Difficult Interview Question: How Did You And Your Last Supervisor Get Along?

Every interview question is an opportunity to sell yourself. Questions as simple as “What do you think of the weather today?” have potential to become bigger questions than they appear at first glance. Part of that is because all questions and answers have subtext. Yet another reason is because you, as the applicant, can make sure that you seize every question as an opportunity to make yourself look great. When the company asks you about your relationships with people in your past, you can give them a simple answer, or you can give them an amazing answer. Go for amazing every time.

How to Answer

Instead of simply saying the two of you got along well, why not use this as an opportunity to discuss things relevant to the job? Discuss how you communicated or how the two of you worked on a project. These are good opportunities to add accomplishments and details to your answer. As always, never complain about the supervisor or your relationship.

Bad Answer

“We got along okay. She and I respected each other and we often made jokes and scheduled useful meetings.”

Good Answer

“We got along quite well. She and I developed several different methods of communication so that we could more easily manage my projects, and we had open communication that allowed us to speak freely about our ideas before we came to an agreed upon conclusion…”

This is an answer that does more than just talk about your personal relationship. In fact, it does more than just talk about your professional relationship. Here, you discuss some of the activities you did that make you a great employee in addition to mentioning how you and your supervisor interacted.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Use every question as an opportunity.
• Never say bad things about your bosses.

Difficult Interview Question: Why Didn’t You Move Up in Your Previous Company?

Commitment is one of the best things to have on your resume. Employers want to see that you are not a chronic job quitter, and that you are willing to work long term at a company when the company meets your goals.

It does have a couple of downsides, however. For one thing, fewer jobs may mean fewer experiences to put on your resume. Still, this is unlikely as you have probably achieved a lot by working at one job for so long (even if you have a problem remembering all of it). The other issue that may come up is a lack of growth. If you stayed at the same position your entire time with your previous employer, the interviewer may wonder why you never moved up, which is usually the next step for those that work longer than a few years.

How to Answer

If the answer doesn’t reflect poorly on you, give an actual answer. Usually this involves no jobs opening up within the company (for example, having the same supervisor the entire time you worked in the organization). If the answer does reflect poorly on you, focus instead on how it didn’t meet your vision.

Bad Answer

“I don’t know. They did not offer me any better positions and I did not want to ask very much. I didn’t mind my work.”

This is not nearly an ambitious enough answer.

Good Answer

“My job responsibilities were constantly evolving, so while my title may not have changed, the role I played in the company grew greater with each passing year.”

This is a good default answer, because it’s almost always 100% true in some ways. If prompted to ask whether or not you wanted a job in a higher up role, you can state that you did believe any of the open positions met your long term goals.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Make yourself look good.
• Truth is acceptable when the answer is not in your control (such as a low turnover at the company).

Very Difficult Interview Question: Why Were You Fired?

If you were forced out of your previous company, you were either laid off (terminated without cause) or fired (terminated with cause). Being laid off does not reflect that poorly on you. Being fired does. Being fired will always affect your employment chances. Always. There is a reason that you should never try to get fired if you hate a job. If you hate the job, you need to quit, otherwise you may get fired and have a terrible time convincing other jobs that you are going to be a good employee.

If you are asked why you were fired, you cannot afford to lie. The interviewer need only call your previous employer and find out the reason for themselves, and then you are never getting the job. Your best bet is, instead, to minimize the damage.

How to Answer

Stay away from terms like “fired” or “insubordinate” or “drunk at work.” Anything that has a negative connotation you need to avoid. Also, don’t get defensive. This is not the time to claim it was not your fault. Use the following formula when creating your answer:

• Start out saying positive things about the company.
• Gloss over what happened.
• End with how you have worked on yourself.

As a special treat, we will give you two different good answers today. One that can show you how to explain that you were drunk at work, and another on how to explain being insubordinate to your manager.

Bad Answer (Drunk)

“I was fired because I showed up drunk at work. It was a stupid mistake that I will never do again.”

Bad Answer (Insubordinate)

“I was fired for a misunderstanding. It wasn’t my fault. I wrote my boss an email right after we had a fight and he assumed it was written angry but it wasn’t. It was unfair that they let me go.”

Good Answer (Drunk)

“I loved my previous employer. The work was enjoyable, and I got along well with both my coworkers and my supervisors. Unfortunately, my personal life had not been going as well, and one day I let my personal life interfere with my professional life. Since then I have sought out a great deal of help and I am currently in a much better place.”

Good Answer (Insubordinate)

“Ah, I was let go through something that was entirely my fault. I loved my work and the company. My supervisor and I used to exchange ideas openly, which of course is healthy for any workplace. Yet one day she and I were discussing one particular idea and the conversation got so passionate that it appeared to her that I was resisting her authority, which of course was not my intention. Since then I have made sure that I keep my tone down when discussing ideas so that my objectives are not misinterpreted.”

As you can see from these answers, you do address the issue head on, but you minimize it by complimenting your old work place (showing you are not bitter), putting the mistake into perspective and following up with what you have done to change.

Any time you are fired it can affect your chances of finding a job, so there is no guarantee that any of these answers will get you the role. They will, however, improve your chances of getting the job compared to the alternative of either telling the truth in poor terms or lying.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Getting fired will affect your job chances.
• Try to minimize the effect by saying positive things about the workplace, attacking the problem head on and showing what you have done to change.

Difficult Interview Question: What Was Wrong With Your Last Company?

“Their coffee was legitimately disgusting. Have you ever sniffed something so foul that you could taste it? Imagine actually drinking it with regularity. Just awful stuff. It was like someone died in the coffee beans and we brewed it in a temperature that promoted bacteria growth. Once they refused to buy better coffee I was out of there.”

Chances are you left your last job because it sucked. The work was hard, the hours were long, the pay was inadequate and your boss’s breath often smelled as though he ate the same spicy Mexican food twice. For obvious reasons you do not want to share this with your potential employer, so your best bet is to choose something that is probably true, but wasn’t the first thing on your mind when you quit.

How to Answer

Acceptable answers for why you left your last company include:

• There were not enough growth opportunities.
• You had doubts about the company’s long term viability.
• Corporate restructuring changed your role within the company.
• You moved to a different city/state.
• You wanted to try your hand at starting a business.
• You want to look for a company that better suited your long term goals.

Chances are if you hated your job, it was unlikely you were getting a raise or a promotion any time soon, so that last answer should be the go-to answer when you cannot come up with anything better. All of those are acceptable reasons to leave your last job. Hating anything about the job is not acceptable.

Bad Answer

“My supervisor and I tended to have disagreements over the proper course of action. Over time I felt that those disagreements were starting to cause my anxiety at work, and I decided it was time to leave.”

Good Answer

“I realized that the job did not suit my long term vision. I wanted to work closer to the psychology field, but as my tasks started to change I ended up working closer with sales and marketing. I would like to find a career that I can do the work I am passionate about both in the short and long term.”

There you go. You left because you did not think the company would satisfy your long term career goals. Any time you are at a job you hate that answer is at least partially true, so if you cannot come up with a better answer, you can always go that route. Be prepared to explain what you mean.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t give the actual reasons that you quit.
• Give reasons that are true, even if they were not the primary thing on your mind when you left.

Difficult Interview Question: Why Have You Had So Many Jobs?

Dude, you’re way too much of a player. You be all like “What’s up, I’ma take this job” and then BAM. You gone. One night stand. Never to be heard from again. Employer be crying but you say “Hey employer, don’t hate the employee, baby. Hate the game.

Or maybe it wasn’t like that. Maybe you got fired often, or you quit because your boss was a meany and your ego had an owie. It doesn’t really matter. The employer is going to look at your resume and say “Hey, this person right here has some pretty impressive qualifications. Wonder why they have 15 jobs listed?”

You still received an interview. Chances are you have something that impresses the company. Still, employers only want to hire people that are going to stick around, because you are an investment. Jumping from one job to another because you get tired of doing the work is a sign that you are a bad investment.

How to Answer

Either discuss how the companies didn’t share the same vision or, if there were financial reasons and you were laid off, explain them. If you are a recent graduate, blame it on school.

Bad Answer

“I got tired of those jobs. The bosses weren’t that great and they wanted me to do way more work than they were paying me for.”

Good Answer for Graduates

“Because I was enrolled in college, every semester my needs would change. There would be days that I had classes that took up my nights and weekends, then some semesters where I had a relatively free schedule. At the time, these caused me to jump around, but now that I have graduated I can finally commit to a single employer.”

Good Answer for Working Professionals

“Job X was a temporary position, so when my contract was over it was time to look for more work. Job Y was a startup, and their product was not pulling in as much revenue as they had hoped and the company went through some substantial layoffs. Finally, Job Z had a company vision that I simply could not agree with, and I decided it was time to find an employer whose goals I believe in.”

It’s difficult to have a truly great answer for a “why did you hold so many jobs” question, because even if you had a good reason, employers consider leaving jobs to be a big red X on your employment chances. With the right explanation, however, you can at least ease those doubts, and then wow them for the rest of the interview.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Try to explain away all of the good reasons that you left your jobs.
• Don’t complain about other employers.
• Try not to make yourself sound fickle.

Difficult Interview Question: Why Shouldn’t We Hire You?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yesterday we discussed one of the worst interview questions – “What is Your Fatal Flaw?” That’s just a bad interview question. Today’s interview question is not quite as bad, but still can land even great candidates in a lot of trouble. “Why shouldn’t we hire you” is a good question for asking applicants to think on their feet, but there are way too many ways you can answer this question poorly.

Bad Answer #1

“I am perfect.”

No, you are not. You are flawed. Everyone is flawed. Don’t be conceited.

Bad Answer #2

“Well, you might not want to hire me because I don’t have experience with Program XYZ, and it’s important to the role…”

You don’t actually want to give them a reason to not to hire you. That’s just silly.

How to Answer

Once again, there really isn’t a “Great” answer. There is are two acceptable ways to answer, where one is more risky but could bring greater rewards, and the other is similar to the “greatest weakness” answer where the weakness isn’t really that much of a weakness to begin with. Let’s look at them here.

Good Answer #1 – Risky

“There are always aspects of company culture that you do not learn until you have had time to adjust to the new setting. So if your company doesn’t like tasks being completed before deadline, or if your company doesn’t enjoy building revenue through outstanding usage of its resources, then you probably shouldn’t hire me.”

This answer takes some guts, but it’s pretty good. You are essentially turning the answer into a joke, like “If your company wants to hire someone awful, then you definitely shouldn’t hire me.” If the interviewer has no sense of humor and you haven’t been doing well in your interview, this answer may not fly, though.

Good Answer #2 – Less Risky

“It’s very important to me that I complete tasks before deadline without errors. What this means, however, is that sometimes I need to call meetings to ensure that it is on the right path in order to do the work efficiently and error free. If your company frowns on impromptu meetings or the culture is such that it does not appreciate open communication, I may not be the person for you.”

This answer is actually pretty good. It focuses on a “flaw” (perfectionism, sort of) and expands to make it actually sound like it might be a flaw, but it isn’t really, and you are left with a successful and real answer to the question using a weakness that isn’t really a weakness.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Consider giving a risky answer by implying the company may want to hire bad employees on purpose.
• Otherwise go with a twist on the biggest weakness answers, using a weakness that isn’t really a weakness.
• Don’t give them a real reason not to hire you.
• Don’t claim that there is no reason.

Difficult Interview Question: What is Your Fatal Flaw?

Lots of interview questions are interesting and useful for the interviewer. The “biggest weakness” question is a great one for seeing which candidates are prepared to answer difficult questions about themselves and how well they think on their feet.

The “Fatal Flaw” question is not one of those questions. The fatal flaw question is a bad question. It is basically asking you “Why shouldn’t we hire you, and you better give us a real reason!” Nothing productive can come from the question. Still, some hiring managers ask it anyway. Great.

How to Answer

There are a couple of choices. The first is simply to spin it into a “biggest weakness” question and ignore the “fatal flaw” aspect of it. That’s not a bad idea. Refer to how to answer weakness questions to see how to answer this interview question. If you are certain they are looking for a true “fatal flaw” or you were already asked the “biggest weakness” question, this may be the one time that you can act as though you are perfect. See below.

Bad Answer

“I have not completed my college degree. But I am educated and capable of doing the job, as you will see by my qualifications and work history.”

This answer is too defensive.

Good Answer

“I am not perfect, but I do not have a ‘fatal flaw.’ If there was any skill I lacked that would prevent me from doing the job to the best of my ability, I would continue to work on that problem so that I could adequately complete any task at hand.”

It’s a risky answer. You might want to stick with a biggest weakness answer. Still, if you are certain they are looking for a true fatal flaw, don’t give it to them. This is an interview question that is designed to cause good candidates to hurt their own candidacy. It’s a bad question.

Take Away Interview tips

• Provide a biggest weakness answer instead or
• Proudly claim that none of your flaws are fatal.