Response time in interview

[fly1346]

Just wondering guys, when an interviewer asks you a question, how quickly or how long do they expect you to take to answer, furthermore say you get stuck on a question they ask you, and dont know how to answer, how do you proceed,

Might be a stupid question, but i was just wondering about this kind of stuff.

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[airplanes]

Just wondering guys, when an interviewer asks you a question, how quickly or how long do they expect you to take to answer, furthermore say you get stuck on a question they ask you, and dont know how to answer, how do you proceed,

Might be a stupid question, but i was just wondering about this kind of stuff.

They don't expect you to have a planned answer right away so taking a few seconds to gather your thoughts before you respond it pretty standard. If you can't think of anything in that period of time, just say something like, "that's a really good question, can you give me a few moments so I can think about it?" In the end though, you gotta come up with something. Pass or No answer don't really fly.

 

[DrYoda]

Just wondering guys, when an interviewer asks you a question, how quickly or how long do they expect you to take to answer, furthermore say you get stuck on a question they ask you, and dont know how to answer, how do you proceed,

Might be a stupid question, but i was just wondering about this kind of stuff.

Depends on the question. If asked an ethical scenario I think one is permitted a few seconds to collect their thoughts (still can't take all day though). On the other hand, if they ask you why you want to be a doctor you shouldn't look like you need to think hard about it.

Not knowing an answer is kind of tricky. A good interview question is one that requires more than a yes or no answer. So with this in mind even if you don't know much about the subject of the question there is good chance you can still win points by giving what you think about it and showing your thought process.

 

[schismal]

The longest I've ever delayed was two or three seconds, honestly. The more fluid the conversation, the better the interview, in my experience. The ethical questions are usually several sentences long, giving you time to gather thoughts while the interviewer is still talking. I've only had one question that struck me as immediately weird and caught me flat-footed... it was one of those random "if you were a flavor of ice cream, which would it be" types. I took a few seconds on that one, but the interviewer just ended up laughing... I think they know which questions are normal and which are curveballs by design, and will make allowances for strangeness.

 

[WaterBird]

Sometimes if they ask a doozy i say "Do you mind if I take a few seconds to think about that?" Somehow it feels less awkward than just staring at them blankly, and by the time they've said "sure, no problem" you've already bought yourself an extra few seconds in the time it takes them to respond.

 

[Bacchus]

I've answered questions already where I've paused 10-15 seconds. It was not awkward. You have to express your thoughts through body language. Doing that, its easy to say "I'm thinking of a thoughful answer."

 

[iA-MD2013]

Sometimes if they ask a doozy i say "Do you mind if I take a few seconds to think about that?" Somehow it feels less awkward than just staring at them blankly, and by the time they've said "sure, no problem" you've already bought yourself an extra few seconds in the time it takes them to respond.

I've done the same thing and the interview still went well. Don't do it all the time (once during the interview...at most) and you'll be fine