thing... and then stopping!
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