Natalie Lynch is your credentialed investigator and licensed attorney, not a blogger.
What do you do if somebody starts yelling at you during an interview?
You remember that you got thick skin, and you remember that it’s not personal. Some people are just loud and, as they get agitated, they get louder. And some people really do mean to yell at you, not just for the sake of being loud, but because they’re angry with you.
And there are some techniques that we can do about that. I mean, if it crosses a line of abuse, you should exit the situation. No client is paying you to be abused. That’s going to go into the employer’s evaluation of this person’s employment.
But, short of abuse, what do you do when someone starts yelling? So, if it’s appropriate, you can ask the person if they need to take a break or: “Do you want to take a deep breath before you answer my next question?” Something like that.
But if they are slowly escalating and perhaps don’t even know it, some things that you can do are: Start talking quieter and quieter and quieter, because that will cause the person to encourage silence in the area so that they can hear you. You can also get so quiet that you have to start leaning in so that they can hear you.
It comes from policing, but policing interviewing techniques work. And that is one of the things that you can do to help if somebody starts yelling at you during an interview.
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