The interview may be the last phase of recruitment but
is the most important one. It is the final step in your quest to land your most
coveted job and therefore, must be steady and solid. The obstacle in your path
are the questions and you must deal with them appropriately. Your most
important tool is self-awareness and confidence in yourself.
Interviewers usually ask questions that don’t have an
assigned correct answer. It all depends on how you portray yourself and handle
the pressure and showcase your decision-making abilities. Read more to know how
to ace questions to achieve your preferred job position!
Check
below How to answer 12 toughest job interview questions:
1) Tell us something about yourself apart from your
resume:
This
question is usually asked to check the communication skill and self-awareness
of the interviewee. You should be well prepared to speak about your
achievements, interests and passion.
Tip: Focus on your strengths. Apart from academics, incorporate the achievements
and your motivations in life.
Answer: I have done many social events like “Open mics”,
fundraisers
for NGOs and I was the ambassador of the “Robin Hood Army’’. I have participated in
many debate competitions and won two Inter college and District Level competitions. I am fond of writing
articles on my blog. All these activities motivate me and have given me a
different perspective to experience life.
Open mics have enhanced my communication skills and helped
me overcome my stage
fear. Volunteering at NGOs XYZ and ABC I came
to know the importance of CSR in corporates. My life has sharpened me to
be an individual who can now look life in the eye when it looks at me.
2) Can you tell me why you want to leave your current
company?
This
question checks the stability of a candidate. It helps to check how do they describe their employer. It shows
the outlook a person has towards his/her own choices and priorities of life.
Tip: You can start with your
experiences at your current company and why a new challenge is something that
would drive your career forward.
Answer: In my current company I have learned a
lot about technical skills but in order to grow and survive in the competitive
market I want to learn management skills as well. For that, I need a challenging environment where I can improve and enhance my
overall skills.
3) Why we should consider you among others?
This question is asked to figure out
your capabilities to see how the company can utilise them for the best. They
just want to see your competitive spirit and how good you are on presenting
your.
Tip: Try to a summary
of your abilities and try to connect them to the requirement of the company.
Answer: You can consider
me because this is the best platform for me to showcase my creative thinking
along with my analytical dexterity. I think project completion within the stipulated time period
is essential. I am flexible to strengthen the yield of the company.
4) After 5 or 10 years where you see yourself?
This
question determines how focused you are on your career. It also helps the
interviewer figure your future with the company.
Tip: Don’t say vague answer because this conveys a
message that you have low value for this job. Try to structure your career plan
in front of the interviewer briefly.
Answer: I am planning to learn and understand the market and
want to invest my energy in understanding the entire product lifecycle in the
next 5 to 7 years. After that I see myself heading a product development project.
5) What is your salary expectation?
This
is asked to gauge your expectation and weigh that with respect to your worth to
the company.
Tip: In this situation, be realistic and try to do
research about the company salary scale and connect to the people working in
similar roles. You can also check in many authenticated web-sites for the
salary reviews as well. It is safe to ask for a 30% jump at the least.
Answer: I am looking at CTC of 8 lakhs per annum. My current
CTC is 5 lakhs and I am due a promotion at the end of this quarter.
6) You see yourself as a leader or follower?
This
question is asked to determine your work style, team work abilities and
self-management skill. The interviewer usually asks this to know how you tackle
different situations.
Tip: Never try to stick to one style of
working but on the flexibility, you offer.
Answer: Over the year, I have held many positions of
responsibilities which required strong leadership skills. I have been a part of
many teams as well. Being leader or follower depends on the situations but I believe
I posses both the qualities and can mould myself according to the requirement of
the company and role.
7) Tell me about
an accomplishment that you are most proud of?
By
asking this, the interviewer is trying to not only access your potential but
also checking how self-aware are you.
Tip: Make sure you give context and highlight the reason behind
your choice.
Answer: I have earned many awards and appreciation but the
best accomplishment that made me proud is when I won the “Inter-university
Hackathon Challenge”, because the success reflected the immense amount of hard
work and effort I put in to learn and master programming skills which I only
had rudimentary knowledge of.
8)
What was your biggest
failure?
Interviewers are well aware that
every interviewee tries to highlight their positive aspects. By asking this question
the interviewer wants to know your low phases and how you handled such times.
Tip:
Now, in this competitive market you have to
prepare yourself to portray the best you have even if the question is about
failures. You can show that you stayed optimistic even when you failed but
learnt how to overcome the situation and you are capable enough to mould your
life accordingly.
Answer: I believe my biggest failure was when my team was not
able to meet the target, that was a tough situation. We were just a mile away
but things were not in our favour. Being the team leader, I highlighted the positives
to everyone and yes of course where we failed to put extra effort. But this
failure taught me a lot and in future we made sure we reach our target
achievement and project completion.
9)
How do you
handle difficult situations?
This is usually asked to determine your stress management
and ability to work under pressure. It helps the interviewer understand if you
can step up when it counts.
Tip:
Showcase your ability to remain calm
and not lose your focus when you are put in an alien situation or under extreme
pressure.
Answer: If there is a difficult situation, the first thing I
do it to make sure that I mitigate the immediate negative repercussions of the
situation. Once that is done, I start analysing and finding the root cause so
that I can figure out a solution to make amends. Difficult situations come with
their share of pressure, but I am fortunate to say that pressure does not
impale me but improves my performance instead. The best way is to figure out
what went wrong, come up with ideas to improve the situation and make sure such
a disaster does not occur in the future.
10)
If you are asked to fire someone then how you will do
it?
This question is asked to test your
emotional intelligence and as well as your soft skills. It will also check your
situational understanding and ability to take tough calls.
Tip:
Explain
how you will try to maintain your tone as sympathetic
yet firm. Mention that you prefer to follow the company policy in such a case.
Answer: Firstly, I will
go through the company procedure regarding dismissals. I will speak to the
concerned person and provide a solid reason behind the decision. I will appreciate their positive contributions for the
company but will also show them negatives points which eventually led to this decision
and why it is irreversible. I will forward the decision with reasons to the HR
manager.
11)
What questions have I not asked you?
This question checks your creativity
to come up with innovative questions that interviewer might be interested to
ask It determines your presence of mind and alertness throughout the interview
session.
Tip:
This is considered as the
best question to impress the interviewer. For better communication, prepare yourself for this before
the interview session and try to come up with different questions.
Answer:
Mention only those question for which
you are prepared well and interviewer haven’t asked from you.
·
If you had
a chance to meet someone from history who would it be and why?
·
If you
could ask three questions to your mentor, what would those be?
12) Tell me why we shouldn’t hire you?
Most interview questions are about
personality and many interviews are all about positive contributions, but this
question is asked to know if you know yourself in terms of weaknesses.
Interviewers are keen to know how you explain and measure yourself if a situation
is against you.
Tip:
Answering this question needs
self-introspection. Try to answer the question showcasing the positives in you
even when a situation in not in your favour. Show you are eager to learn and
overcome the flaws you have.
Answer: My background is technical but my job experience is
in management as well. I see myself as a learner, but if you consider only
management degree for this job then this can be considered as a loop hole for
me to grab this opportunity.
Conclusion:
Career development is a continuous process and for the
better success story all you need to focus on career development on every step
of life. Before any regrets for not trying the best, you can do for yourself.
Career development is the key to unlock the improvement phase for yourself and
after getting pro at the career development will help to face the toughest
questions of job interview at ease.
For more comprehensive interview question details, Click Out this link :
Common Interview Questions
AUTHOR BIO
Abhyank
Srinet holds a Masters in Management degree from ESCP Europe & has an engineering
degree with a specialization in Instrumentation & Control. His interest
in the digital landscape motivated him to create an online start up for Masters
in Management application consulting (MiM-Essay),
focused on spreading quality information about the MiM degree &
performing application consulting services for clients. He is the chief
consultant of the company and takes care of Business Development and Digital
Marketing side of the company. He is very passionate about writing and
marketing.
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