During a job interview you are bound to have some difficult questions put to you to test both how you react to a “hard” question but also to enable a judgement to me made as to your character and whether you would be a good fit for the that organisation. The problem with most of these difficult questions is they are usually open-ended and so you need to practice some answers to the most common ones to prevent you being stumped for an answer.
So what are some of the most common interview questions designed to test you?
By far the most common question is being asked to tell the interviewer about yourself. This is quite a loaded question because what the interviewer is actually judging is whether your personality will fit the company culture. You are also be in danger of talking too much about yourself, or too little. The best plan of attack is to talk a little about your family and then about what interests you and what you spend your spare time doing and then mention a few skills that you can bring to the new job.
If asked about what your passion is then its best to mention something that your interviewer thinks will have a positive effect on the company. For example if you paint then tell them that you maybe take an evening class and then spend some of your weekend painting. You find it very relaxing even if your not that good at it. This tells the interviewer that you can probably achieve a balanced work life business which is always beneficial to the company and the employee. You could also say something along the lines of that you love meeting new people and interacting with them You love to socialize and are an active member of local community groups, church groups, etc. In today’s world of work the ability to work in teams is so often beneficial. What you don’t do is tell them you love sailing and are planning a trip around the world or planning to climb Everest!!
Why did you leave, or are leaving your last/current job? Be very careful with this question. Irrespective of the real reasons why you left, or are leaving, you must not come across as having a chip on your shoulder about it and nor should you bad mouth your last employer. Instead turn the question into one about why you need more challenges and need to use your skills better and to advance your career.
Other hard questions you should be prepared to answer are:
Why should I hire you? What one thing about your last job would you change? etc.
So in the time running up to your next interview it would be very worthwhile to practice answering these questions.
Steve Blythe (Recruitment and Social Media Commentator).
