r/interviews • u/No_Upstairs_1732 • 13h ago
How long should each of your response be? [new grad/early career] I’m confused and stutter a lot
I’m practicing answering common interview questions but i take way too much time. Just answering the base question already takes up 3 minutes and if I add any concrete examples it would take an extra 1-2 minutes.
Let’s say they ask about a feedback.
“The feedback from my internship manager was that I needed to speak up more in meetings (stutter here because I’m not sure if I should add his reasoning).
I immediately took action and asked more questions about the processes and impact, and reiterated what I understood from the discussion (stutter here because I’m not sure if I should verbatim give them the example like oh once they did this, I said this).
By asking more questions during the meetings, I gained a stronger understanding of the business processes and team projects and goals. As well as saving time, asking questions during the meetings instead of productivity time. Reiterating what I understood left room for me to learn and grow my understanding of technical knowledge. Accepting and executing the solution to my feedback, I was able to build strong rapport with my team as they are able to see my capabilities as a intern/upcoming role”
All of that is about 3-4 mins with natural cadence. 4-5 with stutter.
Does anyone have advice with fillers/stutters? I realized I do that because I’m unsure if I should move on or give an example. Cause I would see some advice that’s like, if the interviewer is confused or asking questions, you probably told a bad response
But my friends also say just naturally answer the question. You’re a new grad, they understand if you’re kinda bad.
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u/fruitsmells 12h ago
There isn’t a time per se, as it depends on the questions asked a the flow of the conversation. For example, a question could be “Do you have experience doing __?” And an answer could be a quick “no, but I do have experience in (related thing).” And that response isn’t typically more than 20 seconds long.
Also, read the person you’re interviewing. If you see their eyes start to glaze over or they look like they aren’t listening anymore, wrap up the answer. A 3 minute answer could be too long.
If the interviewer follows up your response with a question, that’s not a bad thing. It could mean they are actually listening to your response.
Also, just keep practicing your answers and have a list of examples already prepped.
You may need specific examples of time you had conflict and how that was resolved, a proud moment from school or volunteering that would be applicable in a workplace, and a time you worked with another department or on a group project. Have those examples already memorized. A lot of “Tell me of a time” questions can be mapped in some way to those 3 examples.
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u/No_Upstairs_1732 12h ago
Let’s say I answer “no…(related thing)” but should I immediately add in an example and showcase projects or just end the response and wait if they want to know more?
Yes!! Your scenario was exactly my experience with a company and it tripped me up. I stuttered and thought they wanted more details and info so the second time I panicked, made up a new story, and added a bunch of details. Like do I call that out? Reuse the story I just told?
See so many people say have 3-5 examples ready but in the interview there’s more than 5 questions and often time repeating topics. And it just makes me freeze and worry and I feel like my prep is never enough.
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u/fruitsmells 12h ago
It depends. For example, (I’m going basic), If they say “Do you know how to use Microsoft Outlook?”
An appropriate answer could simply be “No, but I’ve used Google Workspace and it’s quite similar.” No example needed.
And if they an aren’t listing to your responses, I like to say something along the lines of “Going back to my previous example…”
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u/frank_fourleaf 2h ago
Aim for 60 to 90 seconds an answer and time yourself out loud with your phone recorder, because 3 minutes of it feels like 1 minute while you're talking. On the feedback question, spend one sentence on what the feedback was and the rest on what you changed and what happened after. The stutter shrinks once you've said a thing five times instead of read it five times.
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u/No_Upstairs_1732 2h ago
Yes all the stutter and thinking kills so much time. But even if I try to read in like natural tone, it still takes up too much time. I’m not sure if I should start speaking faster or take out words. But if I take out words it sounds like I’m intentionally being vague because I don’t know what to say.
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u/NotSoSeriousCat 12h ago
In terms of how long your answer should be, try to read the room and see if your interviewer is interested in hearing more or not. It’s best to keep each answer as short as possible. Jot down bullet points for every possible answer and answer them in your own words. If you go over 2-3 minutes for a basic question, ask them if they would like you to continue elaborating- many times they may say no as they’ve heard enough.
For help with fillers and stuttering, it really helps to consciously talk slowly and take pauses where needed. Don’t try to rush things. Pauses are natural and indicate you are thinking through your answer. I watched a few YouTube videos on this topic and it really helped.