Technical Stress Questions

There is a particularly insidious variety of stress questions that is usually asked in technical engineering or scientific interviews but that could very well also be used in other fields including, but not limited to, the social sciences. Technical stress questions, as I call them, are not really questions. They’re more like little assignments. Their purpose is to put the applicant under a good deal of pressure. They may arise in an interview with an individual or in a panel interview. Let’s take a look at one scenario to see how such a question typically arises.

Abdhur Khatik has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and is applying for a staff scientist’s position in a biotechnology firm. Abdhur did well in his first interview with the vice president of the company, and he has been invited back for a group interview with three of his fellow scientists. They’re about halfway through the interview when one of the interviewers says, “Mr. Khatik, would you be so kind as to go to the white board and draw a picture of a normal cell?”

To Abdhur, this request seems ridiculous and simple-minded. Isn’t it obvious that someone with a doctorate in biochemistry would know something so elementary as how to draw a cell? Nevertheless, he follows directions and deftly constructs a diagram of a healthy cell on the white board.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job