I Call It the Actual Situation Interview: Have You Tried It Yet?
While it is not my original idea, I have a technique I call the “Actual Situation” Interview for hiring candidates. Best suited for higher-level positions, where there are several different approaches and no single “right answer,” the technique involves
giving candidates information about the position, the major issues, and asks them what they would do.
For example, if you were hiring a marketing manager to lead a new marketing campaign, you could provide the candidates with information about your company, the product or service you are going to sell, and other relevant information.Their task is to describe, either orally, in writing, or some combination of the two, the marketing campaign that they would implement.
I have used the “Actual Situation” approach and found it helpful.
While not identical, this article describes a similar concept.
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I’m famous around my agency for talking about situational questions. My usual persuation tactic is to suggest the hiring manager take something unusual that actually happened to the last person in the position, fictionalize it enough to be unrecognizable, and then present it as one of the structured interview questions we use. That it’s based on actual job events means it’s hard to argue that this kind of question isn’t job related, and we’ve winnowed out quite a few applicants using them.