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Tough Interview Questions- And Some Tips To Help You Answer

Some interviewers are tougher than others. It helps a great deal to know some of the questions that you are likely to be asked. This article details some of the most difficult and some tips that will help you to answer them. Fail to plan and plan to fail- more than just a buzz phrase- really good advice to get you through that tricky interview

Tell me a little bit about yourself. An old question but one designed to start to open you up. Find out if they want to know about your career or you as a person- try and keep control of the interview if possible. If you can’t bring yourself to ask for clarification, start talking about your recent achievements in a job role appropriate to the company that you are sitting in front of. Be prepared to answer this one- it’s almost certain that you’ll get asked this

What particularly makes you interested about in this role? Talk about the challenges it presents, the way it will give you an opportunity to use skills from past job roles. Show what you can do for the company, focus on your past achievements and you won’t go far wrong with this potential banana skin

Tell me about the company that you used to work for. Flashing lights here right now- they are looking to see if you will bad mouth them. No matter what happened at that company, you must come across as positively as possible. Any negativity on your part will be seized upon as they are looking for the real reason why you left them. They are also looking to see if you can be trusted. Watch out for this question, it could trip you up

What sort of salary package are you expecting? Never answer this one directly- ask back what sort of salary that they were looking to pay. They are fishing, trying to see if they can get you at a cheap price. It isn’t a good idea to discuss salary at an interview but in this case, they started the debate. Stay positive, ignore the churning in your stomach- they are interested in you or they wouldn’t be asking

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 is your worst characteristic? Oh dear, a flashing red light- this is a trap. The answer is to focus on something incriminating- for example, I can be a bit of a perfectionist- I like to get things right and sometimes this can annoy people whose work is less than satisfactory

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