By Sue Walder
Your beautifully polished CV and well-written cover letter have secured you an interview. You’ve done your homework on the company and prepared some intelligent questions as well as answers to a long list of possible questions.
You may also have remembered to check your privacy settings on Facebook and any other social media sites you use regularly. The interview is going well but then it happens - a gnarly question comes out of nowhere.
What do you do? How best to handle it?
It’s impossible to prepare for specific questions but you can be on your guard and prepare generic responses that help you turn a potential negative question into something that will reflect positively on you.
Remember that interviewers are generally trying to find out if you have the right blend of skills and experience and are a good fit with the company in terms of personality, values and work ethic.
So, if asked “What sort of decisions do you find difficult to make?” you could respond with: “I never make a decision without checking I have all the information I need to help me choose the best course of action. Of course, sometimes you can’t avoid difficult situations such as making someone redundant or cancelling a project but if you have sound reasons for making the decision it makes it easier.”
A quick trawl through the internet on the topic of ‘worst interview questions ever’ generated nearly two million hits, so there is plenty of information out there to generate ideas.
Of course, it helps to not take yourself or the interview process so seriously that it prevents you from performing well on the day. The important thing is to stay true to yourself and be honest.
For some light relief, as well as some insight, check out this post on ‘The ten worst job interview questions ever’. There are some good responses to the old favourites “What’s your biggest weakness?” and “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”
And be glad that no interview you have could ever be as bad as this one!
So - what's the worst interview question you've ever been asked? And how did you answer it?
You can read Sue’s blog, Having a word, here.