The art of handling and answering questions

            Interviewing for faculty positions is a harrowing experience.  The first and hardest step, of course, is to get shortlisted, and here, it all depends on one’s publication record and letters of reference.  After one gets in the door, comes the interview with individual faculty, the interview talk, and the question and answer period immediately following one’s talk.  Do all these well and one’s got it made, but often, I find most candidates focusing all their energy on their talk.  The interview talk is key, but in the age of scripted talks and teleprompts, anyone can be coached to appear as a great speaker.  It is in the question and answer period, where candidates who otherwise look good on paper and on the podium, crash and burn, and wonder why.  Your depth of knowledge, creativity, independence and temperament, key factors for being a successful professor, are revealed in how you handle questions.  Unfortunately, very few of us have an innate ability to answer questions quickly and gracefully on the fly. One only needs to look at seasoned politicians who still have a difficult time thinking on their feet and remaining calm when peppered with questions despite the fact that they are trained at public speaking. 

            The first thing to remember is that there are no shortcuts.  Experience and depth of knowledge matter.  You have to know your subject well.  Assuming that is the case, the next thing to remind yourself of is that you know your subject, or at least your thesis work, better than most out there, even the senior faculty in the audience interviewing you.  So if you stick to your work and don’t wander too far off from your zone of expertise, you should always have the upper hand.  Too often, candidates go into an interview thinking that they are there to be interrogated or tested, which if one thinks about it, sets one up psychologically at a disadvantage because you’re not in control.  The reality is that the faculty are not only interviewing you, but, in a healthy department, they are also trying to convince you to join them, should they offer you the position.  In a sense, the candidate should be interviewing the faculty. Once you see it this way, the question and answer period becomes a two-way dialogue between you and the faculty.  In fact, this is one of the few times you will have the full attention of so many faculty members, so take this opportunity to pick their brains by opening a discussion rather than just answering questions.

            Second, prepare for your interview by doing your homework on who will be in the audience. Examine the faculty roster and read or, at least, skim some of their papers, even if they might be out of your field.  It is hard work, but it pays off.  One, you will learn. Two, you will get a feel for your audience, so that you can cater your talk accordingly and anticipate questions better. For example, if there is a faculty member who is an expert in your field, make sure you know so that when you answer a question, make it clear that you’ve got depth, even if you were to provide a general answer.  If none are experts, you still need to know what they do because sometimes the most obvious and cutting questions, typically about things you’ve taken for granted, come from the people outside your field. Even if the question seems somewhat naïve to you, never blow off a question.  You have to assume that all faculty are smart, and what may appear to be a simple question, may actually be the question that truly reveals how good your fundamentals are. 

            Now that you know how to anticipate a question, the third step towards a successful question and answer period is to stay one step ahead of the audience by understanding what motivates their questions.  Understanding motivation dictates how you should answer the question. 

The best case is when they are motivated purely out of curiosity because this is where you can truly engage in dialogue. You can answer their question, but you might then follow with your own question or own comment on outstanding problems that you wish to pursue if given the time and money.

Sometimes, one asks a question solely to test you or put you in your place, which you can usually identify by the tone of the question.  Answer these questions quickly and move on to the next question. 

There’s also the devil’s advocate, who won’t let you off the hook, but typically, devil’s advocates don’t see the bigger picture. So one way to handle these questions is to provide a brief answer, but then bring the question back to the main issues. 

You might also get the person that wants to impress you with how much he or she knows. Often, these questions tend to be more like comments, in some cases, not particularly relevant. With these sorts of questions, one should first acknowledge the person for asking such a “great” question, but then bring the discussion back to the bigger questions.  For example, you might say, “That is a very interesting question, but I think what you are really trying to say is…”. 

And once in a blue moon, there’s the crazy guy in the audience that the faculty just can’t get rid of and have no ability to control.  Treat that person initially with respect, but do not let yourself get drawn into any craziness and, above all, do not get impatient. If you don’t recognize craziness and get drawn in, it likely means that you don’t know your subject well enough.  The best thing to do is to say you don’t understand the question, but you are most willing to discuss after the talk. 

The last type of question you might encounter is the one that starts off as “This may be a dumb question…”  Be very careful of these questions because anyone confident enough to admit that their question might be dumb is very likely someone who truly understands your talk. 

            Finally, if you do not know the answer, it is okay to say you do not know rather than babble nonsense.  A better response, if you do not know, is to explain how you would go about getting the answer.  The faculty do not expect the candidate to know everything, but they do want to know how you think, especially on your feet.

            Mastering the art of handling questions comes down to knowing your subject and being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of the audience.  The best ones are those who practice, but unlike an interview talk, practicing answering questions requires an engaged audience.  I have found that the most effective way to learn how to spontaneously answer questions is to give informal chalk talks in your department, among your peers.  In a chalk talk, you present your ideas using only a pen a whiteboard, without the aid or crutch of powerpoint slides. Make a rough plan of your chalk talk in advance, but allow yourself flexibility.  In case you are interrupted by a question or comment, allow yourself to respond by adapting the talk in real time, while still remaining on message.  It is in the art of chalk talking where you will learn how to think on your feet and maintain control in any question and answer period.