Answering Interview Questions

Instructions: Read the article and answer the following questions about how to prepare for job
interview questions and provide good answers to general questions.

How to Answer Tough Questions in an Interview

Co-authored by Emily Silva Hockstra Last Updated: May 6, 2021 References Approved
Retrieved May 2021 from https://www.wikihow.com/Answer-Tough-Questions-in-an-Interview

Job interviews are the first impression that a company gets from a potential employee.
Typically, an interview will determine whether you get the job. For this reason, an interview can
sometimes be a stressful situation, especially if the questions that you are asked are difficult to
answer. Luckily, answering tough questions during an interview merely requires some
preparation and tactical thinking. If you practice commonly asked interview questions, do your
research, and think on your toes, answering difficult interview questions is easily obtainable.

Using Your Sales Pitch in Answers

Write down your greatest achievements and strengths. Talking about your strengths and
positive accomplishments may be harder than you think. To prepare for questions regarding
this, you should write down a list of your greatest strengths and achievements.

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Talk about your work experience. Write down the most relevant work experiences you've had,
and strengths that have followed you from job to job. Adding a concrete example of a recent
work experience will give credence to your pitch.

Write out and memorize your pitch. Once you've written down all the elements of your pitch,
you can put it together into a cohesive statement. Start with an introductory statement about
your experience, and then talk about your positive personality traits. Try to frame your
experience in a realistic and concrete way. An example of a good pitch would be something like

“I'm a 30 year veteran in writing and editing. My last job was as a senior editor at Shark
Publishing Co. While I was there, I wrote over 30 different published manuscripts and manuals.
One of the best things about me is that I'm a hard worker and always meet deadlines. As an
example, last year we had a deadline that we didn't get the details for until two days
beforehand. I worked 12 hours straight to make sure that the content got out in time."

Use your pitch to answer commonly asked questions. You can use your pitch to answer
questions like "Tell me about yourself," "What experience do you have that would help you in
this role?" and "What are your greatest accomplishments?"

Recognizing the Reasoning Behind a Question

Evaluate the meaning behind the question. Often an interviewer will ask you a question to get
more information about your personality, aptitude, and experience. Sometimes the question is
aimed at learning something that isn't apparent. Think about the actual meaning behind each
question before you give your response, and cater your answer to what they are actually
asking.

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Don't talk badly about past co-workers. Blaming past coworkers for your own shortcomings
could signal to the employer that you don't take responsibility for your actions and aren't a
team player. Instead, talk about how their communication or management style didn't mesh
well with yours, and emphasize how you were able to adapt and accomplish goals, even though
this was so. Thus, if the interviewer asks "What did you dislike most about your last boss?" You
can answer by saying something like:

"I had a boss who communicated differently than me. I learned that you have to be able to
adapt to different personalities if you want a project to get done on time."

Have humility and confidence when answering questions about yourself. If they ask, "Why are
you better than anyone else for this job?" they are looking to gauge your level of confidence
and humility to see if you can fulfill expectations while still being a team player. Talk about your
experience and why it makes you capable, but also talk about your passion for learning and
getting better at your job. You can say something like:

"I have a decade of experience, and I work well with other people. Also, you won't meet a
person more passionate about this than I am."

Give specifics when asked questions about your industry. Sometimes an interview will contain
specific questions regarding your industry. These questions are designed to see if you
understand the current standards and practices of the industry as well as your experience level.
Make sure to have a solid grasp of the specific technical and operational aspects of your
potential job.

Understand the person interviewing you. Think of the goal of the interviewer and what they
need out of a person to successfully fulfill the role. They also want to make sure that you would
be a good team member and pleasant to work with. Think about what would benefit them the
most, depending on what role they have in the company, and cater your answers to their role.
For example, an HR manager wants to know that you can communicate well with others and
can adhere to the company culture. Or a director of a department will want you to
communicate well and accomplish results in a safe and effective way and an external recruiter
will want to know that you have the experience for the job and are a good candidate to send to
the employer.

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Dealing with Curveball Questions

Stay calm. Sometimes an interviewer will ask you a question that is entirely unrelated to your
industry or to the job that you're applying for. This is usually to see how you handle pressure
and how you will react to the situation. The most important thing is to stay calm and to act like
the question doesn't faze you. Hiring managers want to see if you will become flustered or
frustrated by the question.
Use a past experience to answer the question. If you can, try to answer the question by
thinking of a situation in your life that relates to it. For example, the hiring managers at
Mastercard ask employees "What do you do if you are approached by an employee who is
complaining about a colleague who has horrible body odor?" You could answer by saying
something like:

"Well, I actually had this issue in Highschool, and I was the smelly kid. The kids actually got
me more interested in different sprays and colognes while we were in the locker room, and
it helped me a lot. So I'd probably do something like that."

Try to answer truthfully. Sometimes these questions are aimed to see what kind of person
you'd be like to work with. For that reason, when given a strange or curveball question, just try
to answer truthfully without coming off as disrespectful. For example, Whole Foods Market
hiring managers ask "Would you rather fight 1 horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?" You
could say something like:

"A horse-sized duck would be terrifying and horrifying. I'd definitely go with the 100 duck-
sized horses."

Gaining Confidence Through Preparation

Practice answering questions before the interview. Confidence can be shown in your voice,
body language, and facial expressions. Practice answering tough interview questions in front of
a mirror or record yourself using your webcam. Examine your body language, vocal tone, and
face to see if you are doing anything strange or seem to lack confidence. Try to be open, have a
smile on your face, and speak in a clear voice. Rehearse answering questions in front of family
or friends and get their opinion.

Prepare well in advance. The more prepared you are, the calmer you'll be in the interview.
Memorize the name of the person who is interviewing you, make sure to select an outfit, and

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print out or look up directions the day before your interview. Before you go into the interview,
review the job description again so that it is fresh in your mind. If you are nervous because you
are late or unprepared, you'll have a harder time answering tough questions.

Be prepared to give your desired salary. While you should never bring up salary without being
prompted, having the answer in your head will make answering this tough question easier.
Make sure that in addition to a monetary salary, you also have an answer for the things you'd
want in benefits or additional bonus compensation if it's applicable to the job.

Remaining Calm and Focused

Answer questions with relevant information. One of the worst things that you can do when
answering a tough question is ramble about something that isn't pertinent to the job or the
position. Refrain from telling anecdotal stories from your childhood or personal likes and
dislikes. Keep your answers short, accurate, and relatable to the role that you want to fill. A
great way to keep on track is to talk about recent professional triumphs or victories.

Take your time answering. If you've prepared for the interview but the person interviewing you
still throws you a curve ball, it's important that you take your time to think through your
response deliberately. Pause for a moment and take the time to think about what you are going
to say. Never answer a question with a "No" or "I don't know." Aim to expand your answers to
give the interviewer some context.

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Get to the interview early. When you arrive early, it gives you time to relax and
concentrate on the interview. Make sure to plan your route the night before so that you can get
to the interview feeling confident and prepared.

Think positively and be confident. Visualize yourself doing great on the interview and getting
the job. Don't underplay your abilities or talk negatively about your past. Have confidence in
what you do and try to smile throughout the interview.