A good interviewer knows the importance of asking questions that require you to think on the spot. Often referred to as situational, competency based or behavioural question, the employer is attempting to see your skills and attitudes in action. This is clearly a much better technique than just asking you to name your skills, so you can understand why interviewers do this.

The problem for us, the interviewees, is how do we prepare for a random question? We talked to James Rudall, Managing Director of Conversion Consulting (a leading outsourced inside-sales company), to get under the skin of what the interviewer wants:

What is your most important interview question?
How would you calculate the number of petrol stations in central London? Candidates are told they may use the whiteboard and if required, involve all the people in the room.

Why do you ask this quite bizarre question?
We want to understand how a candidate reacts to a pressure scenario, given they are not warned before-hand. Do they stumble and waffle? Or do they step up to the challenge and attempt to find an answer.

How would you like a candidate to approach this?
We want them to use creative, but realistic, lateral thinking and to lead from the front by utilising ideas from the group. They should be able to communicate ideas and also take on board different approaches and build some form of a strategy.

So what does a good answer look like?
A good response demonstrates all the above. An example is someone who uses the resources available, assumes London is a rough circle and then estimates the diameter and circumference of that circle in miles. Then, using the group, they come to a consensus about how many petrol stations there are on average per mile and go on to segment the circle to find an approximate answer. The answer is not important. Having a process, getting stuck in and using the resources available is.

And what is a bad answer?
Someone who just guesses or doesn't demonstrate any thought processes. One response we had was "5,000". When asked why the answer was "there's 9 million people in London and roughly 1 car each so it's a rough guess”.

Any additional tips?
We ask the question with no prior warning so you can’t prepare. If you get asked a similar question I would suggest always putting any thoughts down on paper or on a whiteboard as they come to you. It helps with the process and also demonstrates the ability to communicate ideas clearly. Don't panic as there is no right or wrong answer - the interviewer is just looking for tenacity, calmness and creativity under pressure.

It’s tough to prepare but remember, spectacular achievement is always preceded by spectacular preparation.


Best of luck,

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