Original Articles

Whenever you encounter a question that you don’t know how to answer, follow the procedures:

Think of the best PRELIMINARY answer to the question

Break down your PRELIMINARY answer into 2 to 3 points.

Begin your answer by using diplomatic language like a politician. For example, “I DO NOT HAVE THE COMPLETE PICTURE BUT I DO THINK…..”, “AS FAR AS I CAN FIGURE IT OUT”, “TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE”, “IF I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU FULLY, I HOPE I CAN ANSWER IT IN THIS WAY……”

Here is a demonstration:

I do not have the “COMPLETE PICTURE”, so “to the best of my UNDERSTANDING AND COMPREHENSION”, I would like to express my opinion herein as……………………………………

Then you can go on to explain the first point of your PRELIMINARY answer. Make a short pause after point one and ask the interviewers:

“CAN YOU FOLLOW WHAT I AM SAYING?”
“AM I IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS SO FAR?”

You are now passing the “turn” to the interviewers. They are “guided” by you to provide further information and the “answers” in their mind.

Your strategy is to dig out what is in their mind when they are asking the difficult question.

So give your fair “share” of the answer and ask them for their “share” as well.

Repeat the above procedures for point 2 and 3 of your preliminary answer.

Of course, you can quickly adapt your answers to the information they contribute under your guidance. Now you know how to answer difficult questions by using Seek-And-Reply technique.