Where Trust Is Money

In a stess interview, the interviewee is being screened on his/her powers to handle pressure or unfavorable behaviours. The interviewee is exposed to a hostile, disinterested or intimidating interview, whose purpose is to destabilise the candidate. The type of questions or behaviours that you may find with a stress interview include:

• Curious questions: “What percentage of the Earth’s water is contained in a cow?”
• Questioning your integrity:”I am sure you are hiding something from me. Are you sure you did not get sacked from your previous job?”
• Expressing contempt: “Is that all you might come up with? Let’s move on”
• Throwing you off balance: “How do you like me so far?”
• Questions on nasty work situations: “How would you handle a situation where you knew that your boss fiddled his expenses?”
• Hostile body language: The interviewer isn’t looking at the interviewee, rolls his eyes, lays back in his chair, takes phone calls in the midst of the interview or gets his secretary interrupt him for everyday matters
• Quick fire: The interviewers asks questions in quick succession, not letting the candidate complete his or her answers
• Big interview interviewer: The prospect faces a interviewer of many interviewers (6, 8, 10 or more) who constantly put questions
• Series of interviewers: Several interviewers come into the room one after the other, leaving no rest time for the interviewee.
• Allowing the prospect ask the questions: “What might we do for you?”,”What do you want to know?”

Tactics by which a stess interview might be handled include:

• Depersonalise the process: you must keep in mind that this is all a game and that the interview panel are only executing a role to destabilise you. Once you have understood that none of this game is personal, one might unwind a bit more.
• Maintain eye contact with the individual asking the question and keep your answers brief (typically 20-30 seconds) so that you don’t become interrupted.
• Stay centred. Don’t try to get provoked. Try to speak more slowly than you normally speak so as not to let your frustration absorb you.
• If you feel spirited enough to do this, endeavor to gain control of the space around you. For example, if there is a flip chart, walk up to it and write some points on it to back up your replies. It will make the interviewers relax.

stress interviews are a semi-sadistic way of selecting people and there are better ways of determining whether prospects may cope with stress (like setting them a challenge which they should perform under pressure). Nonetheless, if you want that job you must play the game. Even with stress interviews, not all interviewers are like those in the Apprentice. So take things in your stride and give it your best.For more information go to ST interview courses