Tricky interview questions

Tricky interview questions and how best to answer them

Why do you want to work for us? And other tricky interview questions.

So, you’ve turned up for your interview all enthusiastic, well-groomed and prepared – until, that is, they ask you one of those awkward and ‘tricky’ interview questions that kept you up all night sweating over your answer.

We all want to do well at interview and be judged positively, irrespective of whether we get offered the job or not, and the last thing we want is for the interviewer to mark us down for fumbling over ’that’ question you dread being asked (yes, we all have one!)

You know the sort:

•             ‘tell me what you do’

•              ‘why do you want to work for us'

•              ‘what do you know about XYZ’

•              ‘what can you bring to our company that the other candidates can’t’

•              ‘why should we choose you over the other candidates’

•              ‘where do you see yourself in five years’

•              ‘why are you leaving your company’

•              ‘why have you had three jobs in the last five years’

•              ‘I see there is a gap on your CV, why is that’

•              ‘what are your strengths and weaknesses’

…and so on (we shall discount those banal questions such as ‘what kind of animal are you?’).

All guaranteed to make you sweat!

An interview is an opportunity for the employer to find out about you, if you are suitable for the job, and for their company them, but it is also an opportunity for you to find out if they, and the job, are a good match for you.

So, how do you answer these questions?

Obviously, you need to be honest, open and enthusiastic with your answer, rather than contrite, contrived and automated (I am sure most interviewers have heard it all before!).

But what will make you stand out and help the interviewer to make their decision in your favour?

The ‘tell me what you do’ question is one of the hardest, since where do you start?

You need to analyse the reason behind the question (is it just to get you talking, to start the conversation, or a great way to find out if your skills and experience match their needs?).

In this situation many candidates freeze, become tongue tied and mumble their job title and a couple of sentences on what they do for their company and then stop and look at the interviewer for guidance on what to say next. Not a good start you may think.

You might also be asked ‘open’ questions which are designed to uncover your behavioural traits in the workplace and your personality type. These may include such questions as ‘how do you deliver unpopular decisions to your team’ or ‘how do you handle difficult customers’.

If you are not prepared these can be a nightmare to answer.

Whatever questions you are faced with, if you have done your research on the company and on the interviewer, you should not get phased by any of these questions.

You can check the interviewer’s LinkedIn profile and any articles/news items they appear in across the web to give you a feel for their background, interests and work passions.

Make sure you read the job profile thoroughly and take a good look at yourself since everyone has weaknesses and areas that they need more training in. Don’t forget that a weakness to you, may not be relevant to them, and the same with your strengths. Try to analyse what strengths the job role will need and lead on those if you have them.

If the job asks for specific experience in an area and you are lacking here, turn it around and tell them that is an area you want to get into and have already started to develop your skills. Many companies offer training to new employees in key areas.

A trawl of the internet will bring up many pages of example interview questions and how to answer them, although you should make sure it is your answer and not someone else’s – imagine the embarrassment if the other candidates had read the same web pages!

After you leave the meeting write down any questions that you found difficult and then practice your answer for next time.