Every employer’s success relies on the people who work there, the ideas that they can bring to the table and their ability to have a positive impact on the company’s work. So don’t be surprised if your graduate job interview includes a question on how innovative you are.
Several graduates have told us that they find the word ‘innovation’ intimidating, are worried that they aren’t innovative enough or struggle to think of an example of when they have been innovative. It can be tricky to come up with a good answer on the spot. However, if you take the time to prepare an answer before your interview and use our advice below, there will be no reason for nerves.
Get help on answering more difficult interview questions with our article on the top nine tough tricky interview questions and answers .
You can practise tricky interview questions using resources from our partners at Shortlist.Me .
How not to reply to the interview question ‘Are you innovative?’
1. ‘I’m not really sure if I’m innovative.’
While this may be the first thing that comes into your head, it’s better to take a moment to consider what you want to say, rather than blurting this out. Instead of demonstrating your innovativeness, it may suggest that you aren’t making an effort or aren’t enthusiastic about the job.
2. ‘Without a doubt. I’m the most innovative person I know by far.’
You don’t want to oversell yourself with such a bold statement, especially without any evidence of your experience or achievements. It’s good to be self-confident and it’s definitely OK to say that you think you are innovative, but you don’t want to sound arrogant.
3. ‘Yeah, I’d say I’m innovative. I just completed a group project at university. We needed 30 students to complete our questionnaire but were struggling to recruit enough people. My friend Bill came up with a great idea: all of the participants were entered into a prize draw and the winner got a pizza on us.’
What’s good about this answer is that it gives a real example of an innovative solution. You should try to include an example in your answer. Unfortunately, this example is somebody else’s idea. It’s important that the answer you give demonstrates your innovativeness.
What is the graduate recruiter really asking?
Innovation will mean slightly different things to different employers; while an engineering company may be looking for a graduate who is committed to developing cutting-edge technologies, a marketing agency will be impressed by a candidate whose instinct is to think outside of the box for different ways to reach people.
Ultimately, though, the recruiter is asking whether you’re the kind of person that sticks to the status quo and doesn’t challenge how things are done, or whether you’re eager to find new and improved ways of doing things. They’re also asking whether you have the potential to help their company succeed.
