The Dangers Of Practice Interview Questions

I was reading the Cheezhead site recently and found an article called 100 Great Interview Questions. While the list did contain a large number of great questions, it also reminded me of why I think practice interview questions can be bad for your overall interview experience.

One of the things I used to do when preparing for an interview was to find lists of interview questions and rehearse the answers that I thought would best received by the interviewer. I would practice my responses over and over until:

1. I was perfectly happy with what I was going to say
2. I could recite the answers at will.

Then two things happened:

First, I had an interview where not one of the questions I had practiced were asked within the first twenty minutes.

Second, when a question did arrive that I had an answer to, I was too flustered from the previous unpracticed questions that I botched my planned response.

I realized right there that it was far more important to be able to think on your feet and provide relevant answers than memorize specific responses. Doing this also has the added benefit of allowing you to speak more naturally instead of in the canned monotone voice that often comes with memorized answers.

Now I’m not trying to suggest that running through a mock interview or practicing the answers to common interview questions is bad. What I am trying to make you aware of is the fact that no matter how many practice interview questions you answer, you will never be able to prepare for every question you could possibly face. This means that practicing the art of answering a question is far more valuable than knowing the answer to a specific question.

So when you are preparing for your next interview, ask a friend to quiz you with unorthodox questions that aren’t on the “best interview question” lists. It may help your interview technique and improve your chances.