What To Say Instead Of “I Don’t Know”

The beginning of wisdom might be the statement, “I don’t know,” but a direct admission isn’t the best look in a career setting. Whether you’re trying to answer an interview question, provide insight to your team, or be looked at as a leader, there will be times you aren’t sure of the right answer. But don’t shrug it off with an IDK.

You won’t always have the right answers but don’t rush in your response. If you’re truly stumped, take a moment to ponder and come back with one of these more constructive alternatives.

Admit you don’t have enough information on the topic

We live in a world where everyone has an opinion on everything, even when they are woefully uninformed. While this can lead to a confident answer, there isn’t always value in that answer.

By admitting you aren’t an expert on a topic, it’s showing thoughtfulness. You don’t want to answer just to fill the silence, and you don’t want to bamboozle anyone with your answer. While “I don’t know” can sound lazy or knee-jerk, this response can sound thoughtful. BioSpace’s Alina Zahid says one of the worst things you can do is try to fake being an expert when you know nothing about the topic.

“You can say something along the lines of, “I haven’t dealt with a situation like that before, but I would start by asking these questions…” You could also try something like, “That concept or situation is new to me. I’ll have to look into it a bit more.”” –Triple Crown

Ask clarifying questions

However, if you take a moment to break down the question, you might find a way to give a plausible, truthful answer. This is especially useful when you’re put on the spot. By taking a deep breath and breaking the question into more manageable pieces or asking follow-up questions, you might arrive at a better answer.

Indeed says to start by repeating or paraphrasing the question. By saying it out loud, you might be able to demystify the question. But perhaps you’re tripped up on the context or on a specific verbiage. You can politely ask for clarification or a specific example. This can make the question more manageable or give you more time to consider the problem. And you’ll look thoughtful and thorough in the process.

“That’s an interesting question. So that I understand exactly what you’re looking for, do you mind unpacking the question a little more?” –Alina Zahid

Find something you do know

With some clarification, you likely can find something you know within the greater context of the question. You might not have the entire answer, but you should have enough to get somewhere.

The Muse’s Adrian J. Hopkins says that this type of lack of knowledge will often come from something you simply haven’t had experience with. Consider how the experiences you do have could relate to the problem and find a meaningful answer from there.

Zippia’s Maddie Lloyd says that when all else fails, have a fail-safe. Having something you can redirect the question to can give you a little more power and show expertise. If you’re in an interview, you can mention similar skills you think are relevant to the company. You can also use this chance to express enthusiasm for the topic and a willingness to learn.

“Questions that call for definitions or understanding of concepts that you don’t know can’t just be worked through on the spot. For these questions, lean on the research you’ve done about the company and industry the position is in.” – Lily Zhang, The Muse

Point to an expert

This one might not be terribly relevant in an interview setting, but if you’re at work and don’t have the knowledge you need to help with a problem, you might know someone who does! If it’s an issue of needing the knowledge more so than you being the one with that knowledge, don’t be afraid to utilize an expert you know.

Adrian J. Hopkins says this one is tough because it’s openly admitting you don’t have any answer, but it shows protectiveness and confidence that an answer can be found. This can show how resourceful you are, and being viewed as someone with a deep network is never a bad thing. Just be sure to thank your expert (and maybe apologize for putting them on the spot later).

Wrap up

Taking taking the time to pause, look at the context, and think about what you do know, you can come up with a much more helpful response than a mere, “I don’t know.” You aren’t disguising that lack of knowledge—instead, you’re finding a solution to obtain that knowledge. We all have lapses in our knowledge or can simply panic on the spot, but there’s a way to turn the situation into a positive.

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Avoid Looking Desperate In Your Job Search!

There are many situations in life where you’ll simply need whatever job you can find. Whether you’re moving to a new city, switching industries, or simply need to pay the bills, sometimes you’ll need to take what you can find. But don’t make that obvious through the job-seeking process. Coming across as desperate will significantly lower your shot of getting hired.

“The problem with desperation is that it causes you to focus on what you should get rather than what you can give. And when a company is hiring, they’re concerned with the latter, not the former.” –Mark Anthony Dyson

Even when employers themselves desperately need to fill a role, they don’t like when a job seeker appears desperate. As a job seeker, you need to express the value you can bring to that organization rather than focusing on your needs. In order to avoid looking desperate in your search, avoid these common behaviors.

Spamming recruiters

Following up on an application is generally a good idea. If you take time to find the hiring manager’s email address or LinkedIn profile and send them a quick little message introducing yourself, it can give you a leg up on other applicants.

That doesn’t mean pestering someone. You may really want to hear back about this particular position, even if you aren’t overly desperate in general. Perhaps they’ve taken a while to get back to you, but there could be a multitude of reasons for it. Many of these reasons have little to do with you as an applicant.

But LinkedIn’s Alex Cole says that by sending multiple follow-up attempts, you’ll come across as desperate and lose any interest they had for you. Feel free to send one intro message and maybe a follow-up within the suggested time frame, but otherwise, move on.

Applying for multiple roles at the same company

If you really like a company, you may be tempted to send multiple applications to different roles to get your foot in the door. More chances mean more opportunities, right? Wrong; this is actually a good way to appear desperate.

“Employers want to see that you’re a great fit for a particular job. That can be hard to accomplish when you’re applying for every single job that opens at a company.” -career coach Vicki Lind

Monster’s Daniel Bortz points out that applying for multiple roles makes you seem unfocused. You want to tailor your documents to every individual role to appear like the best fit. Applying for too many roles looks like you’re just hoping something sticks. Instead, if you get an interview, mention you’d be open to other roles within the company and express your excitement in a non-desperate way.

Being pessimistic or needy

Conmen also might appeal to pathos by telling their mark some sad story to gain sympathy and put them at ease. This is not a good strategy for a job search! Trying to tell a sob story or expressing how badly you need this job is peak desperation.

Hiring someone is just as stressful for the manager as it is for the candidate. It’s expensive to hire and train a new employee, and if it doesn’t work out, that reflects poorly on the hiring manager. They won’t stake their career on a sob story—and you might not be the only one attempting one.

Ivy Exec says that being willing to do anything for the job isn’t a good look. It doesn’t show you’ll be good at the job at all! Instead, you need to show the value you’d bring the organization and express why you’re the best fit for the role. Let your skills be what persuades the interviewer.

Being a suck-up

Being negative and mopey won’t help you land a job, but neither will being a total butt-kisser. Groveling and overpraising make you appear super desperate.

It’s good to be positive and express excitement for the role. And everyone loves to be complimented. But it’s incredibly easy to see when it’s being laid on too thick. Virtual Vocation’s Eric Schad says to remember that “less is more.” Balance is always a good approach, and it’s no different with flattery.

“For a subtler approach, ask the interviewer, “If you had to attribute your success to one skill or trait, what would it be?” “You’re essentially asking the person why they’re good at their job, which is flattering,” –Steve Dalton, author

Accepting the first salary offered

Even if you hold it all together through the process, don’t trip over the finish line. When you get that coveted offer, don’t act too desperate, and don’t blindly take what you’re offered.

Many job seekers are already reluctant about negotiating their opening salary—Robert Half found that only 39% of respondents negotiate the opening offer. It’s even worse when you say you’ll take anything. It can make a manager wonder whether you’ll go above and beyond in any capacity.

Wrap up

You may really need a new job, but it’s crucial to be intentional in your efforts. Just like with dating, coming off as desperate is a great way to turn off any potential connections. Be tactful in your efforts and avoid spray-and-pray approaches and you’ll appear much more hireable.

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Making Small Talk Before And During An Interview

Small talk gets a bad rap in modern times, but knowing how to engage in pleasant small talk is an extremely valuable interview skill. While you still need to have deeper answers ready to provide value, being able to excel with small talk builds a rapport with your interviewer and helps you stand out.

Standing out in an interview can be tough, but making an impression with small talk and finding a connection is a great way to stay relevant. Remember, an interviewer is investigating your personality to see if you’re a good cultural fit. Learn how to make a last impression by following these small talk strategies!

“Interviews are also pretty anxiety-inducing, so starting off with a little small talk beforehand is in everyone’s best interest.”-Maddie Lloyd, Zippia

Avoid cliches

Part of the reason small talk is often viewed with disdain is that boring topics often get repeated. Small talk doesn’t have to be deep, but it needs to have at least a bit of substance. Recall that you’re trying to stand out. Saying “Boy, how about the fact that weather exists?” isn’t going to help your case.

“I can’t imagine many hiring managers vouching for a candidate by saying, “Hey, how about the guy that complained about how rainy it’s been? I thought he was great!” –Kat Boogaard

Instead, LinkedIn’s Caroline Ceniza-Levine says to focus on topics like any hobbies you might have, any books you’re reading (a great way to show you’re into personal development), or discussing industry news. These topics are light, playful and show some insight into who you are beyond your resume.

Avoid inappropriate topics

You want to stand out in these windows of small talk, but you want to stand out for a good reason. While it’s good to be casual with your small talk, make sure you aren’t too casual or inappropriate with your chosen topics.

Top Interview’s Felicia Tatum lists the classics like religion, politics, and overly personal questions as things to avoid—even if you’ve researched the interviewer and know their stances. Also avoid being flirty, mentioning money, family topics, or bad-mouthing anyone.

Find a common interest

Your goal with small talk is to find common ground to build a solid foundation with your interviewer and stand out when it comes time to choose a candidate. One of the best ways to start is by researching your interviewer and looking for any common ground on their socials.

You don’t need to be digging through someone’s trash looking for deep clues. A simple quick search may provide you with some safe, surface-level interests. Even looking around their office can provide some easy clues.

The Muse’s Kat Boogaard lists someone running a marathon as an example. If you find evidence they’ve partaken in one, you might casually mention you’re a runner and had a nice run earlier in the day. You don’t need to awkwardly shoehorn the common interest in, you can casually bring something up when asked “How are you?” and see if they take the bait.

“For instance, you discovered in your research that you both like cooking. You may respond, “It was great! I took a cooking class at the <insert name of school> and learned the right technique for perfecting my Japanese souffle cheesecake.” –Lea C, Career Higher

Ask questions and be a good listener

The name small talk leaves out one of its most important aspects—listening! If you’re seeking common ground, you can’t just talk someone’s ear off. You need to ask questions and carefully listen to the responses.

Small talk can be awkward, but asking a question to fill the silence is a great way to both get new information and keep the conversation flowing. Kat Boogaard says that not only will this take the spotlight off of you but it will give the interviewer, who is likely asking you a lot of questions, a bit of a breather.

Forbes’ Jack Kelly says to practice active listening during these exchanges. Nod your head and react to what they say, use their name often, and let them be your center of attention. Keep your questions open-ended to allow the dialogue to flow.

Be enthusiastic

Above all else, be authentic in your conversation attempts. Making a connection isn’t only valuable to the organization, but to you as well. If all goes well, this will be someone you’ll work with often in the future. Make sure you enjoy the environment and interacting with this person.

It’s generally easy to tell when someone is forcing conversation or if they aren’t interested in what you’re talking about. That’s why practicing active listening is so important. Even if you find the process daunting, with practice and a little extra effort, you’ll find yourself communicating with enthusiasm.

Wrap up

Small talk can be intimidating, especially when you don’t know the person. But learning how to engage with an interviewer and create a connection will be dividends in the long run. Stay relaxed and follow our strategies and you’ll create a natural conversation!

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How To Answer “Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years?”

Chances are, you’re not a fortune teller. And if you were, you probably wouldn’t be here seeking career advice. So what’s a job seeker to say when an interviewer asks, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

This common interview question isn’t meant to be answered with a full, detailed life plan. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from the pandemic years, it’s that anything can happen in life. Instead, it’s vital for the aspiring job seeker to understand just what is being asked and answer in a way that aligns your goals with the value you can bring to the role. We can’t determine the future, but we can guide you toward a successful answer!

What is being asked?

You don’t need to be a Type A person with a full outline of your future to nail this question. What an interviewer is really looking for is an assessment of your overall goals and level of motivation.

Career coach Tara Goodfellow says an interviewer wants to know that those goals and motivations align with the role and the organization. Top Resume’s M.A. Smith adds that asking this kind of question gives an interviewer insight into your thought process and how this role will fit into your overall plan. Recall that an interviewer is looking for the value you can bring to a role. Keep that in mind as you craft your answer.

“They also want to know what kind of person you are and will become. What’s most important to you: being proud of the work you do? Becoming a great team member? Learning how to be an awesome manager?” –Eloise Eonnet, career coach

How to answer

Connect it to your career goals

With a better understanding of just what is being asked, make sure that your answer conveys the value you’d bring to the role.

You’ll first need a clear understanding of what your goals are. Indeed says to think about the types of accomplishments you’d like to see on your resume in five years. Are you looking to gain the experience needed to obtain a senior role? Are you trying to get a start in an appealing industry? Find ways to connect this role to those goals.

“You don’t want to say, “I see myself in the same position doing the same work five years from now.” –Biron Clark, Career Sidekick

Consider the skills you have and the skills needed to succeed in your career path, and use specific skills from the job description if possible, according to Glassdoor. Expressing a desire to utilize and grow those skills clearly demonstrates value to an organization.

Express sincere interest in the role

Ambition doesn’t always pay the bills. Sometimes, you’ll need to take a job that might not be your dream job. That’s okay, but you need to find a way to make this role fit your ambitions without sounding uninterested.

Career Sherpa Hannah Morgan says you don’t need to make up something you think the interviewer would want to hear; that’s a good way to NOT get the job. Instead, find a way to connect the role to your goal without saying you don’t want to be there long. As mentioned above, focus on the skills you could gain and how this role could get you to your dream job—without implying that may be with another organization.

Be open ended

Remember that this is not a legally-binding life plan. Adaptability is one of the key skills employers seek, and too rigid of a plan can be unappealing.

Hiring managers want to see ambitious but realistic goals according to LinkedIn. You don’t need an exact title or role in mind as long as you can adequately show that you understand the work and skills involved to achieve your dream.

Avoid humor

Don’t do what I did and open with a joke about seeing the future. Everyone knows the future is malleable and that twists in the road happen. Potential employers are looking for sincere answers so they can gauge whether you’re a good fit. Using humor may make you seem insincere or it can look like you haven’t put thought into the answer. Cliche answers like “I’ll be coming for your job!” are equally unappealing.

“Interviewers want to hear that you have thought about your long-term goals in relation to their company. Responding with a joke indicates that you may not be committed to this opportunity” –MasterClass

How NOT to answer

Other topics to avoid include talking about other industries, your personal goals outside of work, the desire to open your own business or go freelance, saying you expect to be CEO in five years, calling the role a stepping stone, or saying you haven’t considered a five-year plan. These types of answers show a lack of focus and preparation or will make the interviewer think you aren’t interested in the company long term. It’s expensive and time-consuming to bring in a new worker. The company wants to know they’re getting the right person for the job.

Wrap up

Hopefully, we’ve demystified this common question a bit and provided clarity as to what an interviewer is actually looking for. You don’t need a total picture of what your life will be in five years, but having an idea of what you’d like to accomplish and how this role can help you get there goes a long way. Be sure to express the value you can bring to the company and avoid any indication your goals will take you away from that company and you might find a great new job in your future!

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How To Use The STAR Method For Interview Questions

Interviewers are looking for specific examples when they ask about your work history. Don’t be caught off-guard and meander. Instead, be prepared to answer with the STAR method!

The STAR method is a helpful tool for framing your accomplishments for behavioral and situational interview questions. By thinking in terms of situation, task, action, and result, you can quickly and efficiently express your achievements and impress your interviewers. Be ready to shine by embracing the STAR framework and be prepared to excel in your next interview!

“These questions are easy to spot as they focus on actions that you have or have not taken and often start with phrases like: “Give me an example of a time…”; “Describe a moment when…”; “What do you do…”; “Tell me about a moment when you…”” –ResumeHelp

Situation

You’ll start with the situation, or the broadest stroke of what happened. This is where you set the scene and clearly establish the problem that needed solving. Think of the situation as the overall plot or the “fade in” moment—the big picture.

“Be brief in your setup. Give just enough background or contextual information for your story to make sense.” –Duke Career Center

While context is important, don’t go overboard with the details. A STAR example should quickly get to the point and show what you accomplished. The situation can clearly be as simple as “I had a customer who was upset,” according to Chris Drew of Helpful Professor.

Task

Next, you’ll need to show what your task was. What is the specific challenge you, the protagonist of the story, need to address? If the situation was the overall plot, the task is the surrounding details. In the above “upset customer” example, the task would be that you needed to appease the customer and would include any barriers that prevent you from accomplishing that goal.

Zety’s Roma Kończak uses the example of someone needing to lead a project after the original manager was unable to. The task then is that the worker needed to take over the project with no extra time given because of the circumstance. This shows where you come in, what you needed to do, and what obstacles were in your path.

Action

With the plot of our tale set, we move into the action step. What did we actually do to resolve the situation and the task at hand? This is the part where you really get to shine and leave your mark.

Here, you’ll explain what you did and what your thought process was, according to Forbes’ Lidija Globokar writes. Just like how teachers in school wanted you to show your work, you’ll show your work here. Simply lucking into the solution isn’t particularly impressive.

In the “upset customer” scenario, the worker apologized to the customer for a delay while offering an alternative. They acknowledged the customer’s frustration, and, while they couldn’t go back in time and prevent that delay from happening (which would make for an interesting story), they offered a different sort of deal to make up for the issue. This action clearly shows how the worker processed the situation and then took action to resolve it.

Result

Finally, what were the outcomes of your action? The result is the finale, and it’s where you can stick the landing and impress your interviewer.

“Don’t end your story with a cliffhanger! Share the results of your actions – what was the outcome?” –Lidija Globokar

At the end of the “upset customer” example, the worker’s acknowledgment of the customer’s issue and finding an alternative option did enough to leave the customer pleased and satisfied. Instead of losing a customer, the day was saved. This climax shows your interviewer how you processed the problem, found an appropriate solution, and reached a successful conclusion. Because you used a specific example, they’ll know that you can achieve similar feats with their organization.

“Be sure to quantify your results if possible.” –Sam Maiyaki, Linkedin

The results part of the framework provides you time to provide any lessons you learned along the way. Generally, you’ll probably use a story where you found success at the end since you want to impress. But we can learn a lot from our mistakes and failures, and they provide good opportunities for growth.

Wrap up

That’s how simple using the STAR method can be! The “upset customer” example told a full story, including ending with tangible results, in just a few moments. While we jazzed up the language for fun, a STAR story doesn’t need to be a cinematic experience. It merely provides a detailed and organized way for you to take your work accomplishments and frame them in a way that best expresses the value you can bring to an organization. Practice telling your stories within this framework so you’ll be comfortable regaling your interviewer, and soon you’ll feel like a STAR!

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