Job Interview Difficult questions

Sem

Sem

Sem

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,612
Location
London
got a couple of job interviews coming and i want to be prepared as they are good jobs and ive always struggled in the past with interviews

the main problem is the classic do you have any weaknesses

i know a lot of people say i should say stuff like "i work too hard" etc but tbh i think that's a BS answer and the employers will probably think the same

the 2nd one that tripped me up in the past was "How do you demonstrate leadership"

anyone got any tips?

thanks
 
I'd say I'd lead by example and wouldnt be afraid of getting involved.

As for weaknesses, I often say I'm a profectionist but that is a bit of BS answer to a BS question.

You should answer "my only weakness is my UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE!!!!!!!ARRRGHHH!!!!!"
 
There not bad questions and have come to be expected.

Weaknesses you should say what some of faults are and what your have done to improve them. For example, I normally use the "time management" one and then go onto to say that I tried to solve the problem by now spend the first 10 minutes of my day catagorising my jobs that day into importance and always try to schedule an hour spare in each day to deal with any unexpected or urgent things which crop up.

Try some of these recent ones my gf has faced in interview.

"If you were an animal, which animal would you be and why?":confused:

"Why do you want to work for a small company when you would be much better off working for a large plc?":rolleyes:

"Try and sell me this plain cheap ordinary biro and convince me that I should replace my Cross fountain pen with it." She wasn't even applying for a sales position. I guess it was to see if she could think on her feet and be creative.
 
Appying for a job in tescos "Where do you wanna be in 5 years time" I answered "Not working here, thats for sure"
and I still got the job :p

What are your weaknesses "Loud noise scares me" or something pretty much pointless mentioning, something not work related.
 
Greebo said:
"If you were an animal, which animal would you be and why?"
Click to expand...

Answer honestly, without being rude, and ask the same question back. It's not a technical question so they're just testing your social skills.

"Why do you want to work for a small company when you would be much better off working for a large plc?"
Click to expand...

It's a valid question but there are many equally valid answers. More responsibility is one - often you will have a "say" in more areas of the business working in a small company rather than just being a small cog in a big corporate machine.

What are your weaknesses "Loud noise scares me" or something pretty much pointless mentioning, something not work related.
Click to expand...

You'd damn well better have a work-related answer ready. Answering a sensible interview question with a silly answer is a good way to alienate yourself.
 
Sem said:
the main problem is the classic do you have any weaknesses
Click to expand...

The best answer I've heard to that one was. "I'd like to think that I don't have any weaknesses but if you speak to my missus I expect she'll be able to give you a long list of them".
 
Never admit to weaknesses and yes employees will know you are BS'ing but they want a positive answer.
Say you can't think of any at the moment but if you come across a weakness you like to work on it and then try and give an example.
For instance I used to be afraid of heights so I went parachute jumping six times and I was afraid of snakes so I ended up having 3 of them.

Leadership question can be something like - I play a lot of sport and I seem to be the one that always organises everything or when I go out with the lads it's always me they turn to for what we're doing that night.
Employees also need to know you have a normal life so don't say you stay in all the time and have no friends.

'What car would you be?' 'What animal would you be?' - just give an answer and don't go - 'err err err'.
 
for a serious answer to the weaknesses question you could try doing some self assesment questionnaires like the Honey-Mumford learning styles one or Belbin team profiles and give them some of the things that you scored lower on. It could just be something like you dont learn as well from listening to someone talk as you do from reading about it or doing it.

you can then say what you do to make this to your advantage, sort of saying it's not a weakness because you are aware of it and can counter it in other ways.
 
Best advice is be honest positive and confident throughout, a lot of the time what you say in response to questions like that is much less important than how you say it.
 
You'd damn well better have a work-related answer ready. Answering a sensible interview question with a silly answer is a good way to alienate yourself.
Click to expand...
Maybe in an office being interview by some pretentious ****er yeah, the question is about you not about work.
 
dmpoole said:
Never admit to weaknesses and yes employees will know you are BS'ing but they want a positive answer.
Click to expand...

Personally I look for an honest answer when I'm interviewing. I would be far happier to take on someone who recognises their weaknesses, and has put work in place to improve upon them, than someone who stated they have no weaknesses.
 
Basher said:
Personally I look for an honest answer when I'm interviewing. I would be far happier to take on someone who recognises their weaknesses, and has put work in place to improve upon them, than someone who stated they have no weaknesses.
Click to expand...

I'm absolutely positive that's what I said in my OP but you decided to only quote the first line :confused:
 
The leadership question hard to answer. And as I've said before, I don't like answering salary expectations if you don't know the range for the job, or it has massive brackets.

As for the animal one, I would point out that I, like my interviewer, are already animals. But I would probably like to be a dolphin if I was another animal.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom