Cracking Tough Job Interview Questions Like a Pro

Do you find interviews an overwhelming and stressful experience? Even with a well-written CV and cover letter, being invited to an interview can trigger nerves and anxiety! From hard interview questions to the challenge of virtual interviews, many people start to sweat when asked to discuss their work experience and career goals. But there are plenty of ways to prepare yourself for an upcoming interview, whether in-person or online. In this article, we’re going to help you Crack Tough Job Interview Questions Like a Pro by giving you some interview tips and interview answers. So grab a coffee and let’s get into it!

Tell Me About Your Weaknesses.

One of the most common yet hard interview questions to answer when in front of a recruiter or hiring manager is, “What are your weaknesses?” And while this one tends to be dodged by many candidates by revealing that being a perfectionist is a weakness, this really isn’t the best interview answer. So the next time you hear this during an interview, give a genuine weakness in work but immediately counteract the weakness by following it with a solution or way that you’re proactively overcoming it. This shows that you can acknowledge your own weaknesses but also that you work hard to improve yourself.

Here is a video that may help

Why Do You Want To Work Here?

Next, let’s talk about the best interview answer for the main reason you are applying for the role. No, you can’t talk about salary expectations, even if this is the case! Focus on what the company can offer you in terms of its goals, culture and career progression opportunities. Be prepared to answer this question with ease, even if you feel a little nervous on the day of the interview, make sure to research the company’s values, mission statement and how they describe their company culture. Express your excitement to join the team and why you believe you will become a valuable member of the team.

What Are Your Strengths?

Another hard interview question to answer when being interviewed relates to your strengths. Our best interview tip to ace this tricky question is to highlight your skills, wealth of experience and key qualities, especially if you’re applying for a senior position that requires a solid understanding of the industry, or you need to demonstrate people-management skills.

Use this part of the interview to provide the recruiter with specific examples of your strengths and how they match up with the job requirements. For instance, you could say, “One of my key strengths is my attention to detail. In my previous role, I was responsible for putting together presentations and proposals, and my eye for detail helped me catch errors that could have been costly for the company.”

How Do You Handle Stress At Work?

What’s the best interview answer for handling stress at work? This hard interview question tends to come up when being interviewed for roles within sales and hospitality. These sectors tend to involve dealing with the general public or customers on a daily basis and with this can come high levels of stress. So, the employer needs to know that the person they choose to hire can work well when under pressure. To answer this question well, describe your personal process for managing work-related stress, such as prioritising the main tasks and taking regular breaks to re-energise and clear your mind.

Give Me An Example Of How You Overcame An Obstacle At Work?

Employers want to know how you’ll deal with problems when they come. So when this hard interview question comes up, try to describe a specific issue you had, the methods you took to overcome it, and the results you obtained when addressing this question. Use the STAR interview method.

Situation: Describe the specific situation you were in.

Task: Explain the task you were trying to accomplish.

Action: Describe the actions you took to achieve the task.

Result: Finally, describe the outcome of your actions. What did you achieve or learn from the situation? What impact did your actions have on the organisation or team?

For example, you could state, “We experienced unanticipated delays while working on a project. I took the initiative to reassign duties and develop a new timeline that took the delays into consideration. As a result, we finished the project on schedule and within budget.”

The Challenge Of Virtual Interviews & How To Impress Recruiters

If you’re actively applying for new roles, then expect to have a virtual interview. Since they can be far more time-effective and convenient for recruiters, virtual interviews are becoming the most popular way to filter out candidates before meeting in person. But they come with their own set of challenges such as technical difficulties and a lack of face-to-face engagement.

To impress recruiters during a virtual interview, one of the best interview tips is to make sure your technology is up and running before the interview starts and dress as you would any interview and try to make eye contact with the webcam to indicate confidence and involvement.

Make sure to have your best interview answers at hand and noted down to feel prepared for anything the recruiter will ask and have a set of questions to ask about the job and the company to demonstrate your interest in the role. At the end of the interview, follow up with an email to the recruiter thanking them for their time and asking about the next steps moving forward. This is a great way of giving yourself the best possible chance of success and making a lasting impression on the person who interviewed you!

Good luck!

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