Psychological interview

Recruiters’ fascination with psychology began a long time ago. The flourishing of psychological tests as the basis for making hiring decisions in the West fell in the 1980s and 1990s; in Russia, this trend began to actively develop in the early 2000s. And immediately aroused bewilderment among applicants – how to answer the tests? It turns out that now it is not enough to be a competent specialist with work experience, you still need to have the “required” personality type and some specific accentuations and temperament … Fortunately, most employers do not spend time and money on large-scale testing when looking for personnel, but psychological questions on interviews are found almost everywhere.

How to distinguish psychological questions in an interview and answer them correctly?

It’s good if the recruiter provides you with a ready-made psychological test that you fill out on your own. You will at least have time to think and an opportunity to orient yourself on how best to answer. The problem is that a psychological question can be asked suddenly. For a headhunter, this is a great opportunity to see you “real”, but for you, to put it mildly, an unpleasant surprise.

So how do you define a question with a psychological connotation?

First, these are all questions about your self-esteem. For example, “How many interviews have you turned down? Why?” or “How lucky do you think you are?” To answer such a question and demonstrate the psychological qualities required by the employer, one must remember the “golden mean”. So, the optimal answers for the given examples would be: “There have been such things. It happened that I, having clarified the conditions, refused the place. After all, everyone strives to find what is beneficial to him, what is completely satisfactory “and” Lucky enough. I have a good education, work experience, family. Life is full of opportunities, you just need to use them, then luck will not turn away. ”

Secondly, there are questions about personal qualities. To answer this group of questions well, you need to study the basic psychological tests for personality determination. This way you will have an idea of ​​what the answers mean (what quality they indicate), and a question suddenly asked by the recruiter will not confuse you.

Third, these are classic psychological tasks: draw a house, yourself, your family, etc .; what is your favorite color, what do you see in the picture… Such tasks are always associated with psychology, but they, as a rule, turn out to be the most difficult even for candidates prepared in this regard. Let’s dwell on them in more detail.

Question: Draw a house, yourself, and a tree.

Answer: Draw proportionally, fairly realistic. The house should have all the basic details: windows, door, roof, the path to the house (means your openness and willingness to cooperate). If your position requires attention to detail, then your drawing should have a lot of details, even small ones that are not particularly significant at first glance – for example, cuffs on sleeves, cufflinks, peephole, drawing on shutters, etc. The tree should be beautiful, straight, have a large crown and roots – this is your vision of the team.

Question: What is your favorite color

Answer: Put bright and light colors first: orange, yellow, red. For the latter (if you were offered the Luscher test) – dark and gray shades. When prompted to choose again, slightly change the colors in places, preserving the overall picture.

Question: What do you see in the picture?

Answer: It doesn’t matter what exactly is in front of you – a blot or a picture – you need to interpret it extremely positively. Positive is your pass to work.

Perhaps the most insidious psychological question should be put apart: how many points from 1 to 10 would you give a recruiter for an interview?

This is a test for flattery and sycophancy. You yourself understand that for the employer this is a very important psychological quality of the employee.

Answer: Answer honestly and try to be objective. Be sure to justify the decrease in points.

So, you’ve got acquainted with the psychological questions that you may come across during an interview. They may vary, but the key to successfully passing them remains the same – confidence, honesty, and a positive attitude!