What do you think about... Abortion ... The President... The
Death Penalty...
(Or any other controversial subject)?"
TRAPS: Obviously, these and other 'opinion' questions should
never be asked. Sometimes they come up over
a combination dinner/interview when the interviewer has had a drink or two, is
feeling relaxed, and is spouting off about something that bugged him in today's
news. If you give your opinion and its
opposite of his, you won't change his opinion, but you could easily lose the
job offer.
BEST ANSWER: In all of these instances, just remember the
tale about the student and the wise old rabbi.
The scene is a seminary, where an overly serious student is pressing the
rabbi to answer the ultimate questions of suffering, life and death. But no matter how hard he presses, the wise
old rabbi will only answer each difficult question with a question of his
own...
In exasperation, the seminary student demands, "Why,
rabbi, do you always answer a question with another question? To which the
rabbi responds, "And why not?"
If you are ever uncomfortable with any question, asking a
question in return is the greatest escape hatch ever invented. It throws the onus back on the other person,
sidetracks the discussion from going into an area of risk to you, and gives you
time to think of your answer or, even better, your next question! In response
to any of the "opinion" questions cited above, merely responding,
"Why do you ask?" will usually
be enough to dissipate any pressure to give your opinion.
