In which type of interview does the interviewer ask questions rapidly respond to your answers with silence and ask off beat questions?

By Chelsea Babin

Maybe you’ve had a string of recent interviews that haven’t resulted in a job offer or you’re simply trying to prepare for your first upcoming interview for a long time. You’ll undoubtedly be researching companies, body language, how to write effective thank you letters and so on and so forth. It’s enough to make your head spin. But there’s one question you probably forgot to consider: Have you taken the time to pause?

No, we’re not suggesting you put your job search on hold. Instead, we’re suggesting embracing silence in your upcoming interviews. When you’re preparing for an interview, you’re probably running potential answers to typical questions through your head and practicing your responses out loud. This is a great thing to do! Instead of thinking up scenarios where you “put others before yourself” or “had to find a solution at the last minute” on the spot, thinking about your responses ahead of time could save you from blurting out a less-than-stellar example.

But, no matter how much time you dedicate to preparing appropriate responses, there will always be a question or two that catches you off guard. Or there will be a question you were too prepared for and your answer sounds rehearsed. Here are a few ways that embracing pauses can help you avoid damaging your interview:

1. Impulsive Answers Are Best Avoided: If you’re a fan of rapid-fire question and answer games, you’ll know that sometimes your first impulse isn’t the best answer. Especially in an interview scenario! Sometimes your instincts will be on point and professional but, if you take a moment to pause and consider your response before speaking, you’ll be more likely to deliver an answer you’re proud of.

2. Taking Time to Consider Difficult Questions: Think about it, when you’re asked a difficult question, your natural response is often to take a pause and consider your choices before replying. Even if they ask a difficult question that you’ve prepared an outstanding answer for, you’ll want to take a moment to pause before responding. Otherwise you may risk looking too rehearsed and unnatural which isn’t what employers are looking for. Taking a pause when you normally would maintains the natural pace of the interview.

3. Body Language Cues: Even when you aren’t speaking, your body is. When you take a pause your interviewer will have more time to focus on your body language. If you are leaning in you will look engaged in the conversation. If you are maintaining eye contact you will look confident and interested. If your arms aren’t folded across your chest you’ll look open to the opportunity and the conversation. So, if you need to take a pause before responding, make sure your body language cues are on point and this moment of silence could end up being one of the best moments of your interview!

4. Embrace Normal, Conversational Pacing: When was the last time you had a back-and-forth conversation that went nonstop without a pause in between? Unless you were rehearsing for a play the likely answer is that you can’t remember. That’s because normal conversations have pauses. Embracing pauses will help your interview feel more like a normal back-and-forth exchange which will help you relax and make you appear more confident.

5. Repetition Is Like A Non-Silent Pause: Maybe the idea of silence in your interview intimidates you. How long should a natural pause last? Will they think you weren’t paying attention? If the thought of silence in your interview is causing you anxiety, try repeating the question instead of taking a pause. This is a natural, commonly used way to buy time without looking disengaged or disinterested. Repeating the question gives you time to get your bearings without leaving an actual moment of silence in your interview.

Pauses, moments of silence, taking a beat—whatever you call them these quiet secret weapons are one of the often overlooked elements of success in any great interview. Making your next interview a more natural, conversational experience will require you to prepare and take pauses when appropriate. Good luck on your next interview and don’t forget to pause!

Depending up the requirements, situations, locations and time, the interviews are broadly classified into ten different categories. Recruiters should be knowledgeable enough to understand which type of interview should be used when.

The ten different types of interviews are as follows −

Structured Interview − In this type, the interview is designed and detailed in advance. A structured interview is pre-planned, accurate, and consistent in hiring the candidates.
Unstructured Interview − This type of interview is an unplanned one, where the interview questionnaire is not prepared. Here, the effectiveness of the interview is very less and there is a tremendous waste of time and effort of both the interviewer and the interviewee.
Group Interview − In this type of interview, all the candidates or a group of candidates are interviewed together. Group interviews are conducted to save time when there is a large number of applications for a few job vacancies. A topic will be given to discuss among the candidates and the interviewer judges the innovativeness and behavior of each candidate in the group.
Depth Interview − Depth interview is a semi-structured interview, where the candidates have to give a detailed information about their education background, work experience, special interests, etc. And the interviewer takes a depth interview and tries in finding the expertise of the candidate.
Stress Interview − Stress interviews are conducted to discover how a candidate behaves in stressful conditions. In this type of interview, the interviewer will come to know whether the candidate can handle the demands of a complex job. The candidate who maintains his composure during a stress interview is normally the right person to handle a stressful job.
Individual Interview − In an individual interview, the interview takes place one-on-one i.e., there will be a verbal and a visual interaction between two people, an interviewer and a candidate. This is a two-way communication interview, which helps in finding the right candidate for a vacant job position.
Informal Interview − Such interviews are conducted in an informal way, i.e., the interview will be fixed without any written communication and can be arranged at any place. There is no procedure of asking questions in this type of interview, hence it will be a friendly kind of interview.
Formal Interview − A formal interview held in a formal way, i.e., the candidate will be intimated about the interview well in advance and the interviewer plans and prepares questions for the interview. This is also called as a planned interview.
Panel Interview − Panel interview, as the name indicates, is being conducted by a group of people. In this type of interview, three to five members of the selection committee will be asking questions to the candidates on different aspects. The final decision will be taken by all the members of the panel collectively.
Exit Interview − Exit interviews are conducted for those employees who want to leave the organization. The importance of the exit interview is to discover why an employee wants to leave his job.

Suppose there is a software company Global Systems, which has an executive requirement for the position CEO. This kind of position cannot be fulfilled in a short span. This kind of requirements need a keen observation and a lot of planning.

There are different types of interviews, which are explained in the above list. The best type of interview suitable for hiring a CEO would be a “Structured Interview”. Hiring a CEO for an organization is a big task and it can only be fulfilled with lots of planning. Hence the interview process needs to be well structured and it has to be executed in a perfect way.