Interviewers are paid for their ability to rate you as a candidate for the job, to assess your strengths and weaknesses, to match your resume with a job description. Sometimes, however, they decide to swap the roles with you, and ask you you to rate them, either as an interviewer, or as a manager.
The questions doesn’t make much sense when you first hear it, but I believe it has a place in some interviews, and your answer can tell something important to the interviews. Let’s have a look at some instances and circumstances in which it makes sense.
Situations when the question makes sense
- When you interview for a job in HR, and interviewing candidates will be one of your working duties. Asking how you rate them, they are in fact trying to assess your skills in leading the interviews. What rating do you give them? Do you point out particular areas for improvement? Do you suggest some extra question they should have asked you?
- Another situation is when you seem to be prepared for all questions, everything goes too smoothly, and they want to make you uncomfortable. It’s nothing personal, however, just the part of the hiring process. This question definitely doesn’t belong to the most common interview questions, and almost no job seekers expect it. Hence it comes, and will caught you by surprise–unless you read this article, of course :).
- When assessing someone’s strengths and weaknesses, or even rating people, will form a major part of your new job. This is the case with some specialized roles in HR, but also with other positions, for example in education and coaching and sports.
Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to this tricky interview question. Do not forget to check also the notes below the answers, to understand which one you should pick for your interview.
7 sample answers to “How do you think I rate as an interviewer?” interview question
- I honestly think that you are doing really well. You’ve asked me both personal and situational questions, and in my view most of them really make sense for this particular position. What’s more, I see that you are making a lot of notes while we talk, so you won’t forget things and will be able to make a good report and a qualified decision once the interviews end. I would rate your interviewing skills as great.
- I’d say that you are doing a great job, considering how tough it is to choose a right candidate for this particular position. I especially like the practical test and the role play you included in the hiring process, since it is the best way to assess the real level of technical skills of job applicants, their readiness for the job. I am not sure if I did well in these parts of the hiring process, but I tried my best and definitely think that you did a good job with them.
- Speaking honestly, I think you are a difficult interviewer. You asked me some questions I’ve never got in other interviews, and honestly I did not expect them. I am still new in this field, and it is hard to me to consider what exactly you tried to find out with the help of such questions. On the other hand, this is a great company, and you’ve certainly led many interviews before. I am sure you know what you are doing, and hope you’ll make a good decision at the end of the interviews.
- I do not think that I am qualified to rate you as an interviewer. But frankly, I like you as a person. You keep an eye contact with me, you made a nice presentation about the company and helped me to understand exactly what to expect in this job. This isn’t really a common practice, at least I have mixed experiences from other companies. To rate you as an interviewer, however, I’d have to know some numbers–for example the employee turnover when we look at the people you’ve hired, etc.
- I think that you you are doing quite well, maybe 9 points out of 10. For sure, there is always room for improvement, at least that’s my personal philosophy. If I was leading this interview with you, if we changed roles, I would ask more behavioral questions and also ask you to elaborate more on your past experience. Just to get a complete picture of you as a person and employee. But it’s just a suggestion, and the interview has not ended yet, and you may still ask some scenario based questions…
- That’s a funny question, and I have idea. Honestly, I do not think it is my business to judge the work of the others. It is not something I bother with in any job I have. I always try to focus on my role, to do my job as well as I can. In this interview it means to stay focused, to listen carefully, and to try to answer each your question honestly and to demonstrate the right attitude. But I cannot say anything regarding your interviewing skills.
- I’d rate you as ingenious. You really caught me by surprise with several questions, and this is another one on the list. If your strategy is to make people uncomfortable in the interviews–which definitely makes sense in many instances, I’d rate your interviewing skills as excellent. At the same time, however, I believe it’s someone else’s job to rate your performance in work. I wish you good luck and hope your interviewing techniques bring great results, but I prefer to not rate them.
Praise them as long as you can–they will enjoy it
At the end of the day, job interview is just a talk of two people. And like in any other talk, or meeting of two human beings, people like to be respected and praised for their work. Strike their ego a bit–this question is an excellent opportunity to do so, and to win them over as a result.
They have no reason to lead a meaningless interview with you. In 99% of cases, they consider themselves good or great interviewers. So why would you start an argument with them?
Even if you do not like something, and decide to point it out (which is not necessarily a bad idea), you should do it in a most polite way. What’s more, you should elaborate on your negative observation with a positive one. Try to keep things in balance, if you cannot only praise them…
Humility can take you a long way in many interviews
If you feel that they are not doing particularly well, or if you basically aren’t sure, it’s okay to say that you do not know. Humility is a highly sought after quality in today’s employment market. Saying that you do not know something is always better than giving them a meaningless answer.
What’s more, you can elaborate on it, for example praising them as a human being (see sample answer no. 4), or showing right attitude to work and your colleagues, saying that you prefer to focus on your job, instead of judging the quality of work of your colleagues ,or gossiping about them or whatever (see sample answer no. 6).
Conclusion, answers to other tricky interview questions
“How do you think I rate as an interviewer?” is definitely an atypical interview question. As strange as it sounds, however, it makes sense in certain scenarios, and you should not start laughing (or crying :)), when you hear it in an interview.
Consider it your opportunity to praise the interviewer, to build a better connection with them, or perhaps to showcase your interviewing skills, or your humility and right attitude to work. Each interview question is an opportunity to demonstrate right attitude, as long as you know how to answer it… Continue your interview preparation checking 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:
- What are some examples of tasks that you do not particularly enjoy doing?
- How would you define quality?
- Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone.
