Job Search Engine - Questions behind Questions

The whole secret to answering a question behind a question is to understand the real intent of the question. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Become aware that the question is not what it appears at face value.
2. Determine what the interviewer is really asking you.
3. Recognize the interviewer’s real fear or concern behind the question.
4. Direct your answer toward the real concern behind the question.

Let’s take a look at some of these types of questions. We’ll examine six sets of questions and answers, and I’ll explain the strategy used to answer each question. Try to guess which of the answers, (A, B, or C) is the favorable answer. After a few examples, I’m sure you too will be able to decipher the question behind the questions.

QUESTION: What do you think you’ll be doing 5 years from now?
ANSWER A: I’d like to be the vice president of human resources in 5 years.
ANSWER B: I would really like to make just enough money here to be able to buy a plane ticket to Hawaii and pay my first and last month’s rent.
ANSWER C: My goal is to grow and learn more as a professional.

Before we look at the preferred answer, let’s take a look at what the question behind the question might be. What is the interviewer really aiming at? What is the real concern or fear behind the question? In my experience, when the interviewer asks this question, he or she is really asking two things:

1. Are you going to stay at the company for a while so that the time it takes to orient and train you yields a return on our investment, or are you here just for a short stay?
2. If I hire you, are you going to try to take my job?

Saying you’re staying just long enough to get some money and skip town violates fear 1. Saying that you want to be vice president of human resources in 5 years may mean that you will have to step on the toes, or, worse, replace your interviewer on the way up the corporate ladder. This answer violates fear 2. C is the preferred answer to this question. It is open ended and nonthreatening. It is also generic enough that you can say it without feeling that you are lying. Though you don’t say you’d be committed to the company, you do say you’re committed to your profession. You also express enough ambition (“growing and learning”) to sound like you’re hard working and success oriented but not interested in rocking anybody’s boat. Let’s explore a few more questions in this category. Try to guess the recommended response to the following questions:

QUESTION: Why did you apply for this job?
ANSWER A: I was just looking through the newspaper, and I came across this one.
ANSWER B: I have been targeting my job search toward major companies in the software industry. I came across yours on the Internet and decided to research it a bit further. According to your Web site, you’ve introduced several new product lines in the past few years. I was impressed by your track record and wanted to find out more.
ANSWER C: I heard about it from a friend.

The question behind the question is “Did you just stumble upon our company, or did you put some thought and effort into making a choice to work with us? Have you done your homework?” Answer B would indicate that you had the most forethought. Being able to answer a question like this one is the payoff for the research you learned to do in Chapter 4. The same sort of strategy can be used for the following question, in which the question behind the question is also “Did you do your homework?”

QUESTION: What do you know about this company?
ANSWER: Well, in my research I learned that your company headquarters are in Philadelphia and that you have grown from one small office to over 56 locations in the last 3 years. I also know that at first you were primarily a brokerage firm and that now you employ Certified Financial Planners to serve the full range of personal finances and retirement planning. I also read a testimonial from one of your clients in the Des Moines Daily Reporter, who said that she had switched to this company from another brokerage firm because she felt that the planners at your firm had integrity and put her needs before their own. That kind of integrity in a company really makes me want to be a part of it!

Many of my mature clients tell me that they are faced with other versions of the question behind a question.
QUESTION: Don't you believe you may be overqualified for this job?
The real fears behind this question are usually:

1. “Are you going to leave because you don’t find the position challenging enough?”
2. “Are you going to be unhappy with the salary we offer and either demand more or leave for a more lucrative position?”

This response satisfies all of the hidden agenda behind the question:

ANSWER: After discussing the position with you and seeing the job description, I feel I have a good understanding about both the responsibilities of the job and the compensation. I feel comfortable with both, and I'm eager to work for your company.
QUESTION: What have been your most favorite and least favorite homeworkz and why?
ANSWER A: I suppose that my favorite job was my last job as a Web designer. I think that the reason I liked it so much was that it was so creative and I never stopped learning new software programs. I’ve really liked all of my jobs, but if I have to pick one that I liked the least, it would probably be the job I had in high school as a parking lot attendant. I liked meeting people when they passed by, but I can’t really say it was my favorite job.
ANSWER B: I have really liked all of my jobs equally. I guess you could say all of them are my favorite jobs.
ANSWER C: I think my favorite job was bookkeeping because I got to work mostly on my own. My least favorite job was the one I had as a senior bookkeeper when my manager was always checking over my work and telling me what to do next.

Like many questions and with the hidden agenda, the question above would probably be asked to uncover a “negative.” Choice B is not really directly answering the question and sounds a little wishy-washy. Answer C poses the most negative issues because it indicates that this employee had trouble working with his or her manager and probably doesn’t like working on a team. Choice A is the preferred answer because it states two positive skills that the person has (creativity and liking to learn new things) and the negative (the job in the parking lot) is fairly innocuous. One of the most difficult and most frequently asked questions is the following:

QUESTION: Why did you leave your last job?
The real fear behind this question is that you may have been fired or that you are just changing jobs on a whim, only for the money, or that you are a “job hopper.” Let’s look at three alternatives for fielding that one:

ANSWER A: I became aware that there were some excellent new opportunities in the field of biotechnology. I really wanted to expand my professional growth by finding out more about them. This company, judging by your Web site, seems like it would have some interesting opportunities.
ANSWER B: I felt pretty bored at my last job, so I just wanted something more stimulating.

ANSWER C: My last boss and I really didn’t see eye to eye. He wouldn’t give me a raise no matter how many times I tried to get one.

I bet you already chose A. You’re right! No matter what question you are asked about your last company, your last supervisor, or your former coworkers, the intent is usually to “dig up” something negative. Both B and C imply some sort of negative response to your last job.

Sharing ANY kind of negatives about a past employer is to be avoided at all costs, even if you feel that you were treated unfairly.

What if you were laid off due to a downsizing or reorganization of your company? The three rules of thumb for explaining a lay- off are the following:

1. Don’t blame yourself.
2. Don’t blame or sound angry with the company.
3. End your statement about the situation on an upbeat note by saying that you are looking forward to a new position with new responsibilities.

Try these answers on for size. They do not get into negatives, and they indicate that you have a clean slate and wish to move on:
ANSWER: Due to a mass reorganization of my company, my entire department was eliminated. Now I’m looking forward to exploring new options for employment.
Or . . .
ANSWER: Due to serious financial problems, my company was forced to downsize. Unfortunately, my position was affected. Now I’m looking forward to exploring some new opportunities.
Or . . .
ANSWER: My company reduced its labor force to accommodate a major shift in business. My function in the company was moved to a site 1000 miles away, where I chose not to relocate. I’m eager to pursue other positions in the local area.

If you were fired, you have no legal obligation to reveal it. Many highly talented people get fired incidentally. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. At the same time, it’s not something to talk about in front of a prospective new employer. Your ex-employer cannot legally release the information that you were fired or say anything negative or positive about your performance, for that matter. The only information an employer can legally reveal about an ex-employee is the following:

1. His or her start date
2. His or her title at the time of leaving the company
3. His or her last day with the company

You now have a strategy for answering some of these questions in an optimal way. Keep the interview like a first date—memorable, fun, and not too heavy. Don’t get into personal details that may end up backfiring on you.