How to Answer Tough Questions
While most of the questions listed in the previous chapter have an analysis with them that help you answer them, there are some general tips that will help you with the overall answering process.
Think
Even if you’ve studied all of the questions and have all your answers prepared and ready to go, odds are, you’ll forget at least one when the time comes. Don’t spout off the first thing that comes to mind when you get stuck. Sit back, relax, and give yourself a few seconds to compose yourself.
Your boss isn’t going to think you’re unprepared when you do this. In fact, many professional interviews have this thinking time as part of the interview process. For example, when you interview to be a police officer, you are given three minutes to answer each question. You are allowed to use all three minutes to think and answer — the thinking process is built into the time allowance.
Be Concise
Not every answer needs to be a paragraph long. Answer the question in as little words as you can. If you go into a question thinking you need to elaborate, you may get stuck and start to feel overwhelmed.
If you have the urge to tell a story related to a question, don’t. Your interviewer just wants to get to know you, not your whole life story. There is beauty in simplicity, and your interviewer will appreciate how eloquent you can be with your words. (Eloquent means that you’re really good at talking.)
Don’t Say “Um”
Almost all of us have had an encounter with the famous “um.” And it isn’t just a useless word; according to Herbert Clark of Stanford University, words and phrases like “uh,” “um,” and “you know” have meaning in our speech. It’s a way of letting the other person know that we’re thinking: “If we anticipate a delay in our speech, we choose the appropriate sound to signal this to the listener. These phrases mean ‘I need to make sure you realize I’m delaying because I’m having trouble.’”
However, these words can make a bad impression and can make you seem unprepared. Two ways to minimize how much you may end up using these words are: prepare your answers beforehand, and use a few seconds to think about your answer before speaking.
Be Yourself
When it comes to answering the questions, always be true to yourself. Don’t say you’re organized if you aren’t, but bring a positive side to the statement by saying that you’re working on it or that you’ve been taking specific steps to becoming better.
If a question is asked about a specific situation, and you can’t think of one, explain how you would act if it did happen. For example: “Well, I’ve never had to deal with a rude co-worker, but if I did in the future, this is what I would do.”
Everything you say should be based on reality. Your interviewer wants to get to know you, and if you make up situations that aren’t based on anything in real life, they’ll eventually find out.
Speak With Confidence
You have prepared your answers, and you’re confident; show it through the way you speak. Speak loud enough so that the other person can hear you (nothing makes you seem more wimpy than a small, quiet voice), look directly in the interviewers eyes, and smile.
By using your voice, your eye contact, and your smile, you’ll be beaming with confidence and your interviewer will be impressed. Even if one of your answers comes out a little lame, the fact that you’re confident will help mask it.
Try Practicing/Roleplaying
You’re familiar with the questions you’ll be asked, you’ve thought about your answers, and you have so much interview advice flowing through you that it’s spilling out your ears. Still don’t feel like you’re ready? It’s all right. Read the sample interview below and you’ll feel so prepared, you won’t know what to do with yourself.
Sample Interview
Applicant: Charlie Davis
Position: Cashier
Interviewer: “Hello Charlie, I’m Dianna. We spoke on the phone. I’m pleased to meet you in person. Were my directions OK?”
Interviewee: “Oh yes, I found the place with no problem.”
Interviewer: “Great. We’re ready to get started so just follow me.”
Interviewee: “Sure.”
Interviewer: “I know we discussed the fact that two of us will be doing the interview. Don’t worry, we’re not here to intimidate you; we simply find it’s very valuable to get more than one opinion on a person’s suitability.”
Interviewee: “I understand, and I’ve been preparing for the interview.”
Interviewer: “Charlie, I’d like you to meet Greg. Greg is the direct supervisor of the position for which you are applying. He and I will be conducting the interview together. Are you ready to get started?”
Interviewee: “Sure, as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Interviewer: “Oh, one last thing: In order for us to remember your responses we will be taking notes. Please don’t let that distract you.”
Interviewee: “OK.”
Interviewer: “OK, let’s start by having you telling us a bit more about yourself. Tell me something that I wouldn’t know just from reviewing your résumé.”
Interviewee: “Well, I have two younger sisters. As the big brother, I like to get involved with the activities they like, so I have been learning a lot about ballet.”
Interviewer: “Thanks for sharing that with us. Can you tell me why you are applying for this job?”
Interviewee: “Sure, I’ve been looking to start working part time and get experience in customer service.
Interviewer: “So what is the most important element you require in a job?”
Interviewee: “Although I have volunteered extensively in the past few years, I really want to learn more about the workplace, so I want a job where I know I will be learning.”
Interviewer: “How do you know when you’ve done a good job?”
Interviewee: “I know when I do a good job because I feel like I did everything I could in the situation. I don’t need someone else to be constantly telling me what a good job I did, although that’s nice every so often. I can tell in myself when I’ve worked hard at a job and done my best.”
Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you knew you did an exceptional job and no one commented specifically on it.”
Interviewee: “Actually, it was just last week. The organization I volunteer for was having a big fundraising event and we were short staffed. Even though my shift setting up was over, I decided to stay throughout the event to ensure everything ran smoothly. No one ever acknowledged that, but I was still glad that I stayed to help out.”
The interview is underway and now the interviewer may start asking competency-focused questions. These questions are behavioral-based and require specific examples for each answer. Try to build a comfortable interview environment and give honest, straightforward answers.
Interviewer: “That’s great. In the role of cashier, you will be required to communicate with customers regularly. How would you rate your communication skills?”
Interviewee: “I would give myself an eight. I haven’t had experience working with customers in this exact setting before, but I have frequently communicated with the attendees of events my volunteer organization has put on. Because they are our donors, we have been trained to communicate effectively with them and quickly deal with any concerns they have.”
Interviewer: “Tell me about how you communicate with your current supervisor concerning project processes, concerns, and suggestions.”
Interviewee: “Well, I try to keep my supervisor very well informed. I work as her assistant so she needs to know where I am at as we plan different events. We have an arrangement where I can come to her with any questions and concerns and she requires a weekly update on my progress.”
Interviewer: “What about suggestions you may have? How do you communicate those ideas?”
Interviewee: “I try not to spring things on her. I think my ideas through, and then if they truly make sense, I ask for a meeting. That way I have time to prepare my suggestion, and I know she has time to hear what I am saying.”
Interviewer: “Communication is often a key stumbling block for a project’s success. Give me an example of a situation where proper communication allowed you to get a project done quickly.”
Interviewee: “That happened a few months ago. The faculty supervisor of the club I am president of asked me to make up a letter to give to all the homeroom teachers of the members of our club. I knew that would be a pretty time-consuming undertaking, because there are a lot of members in our organization. I asked her the purpose of the letter, and she said it was to alert members that elections would be the following week. When she said it, I realized that we could just announce the information on the school’s morning announcement. By asking that one question, I saved a lot of time and was able to get the information out in a much more efficient manner.”
Charlie did not appear to need many explanations, and his answers to the communication questions were quite good. Certainly no red flags were raised, and the interviewer probed for more specific information regarding how the applicant actually used good communication to work efficiently.
Interviewer: “There are many employees in our organization and you will work with many of them. Please tell me about the relationships you have with key people at your current workplace.”
Interviewee: “Well, I don’t have a workplace exactly right now, but I do work with a couple of other volunteers at the nonprofit I help out at. I work mainly with my supervisor and two other volunteers, one of which I go to school with. My boss and I have a good relationship — she really understands how passionate I am about our organization, and she is always receptive to my fundraising ideas. She is also a generally positive person, so she doesn’t bring the mood down if she is having difficultly with something. My relationship with the volunteer that is also my classmate is pretty good. We both really love working at the organization and actually have a lot of classes together in school. We try to help each other out, and it’s a very give-and-take relationship. The other volunteer, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to get along with. He tends to be moody and quite focused on his own specific duties. Not so much a team player, which I prefer to work with. I think our main difference is that, while I volunteer because I like to, he volunteers to get service hours for school. Having said that, though, we do have a respectful relationship; it is just much more business-like and curt than other relationships I have at the organization.”
Interviewer: “Tell me more about this relationship you have with the second volunteer. Can you describe the last time you encountered difficulty? What happened and what was the result?”
Interviewee: “It was last week actually. It was at that same big event that I mentioned earlier. He was also only signed up to help set up the event. When some of our volunteers fell through, it was clear to me that we would have to step in to help run the rest of the event. I asked him if he would be able to stay and work with me. He snapped, “I finished what I said I would.” I explained the situation to him, but he said he had other things to do with his time. I, too, had a couple of assignments for class that I could have worked on, but I felt that helping out was the right thing to do. However, I let it go and just asked a couple of friends that I knew could use the service hours if they would like to come out and help.”
Interviewer: “Can you tell me about another time you had difficulties with someone other than him? What was the situation and how did you handle it?”
Interviewee: “Well, recently I was working with a man from another company to see about renting a tent for our upcoming 5k race. At first, negotiations on the price of the tent were going fine, but then he found out that I was just a student volunteer and tried to hike the price way over our budget. I tried to get him to compromise, but he refused. I guess he thought that because I was just a student, I wouldn’t know a reasonable price from an unreasonable one. The situation just wasn’t working out, so I let my supervisor know and she took care of the tent rental instead. In the future, I believe we will be using a different company.”
This portion of the interview yielded some very interesting facts about Charlie and the way he deals with people. It seems he gets along very well with people when there are no issues to deal with or when the person is a good match for his personality. He also demonstrated that he is relatively good at handling conflict and knows when to hand the situation off to a superior.
Interviewer: “In this role, you will be working with a variety of people. Can you tell me about a time when you needed to understand another person’s cultural background in order to work effectively with him or her?”
Interviewee: “Actually, at school we just got a transfer student from Australia. She is in my English class and we were assigned to the same group for a project. At first, her work ethic really bothered me. She was too relaxed and too methodical for me, and I found myself getting irritated. She was doing her part of the project fine, she just wasn’t doing them with the same zest that I would have, and I knew it was my issue, not hers. Since I’d never been to Australia or knew any Australians, I invited her join my friends during our lunch period, and we got to talking about her culture and what life was like “down under.” Turns out she was equally perplexed by our American vigor — things in Australia move at a slower pace and there is not that sense of urgency we experience here. I felt so good after talking with her, and now I understand where she is coming from.”
Interviewer: “As a cashier, you will often be asked for help by our customers. I’m interested in understanding your approach when dealing with people who may not be satisfied with your responsiveness.”
Interviewee: “Hmmm, I must say that I am very responsive to people’s requests. I think it is important to keep everyone satisfied.”
Interviewer: “OK, but what I’m really interested in hearing is a specific incident where someone made a request of you that maybe you didn’t have time for or couldn’t get to. How did the negative feedback make you feel and what did you do?”
Interviewee: “There was this one time when one of our donors called up the organization I volunteer for to complain about the seat she was assigned for our upcoming dinner event. She did not like one of the couples that would be at her table and wanted to be switched. However, the tables were organized by the amount donated, with people who donated more being seated at a table closer to the stage. I definitely did not have the authority to move her to a different table, and couldn’t transfer her to a superior because they were all busy. I asked if I might be able to call her back later with a resolution, but she was not particularly happy with that suggestion. Although I did not want to, I ended up interrupting one of my superiors to have her handle the situation. Things ended up working out for the best, but the situation did make me feel very uncomfortable.”
Notice how Charlie tried to avoid the “negatively” slanted customer service question. While you may tempted to do this, it is always better to give an honest answer. His example about the donor demonstrated once again that he understands when a conflict has gotten out of hand and has to be handed over to a superior to be dealt with. The one negative about his answer would be his slight negative description of the donor. Instead of saying she called to complain, it might sound better to the interviewer if he said that she called to discuss an issue. You do not want to make it seem that you tend to lay blame on the customer.
Interviewer: “Charlie, can you tell me about a time when you had to make a decision very fast? What was the situation and outcome?”
Interviewee: “Oh gosh, fast decisions scare me, but I know sometimes you have no choice. Well, certainly the decision to stay and help out at that event we were understaffed for was quick, but it was helpful to the organization and I was able to finish my schoolwork the following day.”
In this situation, the interviewer recognizes quickly that Charlie doesn’t have much experience with quick decision-making. However, in the case of the position he is interviewing for, this is often not a problem. In the position of cashier, Charlie will be trained to deal with the most common problems that cashiers of this particular store typically have, and any other problems that come up will probably need to be addressed by his manager. However, this is not always the case. Other jobs you may choose to apply for may require good decision making skills, so consider whether or not that is something you are comfortable doing.
Interviewer: “We send out our shift schedule the Saturday before the next work week. Tell me how you would plan out your week to make sure you could cover all your shifts.”
Interviewee: “Well, thankfully, my volunteering schedule is very flexible, so I would work that schedule around this one. I use my calendar on my smartphone to keep track of all of my appointments and volunteering shifts, so I would continue to use that system for keeping track of my work schedule.”
Interviewer: “What exact types of activities do you track in your smartphone calendar?”
Interviewee: “I use it to write deadlines for school projects, meetings for clubs, and fundraising events for my volunteer organization. I like to have those reminders so I don’t forget to do something important or miss a deadline or meeting or something.”
Interviewer: “Well, that brings me to my next question. Can you describe for me a time when you did miss a deadline? What happened and what was the result?”
Interviewee: “Well, it doesn’t happen very often, but a few months ago I had several projects to work on all at once, and I was a day late submitting an assignment for my history class. I had the deadline in my calendar, but I got so busy with my other work that I just completely forgot about it. Thankfully, I was able to talk to my teacher about my situation and she gave me an extension. It was my first time turning something in late, so she was very forgiving. What I’ve done since then is set reminders for each of my deadlines and important other dates. Now, the day before a deadline or event I have noted in my calendar, I get a message on my smartphone reminding me of it.”
Interviewer: “Besides your smartphone calendar, do you use any other planning tools on a regular basis?”
Interviewee: “No, not really. My smartphone is really all I need. It works for me and now that I can’t miss seeing my deadlines, I haven’t had a problem. I am a naturally very organized person — you should see my room — so my smartphone is my way of backing up the information that I store in my brain.”
Interviewer: “Can you relate for me a time when you had to cut corners in order to complete a project on time?”
Interviewee: “I’m not the type who cuts corners. There are times when I realize I didn’t get everything done in a day that needed to be done so I just stay late and complete the work properly. I am very committed to my grades and my volunteer work and I will put in whatever time is necessary to complete the job properly. I have a strong work ethic, and I don’t see myself ever being able to sacrifice quality for speed.”
In this section of questions, Charlie is able to turn a negative answer (missing a project deadline) into a positive about what he learned. His use of reminders seems to work well for him, and the fact that the situation he describes is the only time he has missed a deadline is certainly a point in his favor.
While it is good that Charlie uses some sort of system to organize his life, the fact that he only uses one organizational system might be a negative in the eyes of the interviewer. He plans for deadlines and major events, but he makes no mention of daily task planning or prioritization. It is interesting to note that the last question in the section affirms why effective planning is so important. If Charlie did use a daily to-do list or some other prioritization process, he would not have to stay up late to complete his work.
Interviewer: “Charlie, I’d like to switch gears a bit and get to know a little more about you and specifically what you find motivating.”
Interviewee: “I love responsibility. I am really motivated when I know my volunteering supervisor trusts me to complete my work and doesn’t feel the need to check up on me or hover over me. Not that I don’t take direction well, because I do. I just work my best when it’s on me to ask questions and for clarification rather than my supervisor assuming I need help or assistance when I don’t. I think I’m also like a lot of other people in that I like to hear that I’m doing a good job or that my work is appreciated. No one needs to take out a big ad in the paper but a genuine ‘thank you’ every once in a while certainly makes me want to work extra hard.”
Interviewer: “So, tell me about the last time you felt really unmotivated to do something.”
Interviewee: “Well, I guess every month when I know I have to create the meeting agenda for the club I’m president of, I cringe inside. Although I love the club, it’s not my favorite task. But I know it has to be done, so I set up a little competition with myself. I came up with the idea when I realized I was getting the agenda done later and later. I set a time that I have to have it all written up — there are no excuses and no second chances — and if I get it done in time, I treat myself to a milkshake from my favorite ice cream shop. I’ve been doing it for a couple months now and it has helped immensely.”
Interviewer: “Describe for me the things you have liked about your volunteer organization and clubs.”
Interviewee: “As I said before, responsibility is really important. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have been able to work with a team of people in both my volunteering position and in my school club that, for the most part, are just as dedicated to doing a good job as I am. I hate when I’m working in a group, like for a group project in school, where my team members just don’t care and I have to end up doing the majority of the work.”
Interviewer: “Our office is based on the team approach, so I would like to hear about a situation where you motivated others to complete an assignment or to do a good job.”
Interviewee: “I think I motivate others just with my optimism and positive outlook. I really try not to bring negativity when I’m working with a team. I like to demonstrate what I think is the right attitude to have toward assigned responsibilities.”
Interviewer: “Can you describe a specific situation where you did something overt, or beyond just displaying a positive attitude, to motivate someone else?”
Interviewee: “I guess what I do is use a lot of praise and encouragement and try to pay extra attention to the person in order to cheer them up. Like last week I was working on a group project and one of my group members was pretty disappointed because she found out she was not accepted to the summer medical program she applied to. I invited her to eat lunch with me one day and told her how much I admired her for her determination and dedication to her passions. I also made sure to let her know I appreciated her work on our project and thought her suggestions were great. After a few days, I noticed her attitude changed and she thanked me for being so considerate. That felt good.”
This section is very insightful. Here Charlie reveals more personal aspects of his personality and preferences to try to demonstrate to the interviewer that he will be an asset to the company.
You’ll also notice that Charlie has more difficulty with this line of questioning than the others and that is likely because motivation is an ability that has an ethereal quality to it. It’s hard for a candidate to give a specific answer to what he or she finds motivational, so, now that you know it’s a possible topic you’ll have to talk about during an interview, you should prepare yourself by determining what you find motivational.
Although there is no harm in preparing yourself for an interview and thinking of answers to possible questions, make sure that your responses do not sound canned or coached. Always be leery of making generalizations and try to give detailed, specific examples of times when you actually demonstrated the skill.
Interviewer: “Finally, I want to talk about stress management. Can you tell me what your current workplace is like in terms of stress and pressure?”
Interviewee: “Given that I’m just a volunteer, there isn’t too much pressure placed on me. Sometimes, the office that we operate from can get hectic before one of our big events, but thankfully, we’re usually pretty well prepared for those. Mostly, it’s pretty casual and we all get along fairly well, so there’s not a lot of stress. However, as the president of one of my school clubs, there can sometimes be a good deal of pressure on me. I want to make sure that everyone that attends the meetings feels involved, and picking out events for us to host at school can be stressful sometimes.”
Interviewer: “Can you tell me about a particularly stressful time that you encountered recently and how you handled it?”
Interviewee: “I actually mentioned this situation before, but it was when a donor called upset about the table she’d been placed at for one of our dinner events. She was really upset about what had happened, especially because she said she had specifically requested that she not be seated with the couple she was sitting next to. I wasn’t in charge of making the table arrangements and didn’t have the authority to change her seat so I tried to explain that to her. However, she was way too upset to listen to me, so she just ended up yelling when I told her I’d have to call her back about her problem. Although my supervisors were busy, I was able to get one to help me and she was able to take over the call and remedy the situation. Everything turned out OK, but it was the first time I’d ever had to deal with an upset donor of ours, so I was pretty anxious on the call.”
Interviewer: “Tell me about what triggers stress for you. Use a specific example.”
Interviewee: “Well, that donor certainly stressed me out. I knew I was getting stressed because my heart started beating fast and I could feel my face turning red. I didn’t want to upset the donor further, but I also didn’t want her to keep yelling at me. Other times when I’ve been stressed I’ve started to shake and I could feel the adrenaline rushing inside me. Luckily, I’m an avid jogger so I can get all the tension out on a regular basis that way.”
It was pretty obvious from the start of this topic that Charlie’s ability to handle stress is not that great. However, it is also obvious that he has had little experience dealing with stress in the workplace, so it may be something that will diminish with time and experience.
Interviewer: “Alright, well that’s all we have for you. Thanks for coming in.”
Interviewee: “Thank you. When should I expect to hear back from you?”
Interviewer: “We will let you know within the next week.”
Interviewee: “Sounds great. I look forward to it.”
If you have any questions, and there wasn’t a great time during the interview to ask them, be sure to ask them at the end. Here, Charlie asked when he would be hearing back from the interviewers. However, you can substitute any questions you may have.
Hopefully you found some examples in this interview that are helpful when you’re reviewing the sample questions. You should expect your interview to be about 30 minutes or so. When you start applying for more professional jobs that require you to have, say, a college degree, they will spend more time interviewing you (perhaps an hour or more), and they are more likely to do multiple interviews.
While the situation may bring out anxiety in you, just remember that your future doesn’t ride on this one interview. If it’s your first one, go into it with the mindset that this is a practice round. You’ll feel more at-ease, and you won’t get your hopes up.
Whatever happens, just remember that you’re confident, you’re capable, and you’re prepared (even if you don’t feel like it).
In the next chapter, we’ll talk about what you should be doing during the actual interview.
