Job interviews are nerve-wracking–until they aren’t. As anyone who’s marathoned through job interviews would know, there’s always room for surprise, but eventually, a certain predictability sets in.
The same questions keep popping up, maybe with slightly different phrasing. And it’s not even about a specific industry or position. There are so-called universal questions that you’d be well-advised to draft your answers to before, especially if they’re the tricky sort where your brain goes blank right after.
Rather than focus on more obscure examples such as Cisco’s “What kind of tree would you be?” and Trader Joe’s “What would you do if you found a penguin in the freezer?”, we’ve compiled five more common but equally tough questions that recruiters just love:
“Tell me more about yourself.”
If you had to answer this with zero preparation, you’d freeze up–how are you supposed to summarize the person that you are in a few sentences? More often than not, this is the classic opening of job interviews.
One path would be to look down at your CV and explain what’s in there, except in first-person, sentence format. Another would be to throw it out altogether and branch off on a tangent about how you love capoeira or binge on sushi. Both are wrong on their own.
This question can be rephrased as “What’s your elevator pitch?” Weave a story, two minutes max, of why you’d be perfect for the role–and you can bring up hobbies, too, but find a way to relate them to the job.
“What’s your greatest weakness?”
You’re supposed to look and act your best on interviews–and this question trips that up because you’re supposed to reveal where you’re weak.
Don’t go with non-answers such as “I’m too organized and I work well beyond hours” or “I’m too much of a perfectionist.” Nobody’s going to believe that, and your interviewer is going to peg you as someone inauthentic.
The key is to be honest by revealing a genuine flaw of yours, but emphasize how you’ve been trying to improve it and how you’re going to take this into account in your new role.
“What’s your greatest achievement?”
Beyond checking out how good you are, recruiters also use this to detect whether your values align with the company’s. Achievement is a broad term, and what you say reflects your mindset–citing a moment when you helped someone has a different ring to being proud that you beat out everyone.
As with all of the other questions, what’s crucial here is the storytelling. Lay out the context, explain what you were aiming for and how you did it, and back up with numbers and metrics if possible.
“Where do you see yourself X years from now?”
The future is unpredictable. But to say flat out that you have completely no idea wouldn’t be a good move.
Companies would want you to stay if they hire you, so try to describe a future that’s consistent with the role you’re applying for. If you’re aiming to be a designer, don’t say that you see yourself eventually as a stand-up comedian. You don’t have to be too specific, though–nobody can predict the future.
Another response to steer clear of, even if it’s true, is admitting that you eventually plan to be an entrepreneur–admirable on its own, but not for companies looking to hire long-term.
“How did you handle conflict with a teammate?”
Compared to its more conditional cousin (“How would you handle conflict?”), questions that refer to past experience can be more informative for recruiters because they reveal what you actually do, rather than what you think you’d do.
Important points to address would be what started the conflict in the first place, the root cause of the conflict (e.g. difference in values, miscommunication), and, finally, how you were able to resolve it.
Aside from testing how you work with people, this also showcases your communication skills. Make sure to end it on a positive note and detail how you were able to learn from it.
The post 5 Tricky Interview Questions that Recruiters Love appeared first on Sprout.
source https://sprout.ph/blog/5-tricky-interview-questions-that-recruiters-love/
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