How to Answer The 10 Toughest Interview Questions



Question 1 Tell me about yourself. 
TRAPS:  Beware; about 80% of all interviews begin with this “innocent” question. Many candidates, unprepared for the question, skewer themselves by rambling, recapping their life story, delving into ancient work history or personal matters.
BEST ANSWER:  Start with the present and tell why you are well qualified for the position. Remember that the key to all successful interviewing is to match your qualifications to what the interviewer is looking for. In other words you must sell what the buyer is buying. This is the single most important strategy in job hunting. 
So, before you answer this or any question it's imperative that you try to uncover your interviewer's greatest need, want, problem or goal. 
To do so, make you take these two steps:
1. Do all the homework you can before the interview to uncover this person's wants and needs (not the generalized needs of the industry or company)
2. As early as you can in the interview, ask for a more complete description of what the position entails.  You might say: “I have a number of accomplishments I'd like to tell you about, but I want to make the best use of our time together and talk directly to your needs. To help me do, that, could you tell me more about the most important priorities of this position?  All I know is what I (heard from the recruiter, read in the classified ad, etc.)”
 Then, ALWAYS follow-up with a second and possibly, third question, to draw out his needs even more. Surprisingly, it's usually this second or third question that unearths what the interviewer is most looking for. 
You might ask simply, "And in addition to that?..." or, "Is there anything else you see as essential to success in this position?: 
This process will not feel easy or natural at first, because it is easier simply to answer questions, but only if you uncover the employer's wants and needs will your answers make the most sense. Practice asking these key questions before giving your answers, the process will feel more natural and you will be light years ahead of the other job candidates you're competing with. 
After uncovering what the employer is looking for, describe why the needs of this job bear striking parallels to tasks you've succeeded at before. Be sure to illustrate with specific examples of your responsibilities and especially your achievements, all of which are geared to present yourself as a perfect match for the needs he has just described.

Question 2 What are your greatest strengths?
TRAPS:  This question seems like a softball lob, but be prepared. You don't want to come across as egotistical or arrogant. Neither is this a time to be humble. 
BEST ANSWER:  You know that your key strategy is to first uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs before you answer questions. And from Question 1, you know how to do this. 
Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements.
You should, have this list of your greatest strengths and corresponding examples from your achievements so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM. 
Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up. 
As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:
1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.
2. Intelligence...management "savvy".  3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being.  4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team
player who meshes well with interviewer's team. 5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor. 6. Good communication skills. 7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence. 8. Definiteness of purpose...clear goals. 9. Enthusiasm...high level of motivation. 10. Confident...healthy...a leader. 

Question 3 What are your greatest weaknesses? 
TRAPS:  Beware - this is an eliminator question, designed to shorten the candidate list. Any admission of a weakness or fault will earn you an “A” for honesty, but an “F” for the interview. 
PASSABLE ANSWER:  Disguise a strength as a weakness. 
Example: “I sometimes push my people too hard.  I like to work with a sense of urgency and everyone is not always on the same wavelength.”
Drawback:  This strategy is better than admitting a flaw, but it's so widely used, it is transparent to any experienced interviewer. 

BEST ANSWER:  (and another reason it's so important to get a thorough description of your interviewer's needs before you answer questions): Assure the interviewer that you can think of nothing that would stand in the way of your performing in this position with excellence. Then, quickly review you strongest qualifications. 
Example:  “Nobody's perfect, but based on what you've told me about this position, I believe I' d make an outstanding match. I know that when I hire people, I look for two things most of all. Do they have the qualifications to do the job well, and the motivation to do it well?  Everything in my background shows I have both the qualifications and a strong desire to achieve excellence in whatever I take on. So I can say in all honesty that I see nothing that would cause you even a small concern about my ability or my strong desire to perform this job with excellence.”
Alternate strategy (if you don't yet know enough about the position to talk about such a perfect fit):  Instead of confessing a weakness, describe what you like most and like least, making sure that what you like most matches up with the most important qualification for success in the position, and what you like least is not essential. 
Example:  Let's say you're applying for a teaching position. “If given a choice, I like to spend as much time as possible in front of my prospects selling, as opposed to shuffling paperwork back at the office.  Of course, I long ago learned the importance of filing paperwork properly, and I do it conscientiously. But what I really love to do is sell (if your interviewer were a sales manager, this should be music to his ears.)

Question 4 Tell me about something you did – or failed to do – that you now feel a little ashamed of.
TRAPS:  There are some questions your interviewer has no business asking, and this is one.  But while you may feel like answering, “none of your business,” naturally you can’t.  Some interviewers ask this question on the chance you admit to something, but if not, at least they’ll see how you think on your feet.
Some unprepared candidates, flustered by this question, unburden themselves of guilt from their personal life or career, perhaps expressing regrets regarding a parent, spouse, child, etc.  All such answers can be disastrous.
BEST ANSWER:  As with faults and weaknesses, never confess a regret.  But don’t seem as if you’re stonewalling either.
Best strategy:  Say you harbor no regrets, then add a principle or habit you practice regularly for healthy human relations.
Example:  Pause for reflection, as if the question never occurred to you.  Then say, “You know, I really can’t think of anything.”  (Pause again, then add): “I would add that as a general management principle, I’ve found that the best way to avoid regrets is to avoid causing them in the first place.  I practice one habit that helps me a great deal in this regard.  At the end of each day, I mentally review the day’s events and conversations to take a second look at the people and developments I’m involved with and do a doublecheck of what they’re likely to be feeling.  Sometimes I’ll see things that do need more follow-up, whether a pat on the back, or maybe a five minute chat in someone’s office to make sure we’re clear on things…whatever.”
“I also like to make each person feel like a member of an elite team, like the Boston Celtics or LA Lakers in their prime.  I’ve found that if you let each team member know you expect excellence in their performance…if you work hard to set an example yourself…and if you let people know you appreciate and respect their feelings, you wind up with a highly motivated group, a team that’s having fun at work because they’re striving for excellence rather than brooding over slights or regrets.”

Question 5 Why are you leaving (or did you leave) this position?
TRAPS:  Never badmouth your previous industry, company, board, boss, staff, employees or customers.  This rule is inviolable:  never be negative.  Any mud you hurl will only soil your suit.
Especially avoid words like “personality clash”, “didn’t get along”, or others which cast a shadow on your competence, integrity, or temperament.
BEST ANSWER:
(If you have a job presently) If you’re not yet 100% committed to leaving your present post, don’t be afraid to say so.  Since you have a job, you are in a stronger position than someone who does not.  But don’t be coy either.  State honestly what you’d be hoping to find in a new spot.  Of course, as stated often before, you answer will all the stronger if you have already uncovered what this position is all about and you match your desires to it.
(If you do not presently have a job.) Never lie about having been fired.  It’s unethical – and too easily checked.  But do try to deflect the reason from you personally.  If your firing was the result of a takeover, merger, division wide layoff, etc., so much the better.
But you should also do something totally unnatural that will demonstrate consummate professionalism.  Even if it hurts , describe your own firing – candidly, succinctly and without a trace of bitterness – from the company’s point-of-view, indicating that you could understand why it happened and you might have made the same decision yourself.
Your stature will rise immensely and, most important of all, you will show you are healed from the wounds inflicted by the firing.  You will enhance your image as first-class management material and stand head and shoulders above the legions of firing victims who, at the slightest provocation, zip open their shirts to expose their battle scars and decry the unfairness of it all.
For all prior positions: Make sure you’ve prepared a brief reason for leaving.  Best reasons:  more money, opportunity, responsibility or growth.
  Question 6 Describe your ideal company, location and job.
TRAPS:  This is often asked by an experienced interviewer who thinks you may be overqualified, but knows better than to show his hand by posing his objection directly.  So he’ll use this question instead, which often gets a candidate to reveal that, indeed, he or she is looking for something other than the position at hand.
BEST ANSWER:  The only right answer is to describe what this company is offering, being sure to make your answer believable with specific reasons, stated with sincerity, why each quality represented by this opportunity is attractive to you.
Remember that if you’re coming from a company that’s the leader in its field or from a glamorous or much admired company, industry, city or position, your interviewer and his company may well have an “Avis” complex.  That is, they may feel a bit defensive about being “second best” to the place you’re coming from, worried that you may consider them bush league.
This anxiety could well be there even though you’ve done nothing to inspire it. You must go out of your way to assuage such anxiety, even if it’s not expressed, by putting their virtues high on the list of exactly what you’re looking for, providing credible reason for wanting these qualities.
If you do not express genuine enthusiasm for the firm, its culture, location, industry, etc., you may fail to answer this “Avis” complex objection and, as a result, leave the interviewer suspecting that a hot shot like you, coming from a Fortune 500 company in New York, just wouldn’t be happy at an unknown manufacturer based in Topeka, Kansas.
Question 7  Why do you want to work at our company?
TRAPS:  This question tests whether you’ve done any homework about the firm.  If you haven’t, you lose.  If you have, you win big.
BEST ANSWER:   This question is your opportunity to hit the ball out of the park, thanks to the in-depth research you should do before any interview.
Best sources for researching your target company:  annual reports, the corporate newsletter, contacts you know at the company or its suppliers, advertisements, articles about the company in the trade press.

Question 8 Tell me honestly about the strong points and weak points of your boss (company, management team, etc.)…
TRAPS:  Skillfull interviewers sometimes make it almost irresistible to open up and air a little dirty laundry from your previous position.  DON’T 
BEST ANSWER:  Remember the rule:  Never be negative.  Stress only the good points, no matter how charmingly you’re invited to be critical.
Your interviewer doesn’t care a whit about your previous boss.  He wants to find out how loyal and positive you are, and whether you’ll criticize him behind his back if pressed to do so by someone in this own company.  This question is your opportunity to demonstrate your loyalty to those you work with.
Question 9 What good books have you read lately?
TRAPS:  As in all matters of your interview, never fake familiarity you don’t have.  Yet you don’t want to seem like a dullard who hasn’t read a book since Tom Sawyer.
BEST ANSWER:  Unless you’re up for a position in academia or as book critic for The New York Times, you’re not expected to be a literary lion.  But it wouldn’t hurt to have read a handful of the most recent and influential books in your profession and on management.
Consider it part of the work of your job search to read up on a few of these leading books.  But make sure they are quality books that reflect favorably upon you, nothing that could even remotely be considered superficial.  Finally, add a recently published bestselling work of fiction by a world-class author and you’ll pass this question with flying colors.
Question 10 What are your outside interests?
TRAPS:  You want to be a well-rounded, not a drone.  But your potential employer would be even more turned off if he suspects that your heavy extracurricular load will interfere with your commitment to your work duties.
BEST ANSWERS:  Try to gauge how this company’s culture would look upon your favorite outside activities and be guided accordingly.
You can also use this question to shatter any stereotypes that could limit your chances.  If you’re over 50, for example, describe your activities that demonstrate physical stamina.  If you’re young, mention an activity that connotes wisdom and institutional trust, such as serving on the board of a popular charity.
But above all, remember that your employer is hiring your for what you can do for him, not your family, yourself or outside organizations, no matter how admirable those activities may be.
Good luck!


NOTE: ANY NAMES USED IN THE TEXT ARE FICTITIOUS AND FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS OR COMPANIES IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL AND UNINTENTIONAL. IF LEGAL ADVICE OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ASSSTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT, PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOUID BE SOUGHT.




 
Previous Post Next Post