Nowadays every next individual is preparing for job interviews and in search of jobs. Even people already doing well-received job searches for new job opportunities due to lack of job satisfaction. This means the competition for any job has become much higher in recent times. Employers get a large number of applications when they post any job opportunity and the increasing number of qualified and skilled individuals has also made it difficult for them to shortlist a few candidates and settle for a handful of them. In a competitive market like this, one needs to be constantly alert and ready for any kind of interview. Here, let’s know some Tough Interview Questions.
Why are Tough Interview Questions Asked
Tough interview questions are important to measure a candidate’s psyche and abilities. Smart talent acquisition managers ask difficult questions to narrow down the list of the candidates applied. When the employer throws a tough question at you, they want to see if you have the required skill, intelligence, and personality to join in the given job position.
Most of the time it becomes difficult to choose which one is right and which one the employer needs to hear. In some cases, both seem to be different and that’s where the problem arises. Although tough questions are based on the candidate’s skill and mindset too. For one it may be easy but for the other, it may be tough .e.g. when the employer asks the candidate to tell his/her strengths.
It seems a simple question for most of the candidates who have already given quite a several interviews because this question is asked by almost every employer, but for some especially for the first-timers showcasing their strengths and praising themselves in front of their future employers become quite a tough job.
This article will help you prepare for your job interviews by giving you a basic idea about the tough questions an employer asks the candidates. Yes, I know that it is never possible for a 100% checked list of to-dos before an interview since you don’t know what your employer would be thinking of and what would be his questions.
Every employer tends to bring a different set of expectations with them, humans are individual in nature. But we can prepare with the best of the tough questions and get ready for the interview by sharpening our skills and abilities. There are some difficult questions is asked by 96% of the interviews and no matter how many times you face it will always seem difficult for you.
With time, you also need to polish those answers of yours and make them relevant, because in a span of one to two years some questions don’t change at all but the expectations of the employers for answers to those particular questions do. The most difficult questions always seem to come from the round where your personality evaluating question. There is no right none wrong either. It is hard knowing what the employer is expecting to hear. Although, it is advisable to just be your true self sometimes this trick doesn’t work. Let’s dive into the pool of these questions and sharpen our presence of mind.
The hypothetical questions are the trickiest part of the interviews. There is no right answer to them and none wrong either. The purpose of the interviewer to ask hypothetical questions is that They want to evaluate your structural analysis and how well do you handle a problem which you haven’t yet encountered with. Some of such hypothetical questions are discussed below with proper answers to them.
- Tell me what would you do if you had to work with a difficult manager or a difficult co-worker on a project and you have to finish the project before the deadline, but things aren’t working out. How would you complete your project together on time?
Ans: – The primary thing to remember while answering such a hypothetical problem-solving question is that never give answers that will indicate running away or ignoring the problem. The interviewer wants to see how you face the problem and solve them. Therefore, to this question, the proper answer will be, “I will take the time to know my co-worker/manager. I will try to find out what is the root cause of his problem and also try to understand him. Most of the time this works because understanding and coordination are the keys to a successful team project. Better understanding works for long-term goals.
- What would you do if a serious health problem arises in your home or any of your parents and there is also a project due in the next week that you have been handling for months?
In such given situations most of the candidates are seen to say that they will prioritize their work over everything whereas reasonable interviewers don’t want candidates who run away from their basic responsibilities. To this one should answer that, “My first and foremost responsibility is towards my parents and if I cannot perform that duty of mine, I can never perform any other responsibility assigned to me. Therefore, I will talk with my manager, ask any of my co-workers to take my place, explain everything I have done and to be done for the project, and go to my parents. I will make sure to remain updated about the project daily.
- What would you do if you are facing an ethical dilemma at work?
Ans:- Thos most perfect answers for such questions will be comprised of your past experience with an ethical dilemma at work. Give the example of how you dealt with it relating to your previous workplace’s values and missions. Explain how honesty and ethics are your primary characteristics. Design your answer in such a manner that it emphasizes your integrity.
e.g. While I was working as a staff nurse for [name of the hospital] hospital, I found one of my colleagues injecting himself with something, that I wasn’t sure of what. Later, when I confronted him about the matter h seemed to dodge the subject. I got suspicious and reported to our head nurse his behavior. It was later found out that he injected himself with a drug during his duty hours and was terminated.
Personality questions are the questions that are asked by the interviewer to gain some insight into the personality of the candidate. Personal qualities of a candidate matter while working as a full-time employee. Qualities like ethics, goals, self-analysis, passions and a positive outlook towards any situation in life are the signs of a good employee. It is seen that soft skills are equally important in a candidate to become a star employee tomorrow. In an interview, if you have your attitude and personality kept in check, it is definitely for you to get hired. Personality questions help the employers evaluate if the candidate’s values will add to their team value and if the candidate is passionate about those things the recruiter is looking for in the candidate. Some of the toughest personality questions asked during an interview are:
- Tell me something about yourself.
Ans-: This is generally the first question that an interviewer asks the candidate. Although it has become an everyday question, the interviewer’s expectation to answer changes with time. Repeating the same answer won’t give you any added marks. No matter, how many times you have faced that question, your answer needs to be dynamic. The interviewer wants to know where you have come from, who you are, where you want to go. They want to know about your personality but avoid including any personal details of your life.
E.g. My name is Anna. I am from Minnesota and I want to pursue a career in Public Relations. I have six years of experience as a Public Relations Executive in the corporate sector. I believe that my previous experience will be useful in adding my part to the company and working for the advancement of the company. I want to see myself as a successful Public Relations Specialist in the coming years.”
- Tell me three of your strengths and weaknesses.
Ans: – This question serves the interviewer the purpose of understanding the candidate’s self-assessment skill. An interviewer generally=y seeks candidates who know their traits and flaws because self-assessment is necessary for an employee to rectify their own mistakes when done wrong. This also proves to be a great leadership quality. This also helps the interviewer know if the candidate is honest and confident enough to list out their strengths and weaknesses out in the open. Be more confident and be direct while listing out your traits and flaws. Confidence serves the purpose of being unashamed of admitting who you are.
E.g., Although there are quite several strengths and weaknesses in my personality. The ones that I want to highlight are, my weaknesses tend to be ……. and while talking about my strengths I would say… Knowing my weaknesses helps me get rid of them and be more conscious of not allowing them to get into my responsibilities and duties.
- If you could change one thing in your personality, what would it be?
Ans-: This is somewhat similar to the question where the interviewer asks you to list out three of your strengths and three of your weaknesses. This question is also asked to know how self-aware is the candidate. To answer this question, you should think carefully and be cautious to mention one such quality which is neither something very serious nor something that can cause your work-life affected. The answer to this question depends on individuals and therefore differs from person to person.
e.g. If I could change one thing about my personality, it would be that I get too much worked up about deadlines. Whenever I am given a deadline I in my mind naturally determine my own deadline for the project which would be one to one and a half weeks before the actual date. And when sometimes I am not able to complete my project before my own given time, I get too much stressed out which affects my health. Therefore, I would like to change mine over seriousness in my personality.
- Why are you interested in this particular position?
Ans:- Interviewers ask this particular question to know your familiarity with the role and if the candidate knows where he/she is getting himself into. The interviewer looks for a motivated individual who will add something of his own to the company. If unprepared, it would catch the candidate off-guard, and answering this question also seems pretty difficult regarding the fact that the candidate doesn’t really know what the interviewer is expecting to hear. Be genuine in your answer and be professional as well.
e.g. I have been working in this field as a Public Relations Executive for two and a half years, your job posting caught my attention when I was thinking of escalating my career and trying for a managerial role in the Public Relations sector. This position seemed perfect for me to escalate my goals and also joining your organization would allow me to experience some life-enhancing situations sharpening my skills and capabilities. My experience as a P.R Executive will definitely help me perform my roles and responsibilities as a P.R Manager.
- How do you take criticism?
Ans:- This question is asked by the interviewer to evaluate the candidate’s positive attitude towards life. Handling criticism is a primary part of work-life. Sometimes these criticisms can be negative too, not everyone will offer you a basket of positive criticism for your work. To this question, the candidate should emphasize the part that he is open to criticism of any kind. The candidate should be able to make the interviewer believe that he has a positive attitude regarding anything and can overlook the negative things in his life.
e.g. I would like to say that I am quite good at taking criticisms, constructive criticisms are always open and for the negative ones, I try to overlook them positively. While I was working as a receptionist in Hotel Mayfair, I was once criticized by a client as he believed that I was not paying enough heed in solving his problem whereas I was the only one amidst the entire customer relationship department who was trying to do everything within my power to resolve her issue of misplacement of her purse somewhere in the hotel which she was responsible herself and our hotel policy also strictly mentions that any object other than the ones kept in the room is the customer’s responsibility and for misplacement of such objects the hotel will not be responsible for. I positively took her criticism and helped her locate her purse which was found in her own room after some time.
- Why should we hire you?
Ans:- The most popular question yet the most difficult one to answer. Remember that the interviewer has probably asked this question hundreds of times to hundreds of other candidates and you have to stand out amidst them. Generally, this question is asked at the last of the interview and till then the interviewer already knows most of the things about you. Therefore, while answering these questions the candidate will probably be at a loss of words as to what exactly to answer. But confidence always works in such matters. Be confident and be precise. Don’t repeat yourself with the things that you have already told.
e.g. While going through the responsibilities of the position mentioned and as you have already mentioned earlier the advertising agency values creative skills and advanced technical skills of photoshop and CorelDraw. I am sure that my five years of experience in graphic designing coupled with my content writing skills make me a perfect fit for the position of Creative Head in Advertising. I admire your agency’s output and work ethic and I think I would add to the value of the agency.
Communication is the key to a healthy workplace environment. Communication questions in an interview are asked to evaluate a candidate’s communication skills. Irrespective of the role that the candidate has applied to, communication tends to be an integral part of the office. Team efforts become a success only when communication is good both verbally and non-verbally. To evaluate the candidate’s listening ability, to know if the candidate’s articulation capacity is good and if the candidate can work in coordination and coherence. Some of the important skills that the interviewer will be evaluating through these questions are:
- Listening
- Empathy
- Clear and Concise response
- How much do you respect other people
- How much friendly you were with your former employees.
Some of the difficult communication questions asked during an interview are mentioned below.
- How well do you handle stress?
Ans:- This question is asked by the interviewer to evaluate a candidate’s problem-solving ability. Most people while handling stress, lose their cool affecting their relationship with other people around them. To this question, one should answer emphasizing the quality of a positive attitude.
e.g. I am sure that I handle stress quite well and instead of losing my calm, I try to maintain my positive attitude. During my previous role as a waitress, once I had to deal with a fire outburst in the kitchen of our restaurant. During that time, I had to oversee the safety of 150 people approx. who was sitting there sipping their cup of coffee at that very moment? Therefore, this incident made me more confident that I can handle stress quite well.
- Do you work well with other people?
Ans:- Interviewers ask this question to evaluate a candidate’s coordination skills. Working in teams require strong communication skill and the candidate must also enjoy working with others. It also requires strong listening ability. The answer should go like this:
As a content writer, my communication skill has always been good. Being a content writer, I have prior experience of working in teams and I enjoy being a part of a larger team spirit. I was also working as the manager of our creative team which has further enhanced both my verbal and non-verbal communication skills. I have added skills of coordination and keeping my teammates’ productivity in check. That’s what makes me confident enough that I will be able to perform my role well as a Sr. Content Writer and manage the content writing team efficiently.
Tough questions pretty much depend on the personality of the candidate and the responsibility of the role offered. The technical questions are quite easy as it is evident that the candidate has applied for the role, he/she has experience for and therefore also knows how to answer them. The difficulty rises when behavioral questions, as well as personality questions, are asked. These questions always seem to have different answers depending on the values of the company where the candidate has applied.
Tips to Ace Interview
But there are some tips to answer these questions pretty much accurately and also impress the interviewer. Some of them are:
- Be Confident
- Be yourself instead of trying to pretend to be someone which you are not.
- Be truthful and don’t exaggerate or give any false information about yourself or any other thing
- Don’t comment on the things that you are not aware of.
- Be precise about what you are trying to say.
- Try to communicate in a direct and clear manner
- Keep your body language professional and don’t try to be casual during the interview even if the interviewer is taking it in a café.
Things like these will definitely give you a highlight amongst others because if nothing else any employer would love to have an honest employee on their team.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the most difficult interview question ever?
Ans:-
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Why should we hire you?
- Tell me something about yourself.
- How do your deal with stress?
- Why do you want this position?
- How do you answer difficult interview questions?
Ans:- The key factor in answering difficult interview questions is to be yourself. Nothing counts more than your honesty.
- How to ace an interview?
Ans:- Be confident and be honest. Intelligence can be acquired but being truthful is what an employer looks for in an employee along with the required qualifications.