Buying time and saying “I don't know”
Pause naturally and handle questions you can't answer without panicking.
What they’re listening for
- • Do you stay calm under pressure?
- • Are you honest?
- • Can you reason through something new?
Stiff vs. natural
Interviewer: “How would you handle a teammate who keeps missing deadlines?”
Sounds stiff
“(fifteen seconds of silence) …I don't know.”
Sounds natural
“Hmm, that's a good one. Let me think about it for a second. … Okay, so I haven't been in exactly that spot, but the closest thing was when a teammate kept getting pulled into support work. The first thing I'd do is just ask what's going on, because in my experience it's usually not about effort.”
- Saying you're thinking makes the silence comfortable.
- “The closest thing was…” turns an unknown into a real answer.
Thinking out loud
- “Let me think about that for a sec.”Buying a few seconds.
- “Good question. I want to give you a real answer.”Buying more time, politely.
- “Can I make sure I understand: do you mean…?”Clarifying the question.
- “I haven't done exactly that, but…”Bridging to related experience.
- “If I'm honest, I don't know, but here's how I'd find out.”Saying you don't know, well.
Now say it out loud
Rehearse with the AI interviewer and get feedback on your answers.