During election season, a common question asked of presidential candidates is simply:
“If you’re elected, how will you address this issue?”
The temptation is to dive into the weeds - all the laws, the policies, the statistics, the studies… to show you know all the facts and figures, and you can be trusted to make the right choice because you’re the smartest person in the room.
You want to know a not so well-hidden secret?
No-one likes feeling dumb. By signalling you are the smartest person in the room you start alienating everyone else around you.
A scientist is almost always the smartest person in every room (unless of course they’re in a room of other scientists, in which case we roll out our h-index in an impact factor round robin until one champion leaves).
The process of intellectual debate that pushes the field forward, doesn’t translate very well in a job interview setting. It comes across as argumentative, or defensive, and that gut instinct that we need to be right - that stubborn determination that serves us perfectly as scientists - just comes across as arrogance or indifference.
There’s not really a “correct” answer for any job interview question - it’s about describing how you would figure these problems out with the resources at hand, and who you will work with to do so.
A long tenured hiring VP at Microsoft’s favourite interview question that makes or breaks job candidates is this:
“Tell me something you learnt in the last couple of days”.
Not tell me the answer to this problem, or how do you solve this crisis, just walk me through your thought process of learning something new. Being open and receptive to change. Instead of saying according to study X this method will decrease the frequency of these problems by 40%, focus on how you’d find the best solution through collaboration.
I would find a lead policy analyst to come up with an evidence-based proposal.
I will run it past marketing and comms to get broad buy-in, before then working with the implementation team to decide how to measure if things are working.
It reveals a lot about a person when you know they’re not afraid to ask for help - specific types of help from specific people at the right time. It implicitly communicates a quiet confidence rather than braggadocio.
A self-assured leader rather than an anxious trainee marred by insecurity.
What strategies worked best for you in your last job interview? Do you think they’ll still work in different industries?
Talk soon,
Jack.
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