Tough interview questions and some stock answers that may help you

Interviewers can be very difficult. Some people seem to wear the badge of honour of being the toughest interviewer in the business. Relax, nobody is all bad- they need to fill the role and someone has to get the job. Plan ahead and no question is too tough but plan you must or reap the consequences

Tell me something interesting about yourself. Often used to open up a discussion, this gives you the opportunity to talk about something of your choice. Be prepared to discuss how please you have been with some of your past achievements. Stay positive and show how much it meant to you to win the competition, sales award, how you like to succed, overcome obstacles, etc. This is one question that you must be prepared to answer- its almost bound to come up

What interests you about this particular role? Make sure that you focus on what you can deliver for them. Not just a good tip in answering this question alone- show what you have done for people in the past, i.e. achieved and more importantly how much that potentially means for the new company

What do you think about the company that you used to work for? Red flashing light alert- they are trying to trap you into saying something awful. Even if the company you used to work for was the worst slave driving place on earth, find something good to say about it. You went there in the first place for a reason and no company is all bad. Stay positive, explain what you learned and stay right away from any criticism

How much money are you looking for? Pretty straight forward answer to this one. Ask them what sort of money that they were looking to pay. What budget figure did you have in mind is another useful response. As a general rule, avoid bringing up money yourself. In this case, they started the discussion. Stay positive, they are interested in you or they wouldn't ask

Do you always have to tell the truth in business? What a great question- the answer is that of course you do. They are trying to see if you will lie. At times, you cannot tell everyone the full story- for example if the company is considering redundancies, however, you never have to lie. I would never work for anyone who forced me to lie, period

What would you say is your worst characteristic? Be very cautious- it's an obvious trap and one that they shouldn't really ask you. Smile inside and be confident. Tell them something like: I can try too hard sometimes- being a bit of a perfectionist can mean that I take all the time necessary to succeed

More about the writer: Glenn Hughes is a career professional cv writer who owns and manages a cv service that helps job seekers get the jobs that they want Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service