You might have encountered one of these five job interview questions and regretted your answers. But in case you’re dying to find out how to reply to them with tact, here’s how:
Tips on How to Answer These 5 Tough Job Interview Questions
1. Why should we hire you?
The question is so cliché, yet it still probably is the toughest of them all. You can’t take it with humor. You can’t take it by another worn-out answer. The trick in this query is that the hirer is making you feel anxious about the competition, so the solution to reply with the tact is to ditch the jitters. Remember your preparations prior to this interview, and face the interviewer as if you know that they’ll hire you, and tell specific accomplishments. In answering job interview questions of this nature, you may go as far as brief storytelling if you really must, just don’t answer with adjectives.
2. We see that you’re currently working under company X. How did you find time for this interview?
Something pinches in your stomach. You know what he really meant: “If you can be unfaithful to your current employer, there are pretty good chances that you will do the same with us.” It’s definitely the nastiest of the five job interview questions and you may find it hard to answer because of its hidden accusative tone. But keep your calm. Focus on why you are considering the possibility of finding a better employer. Don’t badmouth yourself or your company, and most of all, don’t act as if you’re guilty. Simply answer the question politely, like saying that you’ve been waiting for openings from their company but you immediately got the job before they announced the results.
3. Why were you fired/ laid off?
Rejection from your former employer is surely a touchy topic for you, among the job interview questions you could encounter. So, you must get rid of emotions and never badmouth when they ask for details. Speak in an objective tone and say it briefly. Again, put the experience in a positive light. Say something simple like, “The setup didn’t work for me” or “my personality didn’t match the company culture,” then elaborate in a positive light or top it up with a positive statement like “I guess there are other jobs out there that will best suit my personality and abilities.”
4. What are your weaknesses?
You may find the irony here: you came for an interview to market yourself, so why should you tell your setbacks, right? But there it is, you have no choice but to answer. Don’t get upset. The best way to answer tricky job interview questions such as this is to answer it with a positive trait that looks like a negative one. Say: “Well, my mother said I’m very ambitious. I’ve been observing for a while that I’ve got too many grand ideas to improve my output.” Never tell that you have no weakness or incriminate yourself by airing that you sometimes get lazy. No, neither will give you a plus point.
5. Can you tell me why the sky is blue?
The last of the five interview questions are more common for positions that need communication skills like sales and support. If you’re one smart aleck, you might try hard to explain to him about color frequency and other light theories that might prove that blue is the easiest color to reflect. However, if you aren’t, it might be safer to invent your own reasons. The test is not actually intending to get specific answers. It is rather measuring your creativity and how lightly you can react to nerve-wracking situations. The trick: relax and act as if you’re talking to your little brother or your sister.
For more tips on answering tough job interview questions and resume writing, you can check out our resources page.
Image Source: Matthew Henry from Burst
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