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April 04, 2004

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D.J. Burrough
Special for the Republic

Tips for trick questions

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why did you leave your last job? What television show is most like your life? If we talked to your former co-workers, what would they say about you? Trick questions like these can arrive in an interview like a bolt of lightning, leaving you blinded and staggering to come up with a coherent answer. Fumble the answer badly enough and you can watch your chances of getting a job offer go up in smoke.

"What you see is a big cow pie in front of you, and they are saying, 'Take a step,'" said Linda Baugh, president of American Career Executives. Your first reaction to a trick question, Baugh said, should be to buy yourself a moment to think by repeating the question and saying what an interesting question it is. During that fleeting period of time, consider what the interviewer is really trying to find out about you. "What is the question behind the question?" she said. "It can simply be about how you handle yourself."

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