Blender_Render

I’m always a fan of people that are willing to say, “I don’t know”, instead of giving me a list of excuses as to why they don’t know, because 99 times out of 100 I don’t care why you don’t know.

In interviews, “I don’t know” needs to be followed up with something like, “…but if that was something I was tasked with figuring out, I would take ownership of the problem, research it to the best of my ability, ask for assistance from my team if needed, and develop an appropriate solution.” A single answer like that isn’t too alarming, but more than one situation like that begins throwing up red flags.

Outside of interviews, if that statement comes from one of my workers it usually needs to be followed up with, something like, “…but let me look into it and see if I can figure it out.”, or “…do you want me to look into it and get back with you?”, or “…Do you need me to look into that? Is that my new priority?”

During an interview, simply leaving your answer as “I don’t know” is far more cringeworthy in my opinion, because I’m definitely going to follow up that response with a more direct question like, “So what would you do in a situation where your boss asks you a technical question you don’t know the answer to?”

It saves me the hassle of forcing the question, and allows the candidate to try and pivot their response to something more constructive.

This isn’t a question of if they have basic problem solving skills, it’s a question of if they understand proper business etiquette, responsibility, and possess the soft skills necessary to work in a team.