Being a good interviewer — knowing what questions to ask and how to evaluate whether a candidate is a good fit for a position — is not a skill many people have on their own. And with a myriad of personality types in the workplace, there are many different interviewer types. If you are relying on the interviewer to ask the right questions to show how you are a fit for a role, then you are likely selling yourself short. Here are a few interviewer types you might run across and tips on how to make sure you communicate your fit for a role, even when the interview goes off course.

1. 5 Classic Recruiter
Personas to Know
Take charge of your job interview

2. In many organizations, recruiters and HR
professionals may provide some guidance
and in large institutions like the United
Nations and World Bank, the interview
process is highly controlled and regulated.
But in smaller NGOs and consulting firms,
o!en the hiring managers are le! to evaluate
candidates on their own. And they may have
no idea what to ask, how to act or how to
evaluate responses based on the actual
needs of the position. If you are relying on
the interviewer to ask the right questions to
show how you are a fit for a role, then you are
likely selling yourself short.
Here are a few interviewer types you
might run across and tips on how to
make sure you communicate your fit
for a role, even when the interview
goes off course.

3. They throw so!-ball questions, smile, nod and
give lots of verbal and physical cues that you
are on the right track. The benefit of
interviewing with this kind of person is it’s a lot
less stressful and you will likely walk away
feeling great about your prospects. The
challenge is, they are likely this nice with
everyone. They may be too afraid or
uncomfortable to ask you the tough questions
they may need to know to determine if you are
right for the job. While you walk away feeling
The “nice guys” (or gals)
great, they may walk away thinking you lack
some of the required skills or experience that
you never got a chance to talk about.
How to deal: If they won’t ask the tough questions,
then you can. You could say something like “you may
be wondering how I have the requisite technical
experience despite formal training, so let me tell you
how my on-the-ground field experience has prepared
me for this position”.

4. This kind of interviewer comes very prepared
with a list of challenging questions- likely ones
they got from a book or borrowed famed
interviewing techniques from cut-throat
industries like banking. Think questions like this
one Goldman Sachs has used: "If you were
shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender,
how would you get out?". They are more intent
on tripping you up than asking the right
questions to evaluate you for this job.
The inquisitor
How to deal: Since one of the goals of these kinds of
questions is to see how you perform under pressure,
then your goal should be to answer the questions as
best as you can without getting flustered. You could
follow up with “that is an interesting question, let me
give you a few examples of how I was able to creatively
find solutions to problems in the workplace” since the
other purpose of these questions is o!en to determine
reasoning, problem solving and analytical skills.

5. This kind of interviewer can be similar to the
“nice guy” but is more interested in talking
about themselves, the company, or well
anything, other than you. One of the reasons
career coaches suggest being prepared with lots
of questions is that people typically enjoy
talking about themselves- and will o!en leave
with a more positive impression of you when
they do. The danger though is if they spend all
their time talking then you will never have a
chance to talk about you.
The “chatty Cathy”
How to deal: This can be a tricky one to navigate as
you don’t want to repeatedly interrupt the interviewer
and some may not leave a lot of room for air. But you
will want to take cues from their conversation and help
bring it back to you and why you are a fit for the role.
Also, lead questions with an example of your
experience. For example, “when I was implementing a
new project tracking system in my previous employer, I
encouraged internal adoption by our project staff by
preparing concise training guides, tutorials and
working closely with my colleagues to ensure they fully
understood the system. How are you encouraging staff
to adopt your new system?”

6. This kind of interviewer hates to interview. They
are likely more comfortable in desk jobs with
little interaction with other people and may
have a dose of social anxiety. The idea of being
put in a room with a stranger, asking them
personal questions is at best, uncomfortable
and they frankly can’t wait to get out of there.
The “nervous Nelly”
How to deal: Since this kind of interviewer is reluctant
to ask probing questions, start by asking them some
friendly questions about themselves. How did they get
started? What do they enjoy about the job/employer?
What do they think is necessary to succeed in the
workplace? Once they have (hopefully) loosened up,
then you can try the technique of asking and
answering your own questions along the lines of, “you
may be wondering…”

7. A panel interview is especially tricky because
you may have any combination of these
interviewer types together in one room. And
sometimes the interviewers will talk over one
another, contradict each other or delve into
internal conversations right in front of you. How
colleagues interact with each other in a panel
interview is a good indication of the workplace
culture, so make note of any particular red flags.
But, this is o!en a symptom of many
personality types coming together to do an
The panel interview
awkward task none of them are particularly well
trained to do.
How to deal: It is important to know who the real
decision makers are in the room versus those that are
brought in to help drive consensus. A decision maker
may be the hiring manager or prospective team mate
vs. a colleague from another team. You will want to
impress the decision makers first and foremost without
ignoring the others. A benefit of the panel interview is
that multiple interview styles may create an
environment for your skills and experiences to shine in
multiple lights.

8. Get more more advice on
acing your job interview .
What was your worst interview
experience? Comment below and tell us!