The Beloved "How was your journey?" question

Is there a hidden meaning behind this question?

If you say it was good... would then pound you with harder questions?.. as they would think you were calm enough?

God, im thinking far too deep!

Reply 1

Bdarnell

Library

Is there a hidden meaning behind this question?

If you say it was good... would then pound you with harder questions?.. as they would think you were calm enough?

God, im thinking far too deep!

Are you talking about a potential question an interviewer might ask you? i.e.: How have you come to where you are today? If I am interpretiting your post correctly, it seems to be a relatively simple question.

Reply 2

G_H_G

Library

Is there a hidden meaning behind this question?

If you say it was good... would then pound you with harder questions?.. as they would think you were calm enough?

God, im thinking far too deep!

As far as I know, the question means exactly as it reads and there is no hidden meaning. Unless ive missed something :confused:

I dont think the answer to that question will have any bearing on how the rest of your interview goes. The questions are normaly set meaning that they ask almost the exact same questions to every candidate.

Reply 3

bluenoxid

Its just an ice breaker

I can tell the interviewer what type of trains Ive been on so its a pretty pointless question (but does waste 30 seconds of possible grilling time). :biggrin:

Reply 4

shinyhappy

Well, I suppose that if you arrived to your interview late (baaaaad idea!) They might ask it in a sarcastic sort of way :P But other than that, it sounds innocent enough to me!

Reply 5

Knogle

You really are thinking too much. Be a natural! :biggrin:

Reply 6

Catsmeat

I think that is a simple enough question - it would be unfair to add some form of deep analyses behind it...

Reply 7

Multiplexed

I think i know what you mean Library. I read a sarcastic article once about Uni's rejecting people at interviews based on their journey taken, if you read the same article, it was only a joke. :wink:

Reply 8

Leisure17

Library

Is there a hidden meaning behind this question?

If you say it was good... would then pound you with harder questions?.. as they would think you were calm enough?

God, im thinking far too deep!

It is an ice breaker. You should use it to make a positive impression even if your journey was bad and you only got there just in time. Don't start off moaning and groaning about parking space or late trains. It would be better to make a positive remark in order to start the interwiev on a positive note.

Reply 9

Abagnale

Yes, it's quite like an ice-beaker. But it is of some significance. If the interviewer is no creative genius, the 1st thing he likes to start with may well be: "Did u have any difficulty getting here?". It's certainly not the moment to show off, but "No" is a conversation terminator. "Yes" then start moaning about how awful ur journey was isn't any better. I myself would go for "No, but it's quite a long journey down here from blah blah blah, but it's really nice for me to blah blah blah!" That does sound pretentious, but c'mon, that's ur diplomatic license!

Reply 10

Madprof

Yeah, I think it is mainly an ice-breaker, also a chance to gauge how nervous you are so they can try and put you at your ease. Actually, I went to an open day at Oriel, Oxford and the admissions person was saying that he always asks about the journey because he genuinely wanted to know. If the candidate had to get up at five in the morning, got stuck in traffic and only arrived 30 seconds ago, then they're not going to be at their best. If you had that kind of experience on the way to the interview, say so, but nicely. Eg - "Well, there were a few jams, but once I got off the motorway, the traffic eased off a bit."