Why you don't need all the answers in an interview

Have you ever had that one tough question you just didn't have the answer to during the course of an interview?  Or walk out of an interview stewing over an answer you thought of to a question that came early in the conversation and you simply didn't give the best possible answer?  It happens all the time from my experience, and I am here to tell you it is okay.

My wife and I went to a movie over the weekend that had a cliffhanger ending.  It really left you wondering with more questions than answers.  It drove both of us crazy for a period of time until I told her that in my opinion that lack of clarity in the ending made it the best possible ending.  The director did their job very well as it is something I will likely talk about for a long time to come.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't want a hiring manager or someone in HR finishing an interview with you simply scratching their head like they don't know what just happened.  Quite the contrary as I am suggesting that the best possible outcome of an interview just might be everyone wondering and talking about you for a long time to come.  And not because you had mustard stains on your shirt or totally blew the interview, but rather a sense of intrigue and numerous directions for the conversation to go well in the near future.

I can give you a real world example from something that happened recently for a candidate of mine.  He went in for an interview for Position A.  That hiring manager was not available and he instead interviewed for Position B and Position C with two other hiring managers.  The candidate was not prepared, but handled it with grace.  The client got back to me that he could possibly be a candidate for those positions, but they wanted to bring him in again for Position A.  He nailed it, the client hired him, and everyone was pleased with how well he handled the situation.  Had he tried too hard to answer all of the questions in the first interview with the positions that weren't as well matched to his background he might have looked like he was just trying to get any job he could other than his current one.

The other thing to keep in mind is that companies don't often have all of the answers regarding a position or role that may open up.  If that is the case, how can they then expect you to have all of the "right" answers as a candidate?  Instead I always encourage productive dialogue that seems like it is progressing in some sort of linear fashion.  As long as that is happening, you are usually heading in a good direction.  If you simply have no answers at all then you have a problem.

Lastly, I like to empower candidates to say "I don't know" in an interview.  I know I have been caught in questions before where I tried to make up an answer on the fly.  It usually hasn't turned out well for me.  Instead try to focus on your ability to learn quickly or relate to something that is along the same lines as the original question.  You don't want to say it too many times as you eventually look incompetent.  Admitting up front you may not know an answer to a question shouldn't disqualify you from the job on the spot.  Maybe the company has interviewed five people before you, and they have all replied "I don't know" as well.

Have you ever had a difficult question you couldn't answer in an interview?  If so, how did things shake out at the conclusion of the interview?