You're preparing for a job interview. What's the best way to answer difficult questions? Whether you're applying for a local or a global position, you need to show your potential employer that you can handle challenging situations and solve problems. Here are some tips to help you ace the interview and impress the hiring manager.
Before the interview, do some research on the company, its culture, its goals, and the role you're applying for. This will help you understand what kind of skills, values, and behaviors they are looking for, and how you can align your answers with them. You can use their website, social media, annual reports, news articles, or industry publications to gather relevant information. You can also reach out to your network or use platforms like Glassdoor to get insights from current or former employees.
Go prepared in Interview by researching about the company's product, services and culture. This would also help in anticipating possible questions. Using real-life examples to explain your experience and showcase your problem-solving skills would work as well. Being confident and honest throughout the interview never goes unnoticed.
Although it takes time to research a company, it does not go unnoticed by the hiring team (trust me). The key things to know: The product/what they do Company vision & mission & values Bonus points if you can weave some of the company values into your conversation.
One of the most common methods to answer behavioral questions is to use the STAR technique, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This helps you structure your answer in a clear and concise way, and demonstrate how you applied your skills and knowledge to a specific situation. To prepare your STAR stories, think of some examples from your previous work or academic projects, where you faced a challenge, solved a problem, achieved a goal, or learned a lesson. Write down the key points of each story, and practice saying them out loud.
The biggest mistake people make is not being able to succinctly answer a question. The STAR method is a basic model you can follow. I would go one step further and record yourself on your phone answering prepared questions. You can watch them back to ensure you are clear & concise.
You can't predict every question that the interviewer will ask you, but you can prepare for some common or likely ones. For example, you can expect questions about your strengths and weaknesses, your motivation and goals, your fit with the company and the role, your knowledge of the industry and the market, and your cross-cultural skills and experience. You can also look at the job description and identify the main skills and qualifications required, and prepare some questions related to them. For example, if the role involves project management, you can prepare some questions about how you plan, organize, execute, and evaluate projects.
When answering difficult questions, it's important to be honest and positive. Don't lie or exaggerate about your skills, achievements, or background. If you don't know the answer to a question, admit it and say how you would find out or learn more. If you made a mistake or faced a failure in the past, acknowledge it and say what you learned from it and how you improved. Don't blame others or criticize your previous employers or colleagues. Instead, focus on the positive aspects of your experience and how you contributed to the team and the organization.
At the end of the interview, you will usually have the opportunity to ask questions of your own. This is a chance to show your interest and enthusiasm for the role and the company, and to clarify any doubts or concerns you may have. You can ask questions about the expectations, the challenges, the opportunities, the culture, the feedback, or the next steps of the hiring process. Avoid asking questions that are too personal, too trivial, or too negative. Also, avoid asking questions that you could have easily found out by doing some research beforehand.