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Every few weeks we pose a question you might get asked during an interview and a suggestion on how you might formulate your answer.

This week’s question:

If you came to work and the doors were all locked and the lights were off, what would you do first?

Amongst other things, this question might convey to the employer how you handle unexpected workplace difficulties. Will you turn around and go home? Will you call the building supervisor to determine why the doors are locked? Will you text a supervisor, someone from company management or HR? The smartest way to answer this query is convey your ability to roll with the punches. You might reach out to whomever is responsible for opening up your workspace to find out why they’ve been delayed, or seek another means of entry. State that you will try to find out the why behind the closure before making any negative assumptions about the company or responsible individual. Tell your inquisitor that you don’t plan to violate any building security protocols, and that if something were seriously wrong you would take the appropriate action, notify responsible parties, stay calm, and not jump to conclusions. And, if the company had been taken over or deliberately shuttered for other reasons you expect that you would probably be personally notified. Hopefully you didn’t just show up to work on a day the offices were actually closed!

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To see previous installments of

Tough Interview Questions and Answers,

click here

(Most recent are at the Bottom of the list.)