Interview- How to respond when you don't know the answer
How many of you find it difficult to say- "Sir, I don't know the answer". Most of you do, right?
May be you are afraid or you feel guilty for not knowing the answer. Well in any of the case either it makes you sad or lowers your confidence and this is sufficient to get attention of interviewer.
Well lets see if we can simplify this problem.
First of all note that interviewer knows neither you are perfect nor you are google to know each and every answer! It is expected to have some gaps in candidates, but it is also expected that they know how to fill those gaps. Thus, as a good candidate, you should be able accept the gaps and should know how to fulfill the same. So what does this exactly mean?
Well there are ways to respond to such questions for which you don't know answers. Make sure to keep below rules in mind while responding:
May be you are afraid or you feel guilty for not knowing the answer. Well in any of the case either it makes you sad or lowers your confidence and this is sufficient to get attention of interviewer.
Well lets see if we can simplify this problem.
First of all note that interviewer knows neither you are perfect nor you are google to know each and every answer! It is expected to have some gaps in candidates, but it is also expected that they know how to fill those gaps. Thus, as a good candidate, you should be able accept the gaps and should know how to fulfill the same. So what does this exactly mean?
Well there are ways to respond to such questions for which you don't know answers. Make sure to keep below rules in mind while responding:
- Be Confident - Even if answer is unknown, be calm and confident and let interviewer know the gap.
- Avoid words like Sorry - Please avoid using "Sorry" while mentioning that you don't know the answer. It creates negative impact on interviewer's mind. Honestly, you are not making mistake by not knowing the things. But off course you should take the efforts to know those things.
- Respond positively - Positive response helps a lot for filling the gaps. Below are few sample answers you can use to respond positively:
- I did not get chance to work on this, but given a chance I would do my best to have effective result
- I never heard of it, but I would definitely read about it once I go back to home
- This is something new to me and I am eager to know about it
- Maintain eye contact - This is very important. Please make eye contact while responding, as interviewer must get confidence on your positive response.
- Show that you are eager to learn the missing things - Give trust to interviewer that though you don't know the answer, you are eager and flexible enough to find the answer and adapt it in your work. You can achieve this by keeping honesty while responding. Do never fake answers just for the sake of impressing interviewer.
All these needs practice and you will learn it by experience. The very first thing you can start is to apply above rules in your interview process and improve as you proceed.
Do you think you face any other difficulty while responding to such question? Feel free to discuss here.
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