Congratulations on being called for an interview!
As you may know, interviewers often ask tough questions to sift through candidates. To increase your chances of success, it’s important to prepare thoroughly for these questions.
Walking into an interview without preparation is like giving an unprepared speech – it’s not a recipe for success.
This article will guide you in preparing for the 24 toughest interview questions, increasing your chances of success. You’ll learn how to handle challenging behavioral questions, effectively sell yourself, manage failure, discuss your future plans, and more.
Answering Difficult Questions Require Preparation
If you’ve ever been passed over for a job despite feeling like the best candidate, it’s possible that you didn’t impress the interviewer with your answers to tough questions.
To avoid repeating this failure, it’s important to be well-prepared for your interview.
To help you out, we’ve compiled some basic tips for responding to the hardest interview questions –
- First, pay attention to your body language – maintain eye contact and avoid nervous habits like nail-biting or face-touching.
- Second, prepare and rehearse your answers in advance. Consider reviewing with a friend or colleague to get constructive feedback.
- When discussing past failures or challenges, take responsibility and explain how you grew from the experience.
24 Toughest Interview Questions: How to Prepare and Respond
Challenging Behavioral Questions
1. Relationship with Co-Workers
“What is your relationship with your co-workers?” or “What do colleagues or supervisors say about you?”
These are tricky questions, but you can use the sandwich technique.
Begin with some compliments you have received, briefly mention any negative remarks, and try to put them in a good light or say what you have learned from them.
Close with more positives. If applicable, inform the interviewer that you have had your fair share of debates and arguments, but maintained a cordial relationship with your colleagues.
Point out that the debates were for the betterment of the product and/or firm.
2. Dealing with Failure
“Tell me about a time when you failed. How did you deal with it?”, “What did you learn from it?” “What would you do differently know what you know now?”
To answer this question, you need to think of a work situation that didn’t turn out as expected, and then you need to admit you failed. This is a powerful trait. Don’t pretend to never have failed. Be honest. Tell them what you learned from your error or failure and tell them what you would do differently the next time around.
3. Who You Are
“How would you describe yourself?”
The purpose of this question is for the interviewer to have you profile yourself and then see if you are a good match with the company.
It is in this way the interviewer is able to compare your perception of yourself with his/her perception of you.
Be factual and take this opportunity to sell yourself – however, don’t be arrogant.
4. Weaknesses
Why should I NOT hire you? What is your greatest weakness?
When they ask what your greatest weakness is, don’t be afraid to be honest. Tell the interviewer what your greatest weakness is and how you turned it around into strength.
This will show you have the ability to take a bad experience and turn it into a learning experience to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again.
5. Strengths and Weaknesses
What are your greatest strengths and your weaknesses?
Be sure you highlight your attributes such as reliable, enthusiastic, skilled, etc., and how they relate to the position you are applying for.
6. Defining Success and Failure
“Can you please define success and failure?”
This is an extremely personal question. The interviewer is trying to determine how you judge success and failure.
7. Managing Difficult People
“What type of person do you find gets on your nerves?”
This could be a difficult supervisor or a slacking co-worker. Whatever the person that gets on your nerves, you want to make sure that you stress you are able to get along with almost anyone, and how you interact with difficult people.
The interviewer is looking to determine if you could work in a tough situation.
8. Working Under Pressure
“Give me an example of how you work under pressure.”
This should tell you that there will be pressure in this position.
You should reassure the interviewing party by giving examples of how you rose to the occasion and handled the situation.
9. Selling Yourself
When the interviewer asks questions like “Why should we hire you?” or “Why do you want to work for us?”
This is your chance to sell yourself.
Avoid arrogance but highlight your experience, qualities, work ethic, and ambition. Point out the good qualities of the firm and express your desire to join a winning team.
Be sure to express your desire to stay on board as long as you can.
10. Firing Others
“Have you ever fired anyone?”
If you have ever been in a supervisory position, you must certainly have had instances where either an employee has left you or you have had to let go of an employee.
Explain the situation that occurred to the interviewer; point out that although you have a strong relation with all your employees and co-workers, there are some instances in which you simply cannot help but let the employee leave the company.
Also, inform the interviewer that you have always been available and have open communication lines with all your coworkers as well as other employees.
Hard Questions about your Future Plans
1. Job Target
“Why did you apply for this job posting?”
The interviewer is attempting to determine if you will be happy in this position, and whether you are apt to stay.
Criteria for Evaluating Companies – The interviewer wants to be assured that you are targeting your job search and not just applying for every job posting you see. Make sure to give some solid examples of the things you look for in a company you want to work for.
2. Plans for the First Six Months
What do you intend to do for us in the first six months?
If you’ve done your homework, this won’t be as difficult as it sounds, because you’ll be prepared. Show how you can make a difference.
3. Five-Year Plan
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
The interviewer is looking to see if you are able to set goals that are achievable, as well as whether you are a good fit with the company’s long-term goals.
4. Ten-Year Plan
“Where do you see yourself ten years from now?”
The interviewer wishes to know whether you are serious about this job and pursuing your career. Detail your plans and ambitions.
Although you cannot make a commitment for such a period of time, indicate your desire to grow long term with the firm.
5. Motivation for the Job
Why do you REALLY want this job?
For this question, stress what it is you can offer the company thanks to the qualifications you have. Show what your skills are and how those skills can directly affect the company.
6. Long-Term Vision and Short-Term Goals
What are your long-term vision and short-term goals, and how do you plan to prepare yourself, so you can achieve these goals?
This question is focused on finding out the type of person you are.
Make sure your goals are achievable and make sure you can explain your strategy to achieve these goals.
Presenting Yourself
1. Self-introduction “Talk please, you have five minutes.”
Use these five minutes to tell the interviewer who you are and what you can bring to the company. What’s most important is that everything you talk about is directly related to the position you are applying for.
2. Relevant Experience
“How does your past professional experience prepare you for this role?”
The key here is to be specific and select an accomplishment that is directly related to the position you are applying for.
3. Professional Accomplishments
“Name two professional accomplishments that have given you the most satisfaction. Why?”
The interviewer is looking to see which of your professional accomplishments give you a sense of pride so be sure to explain why these accomplishments satisfy you.
4. Fit for the Company
“Why do you want to work for us?”
If you have properly done your research, you can use this opportunity to demonstrate your initiative and reveal how your experience and qualifications match what the company is looking for.
5. Standing out among Candidates
“We are considering you and three other candidates for the position. Can you tell us why we should choose you over the other candidates?”
Just focus on what your strengths are and don’t try to second-guess what the others are bringing to the table. Address all four points briefly professionalism, likeability, enthusiasm, and competence.
6. Industry Passion
“What about this industry appeals to you to make you want to work in it?”
Make a point of showing any correlation between your job now and the job you are applying for. Make your passion obvious so they don’t think you are just simply interviewing shopping.
Other Tough Questions
1. Reason for Leaving
“Why did you leave your last job?” or “Why were you fired?”
If you have ever been fired, the interviewer may already know or will probably find out, depending on the job level.
In general, a truthful answer is the best way to handle this difficult question. Explain why you were fired, the situation and your lessons learned.
The reality is that the firm may not find out about it, and you may choose not to mention the incident. It is risky, but it’s your choice.
2. Salary Expectations
“Are you happy with your salary so far?” or “What salary do you need or look for?”
Finances play an important role in the profession of a person. There are many who will not accept a very interesting job offer simply because the salary is insufficient.
Truthfully, the interview is not the time and place to discuss whether or not you are happy with your current salary. Do take this opportunity to request the salary you would like. Hopefully you have researched and know the ‘comps,’ the normal salary for such a job – You may do well by requesting a salary at the high end of the range.
In Conclusion,
The key to answering tough interview questions is to be prepared.
Think ahead of time about how you would answer these questions so that you can give confident, thoughtful answers that will impress the interviewer.
With adequate preparation, you can confidently navigate any tough interview question and make a positive impression on the interviewer.
These 24 tough questions are a great place to start. There are others, so don’t be afraid to search further and find other tough questions.