Answering the Tough Job Interview Questions

Delivering high impact answers to job interview’s most intriguing and challenging questions

Applicants are already familiar with some of job interview’s trickiest set of questions like “Can you tell me something about yourself?” and “Why should we hire you?” Despite knowing these, applicants still struggle to come up with the perfect answers to these tough job interview questions.

Job interviewers use these questions to:

• See if the applicant is psychologically prepared for the interview – Job applicants oftentimes stammer when explaining to the interviewer their personal background, since most render their answers in a rehearsed tone.
• Decipher an applicant’s intention with the company – Interviewers generally ask questions like “What can you do for our company should we hire you?” to weigh an applicant’s level of organizational understanding.
• Observe if the applicant did their homework of studying the company – Questions like “What do you know about the company” or “What is our company’s mission and vision” seeks to investigate whether an applicant studied about what the company generally stands and works for.
• Detect if the applicant is indeed qualified for the position – Job interview questions simply want to extract powerful objectives, present, and future career goals in applicants.

Below is a list of some of the most common yet hard to answer interview questions that leave applicants silent and stunned on their seats.

• Can you tell me more about yourself?
  This is the job interview’s warm-up question. This question is an opportunity for interviewers to introduce themselves with objective-filled statements that zero in on their personal background, educational achievements, and career experience. How to answer: Start out by introducing yourself to the interviewer. Emphasize on your personal life, educational achievements, and career profile without exhausting all the “good and juicy” stuff reserved in the latter part of the interview.
• What do you know about your company?
  Many applicants find this question very difficult to answer, especially if they forgot to study the company’s business ethos and core mission. After being invited for a job interview, applicants must research about the company they have applied for by understanding the company’s mission and vision, products/services rendered, organizational structure, and recognition’s. How to answer: “From what I have researched, (name of the company) is a reputable logistics provider that works with different industry players in the field of sports equipment. Also, the company is well-known for being one of (name of client) most trusted and reliable business partner in mobilizing its services to its target demographics in a national and international scale.”
• What makes you more qualified than the rest?
  This question allows you to highlight some vital points about your key strengths and competencies. Furthermore, this is the stage of the interview where the applicant is expected to engage the interviewer with self-touting branding strategies.  How to answer: Instead of comparing yourself with other people, it is more convincing and powerful if the interviewer gets to know more about your key strengths. Discuss your specialties and bolster your reputation, while at the same time citing past achievements that made you what you are today.
• What are your weaknesses?
  Job interviewers ask this to trick applicants into revealing their vulnerabilities. This is the part of the job interview whether the applicant chooses whether to bluff or tell the truth.How to answer: Bluff a little. Do not give away your weaknesses in the most understandable perspective, unless you want the interview to end with a “We’ll just call you” remark. Artificially coat your weakness/es, and hint the interviewer that you will rather want to talk more about your strengths and core competencies.