Difficult Interview Question: What Would You Do If You Were Asked to Perform a Task That You Know Would Hurt the Company?

One of the benefits of being in power is that you get to make decisions and others have to listen to you. One of the weaknesses of not being in power is that you have to listen to stupid decisions and do them anyway even though you know they are idiotic.

When you apply to a job that does not have much authority, you may be asked what you would do when you know a course of action is wrong, but you are told to do it anyway.

How to Answer

Though the question may look like one of commitment and leadership, this is actually more of a communication question. The best thing to do is explain how you will disagree with the course of action (tactfully, of course) but that you would probably do it anyway when instructed.

Bad Answer

“I would talk to the CEO and tell her what my supervisor instructed me to do, then tell them what should be done instead. Then let the CEO decide if it is best.”

So your plan is to be a tattle tale?

Good Answer

“First I would draft up my reasons for disagreeing with the course of action, including offering alternate solutions and backing them all up with research, if possible. I would either present this information in a meeting or via email depending on schedule factors. If my supervisor still instructs me to go along with the plan, then I will do so, but at least my objections were noted and alternative solutions presented. If possible, I will also get started on anything that can help fix the problem in case the plan does perform as poorly as expected.”

You are not in a position to refuse to do something your supervisor tells you to do. That is insubordination. You are in a position to at least explain your thoughts and present other opportunities. So tell the interviewer that you will first share your thoughts with the supervisor, but that you also respect the chain of command in the workplace. Offering to start on alternative solutions or projects just in case is nice but not required.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Respect the position hierarchy.
• Share that you will explain your thoughts and present alternative solutions.

Difficult Interview Question: Why Do You Want to Work in a Position in Which You Are Overqualified?

In today’s economy, a number of professionals have had to make sacrifices after getting laid off. Many candidates with years of work experience are either changing fields or applying for lesser positions in order to simply find employment. This makes them overqualified for these jobs. The problem is that many companies worry about hiring someone that is overqualified because:

• The person may want to leave for a better paying job in the future.
• The person may have problems taking orders from those with less experience.
• The person may try to move up in the company too quickly and aggressively.

They are not wrong. Many overqualified applicants come to new companies expecting better treatment than someone in their role deserves. That makes your answer to questions about being overqualified important to answer well. Focus on how you are a good fit for the role, and how you came to that opinion.

Bad Answer

“I know that your company has a lot of growth potential. I figured I would start here, and if you decided you like my skills and qualifications you could move me up when a position opens.”

You never want to admit to the company that you are there just to get your foot in the door. They need someone to fill the specific job you are applying for, not to use it as a stepping stone for other positions. It also makes you sound as though you will leave if you don’t get a better job soon.

Good Answer

“My experience working at CompanyName has thoroughly prepared me for the job and my experience has served to give me the skills I need to organize, plan, and execute my job effectively. I am confident that I am a good fit for the position and that my past work experience will only serve to help me thrive in the job.”

Focus your answer on simply restating why you are a good fit, while ignoring the idea that you might be overqualified. If they want to know any more about your ambitions, make them prompt you for it. Don’t give them anything they can use against you.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Ignore the idea that you are overqualified.
• Focus on how you are prepared to be a good fit for the job.

Difficult Interview Question: What Would Your Previous Supervisor Say You Need to Work On?

“He would probably tell me to stop checking Facebook and start actually doing my work for once.”

Your supervisor may or may not have liked you. It is not important. When you are asked to put yourself in your supervisor’s shoes and critique your work, you should answer this question in the same manner you would answer a “greatest weakness” question.

How to Answer

“Perfectionist” is not going to work here. Your supervisor will never say you need to work on being too much of a perfectionist. That’s stupid. Instead, pick something extremely minor that doesn’t make you sound like a bad employee. Again, one of the best critiques you can give of yourself is that you “don’t speak up enough in meetings.”

Bad Answer

“My supervisor would say I am too much of a perfectionist. That I work too hard. He would tell me to slow down and not experience so much stress from the project.”

No he wouldn’t.

Good Answer

“My supervisor once told me he’d like me to speak up more often at meetings. I tended to keep my thoughts to myself until prompted, but in the interests of open discussion, he would have liked me to be more open with my ideas, so I have been working sharing more easily.”

You picked something that actually could be seen as a flaw, but unless you are applying for a job as lead meetings manager, you are going to be fine. In fact, this type of answer makes it look like you have good ideas. It’s one of the safest answers you can give.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Give them a real answer.
• Make sure the answer isn’t bad.

Difficult Interview Question: Do You Know Any Foreign Languages?

Yes, this is a difficult interview question, because it goes against the idea that you need to make yourself look like an amazing employee at all times. You may be asked if you know any foreign languages. Your answer must be “no” unless you are prepared to prove it.

We did an interview with a lovely young woman named Ellen. During the interview, she mentioned that an employer asked her if she spoke Spanish. She had taken a few classes in college, and was familiar with several Spanish words, so she said “yes.” Immediately, the interviewer decided to do the rest of the interview in Spanish to prove that she had that knowledge. Needless to say, she failed the interview, because although she did have some Spanish knowledge and could converse in a few basic sentences, she did not know nearly enough to handle an entire interview. Keep that in mind when answer this question.

Bad Answer

“Yes. Um… Yo Hablo Español, Amigo.”

Good Answer

“No.”

Acceptable Answer

“I know some very basic Spanish, but not enough to hold an entire conversation.”

It’s okay to be a little rusty. No one is requiring you to know literally every word. But if you are not familiar with enough to handle at least a good amount of the job interview in the other language, you probably should not claim you “know” a foreign language. Only that you are familiar with some.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t claim you know it if you don’t truly know it.
• You can say you are familiar with another language.

Difficult Interview Question: If We Don’t Offer You the Job, Why Do You Think That Would Be?

It’s not fun when someone forces you to say bad things about yourself. It is as though they are asking you to harm your own self esteem. They are saying “hey, I know you like most things about yourself, but I’m going to need you to point out to me where you suck.”

Luckily, despite how difficult the question works at first glance, this is one question that is not that hard to answer. Rather than point out a weakness in your skills, experiences, etc., you should give a confident answer like the one you will see below.

Bad Answer

“I think if you don’t hire me, it will probably because I don’t have much experience working with program X, which I know is a considerable part of the role. I also do not have as much work experience as the other candidates.”

Good Answer

“I would not have applied for this job if I was not confident I was a great fit, so I suppose if you choose to go another route it was because I did not adequately communicate why I am the right person for the position.”

Here, you confidently state that you are perfect for the job, so that the only reason they do not hire you is because you didn’t do a great job explaining those qualifications at the interview. This is a much better answer that should score you some good points with the interviewer and will not point out your “flaws.”

Take Away Interview Tips

• Be confident.
• State that you must not have explained your abilities well enough.

Difficult Interview Questions: Had You Ever Thought of Leaving Your Current Position in the Past? Why Did You Stay? What is Different Now?

In our last post, we took a look at how you answer a question about why you are leaving your current job. You may be asked a similar question (or a series of questions, as it were) that interviewers may use to follow up with your statement. They will wonder if you have ever pondered leaving in the past, because if this is not a onetime thing, your answer may be in doubt.

How to Answer

Ideally, your answer is no. Still, if you did consider leaving in the past, make sure that your reasons do not make you look fickle. You need to make sure that the company you are applying for believes that you will stay if you are given the position.

Bad Answer

“Yes, once before. I had a fight with my supervisor and quit, but then they offered me more money and I decided to stay.”

Good Answer

“Yes, once before. After the last product upgrade it appeared that they were going to shift my role to something that I was less familiar with, and I felt my skills would be better suited elsewhere. In the end, they decided not to make the internal changes and I continued growing in my current role.”

Give an answer that doesn’t make you look like you will leave whenever another opportunity arises or you have any problem. All workplaces have problems. If you wanted to leave in the past, and didn’t, it should be for a reason that the interviewer will respect.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Make sure your answer doesn’t make it look like you will quit easily.
• Try to show that you are committed to commitment.

Difficult Interview Question: Why Are You Leaving Your Current Job?

When you are unemployed, you have to field a lot of questions about why you have been out of work and why you left your last job. These questions can be very difficult to answer, because the truthful answer is usually fairly negative.

It can be just as hard to answer questions when you are still working, but actively seeking out other opportunities.  When that occurs, companies will wonder why you are leaving an employer that has not laid you off. If you answer this question poorly, you may appear to be an undedicated worker.

How to Answer

Provided this answer is truthful, the best answer you can give is “I have doubts about the long term viability of the company.” You are leaving because you do not expect the company to succeed in the long term. This answer won’t always work, though, because you may easily be working at a company that is crazy successful. So you will need to give an answer that does not show disloyalty to the company, but still acts as a good reason to leave.

Bad Answer

“I have wanted to leave on a few occasions before, but ended up staying because I couldn’t find a job that I wanted more. Recently they have started to treat me very poorly, and I have decided that I don’t want to be treated badly at work.”

Good Answer

“The company has made some considerable department shifts recently, and though my role is the same, I am surrounded by new employees, new philosophies, new supervisors, etc. It is like a new job. Since it is like a new job anyway, I decided that now would be the best opportunity to find employment with a company that better suits my long term goals in addition to my short term goals.”

Any answer that doesn’t focus on disliking your current company is a good answer. If you cannot use the answer above, you can say “I am looking for a position with more long term growth opportunities.” That answer will usually suffice.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t say anything negative about your previous company.
• Don’t whine or complain.
• Do try to focus on growth.

Difficult Interview Question: What Would You Most Like to Improve About Yourself?

Questions about an applicant’s weaknesses are extremely common in job interviews. They are so common that they play a role at almost every interview in some form. Yet they may be asked in different ways, and when they are asked in different ways, you can answer them differently.

How to Answer

Improving yourself does not just have to be about biggest weaknesses. It can. It easily can. So if you want, you can provide a biggest weakness answer and you will ace the question. However, you are being asked about where you would like to improve, not what you are worst at. So you may also want to give an answer about how you would like to improve many things (even if they are not negative), as evidenced below.

Bad Answer

“I wish I was a better bowler. Spinning that ball down the lane. Oh man, that’s sweet right there. Sweet.”

Good Answer

“I would like to improve in every facet of my life. No matter how much I may excel at a particular skill or task, I believe I can always get better, and would like an opportunity to gain new experiences that will help me become better at anything I undertake. Does your company offer any extended training courses that I can take advantage of?”

Here you turn it around on the interviewer, making it a question about what they offer rather than a question of what you are bad at. Remember, a standard “biggest weakness” answer as described multiple times on this and other websites is an acceptable answer, but you may also use an answer like the one above if you like.

Take Away Interview Tips

• “Biggest Weakness” answers are fine (weaknesses should not be too bad)
• You can also turn it around on the interviewer.

Difficult Interview Question: Which Would You Prefer: Excellent Pay or Job Satisfaction?

If you were paid a million dollars to clean portable toilets, chances are you would do it, because hey – it’s a million freakin’ dollars. There is very little people won’t do for money if the price is right. That is why whether you would trade money for satisfaction is an unfair question – of course you would, if the money was high enough.  Still, you have to do better than that.

How to Answer

For obvious reasons, the answer is never “money.” So you are left with two options. One is to discuss why job satisfaction is more important to you, which is the corny answer. Another is to delve more deeply, and make the interviewer think twice about ever asking it again, as we will illustrate below.

Bad Answer

“How much money? I’m kidding, of course job satisfaction, since who doesn’t want to be happy all the time right?”

This answer gives me diabetes.

Good Answer

“Interesting. I would always want my pay to be proportionate to the work I produce, and that would play a role in my job satisfaction. In addition, any personal financial stress may affect job satisfaction as well. However, assuming those two are accounted for, then I would prefer to be happy with the work I do, so that I can come home and enjoy that feeling of contentment.”

There you go. This is a nice answer. It incorporates honesty (“You better be giving me good money, fool.”) but it also gives the satisfaction answer, which is what you probably need to give.

Also, don’t go rambling on about how much money it would take you to be willing to sacrifice satisfaction. Those answers never lead anywhere productive.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Your answer is satisfaction.
• You can give a corny answer, or give a more well-rounded answer.

Tricky Interview Question: Do You Have Any Responsibilities That Would Prevent You From Travelling on Behalf of Our Company?

There are a lot of personal questions that may not be asked at a job interview, because they are not legally allowed to affect any hiring decisions. For example, a hiring manager cannot ask you if you or your partner are trying to get pregnant. They cannot ask you if you are married. They cannot ask you about your health. All of these things are illegal at the job interview, because the government has decided that companies are not allowed to discriminate against hiring employees for these reasons.

However, companies are allowed to ask you questions that relate to the company while hoping you supply a personal answer. For example, “do you have any responsibilities that would prevent you from travelling?”

How to Answer

WARNING – When you answer this question, do not talk about your personal life. Obviously if you can travel, say that you can travel. If you cannot, however, make sure you answer without giving any personal details.

Bad Answer

“I do have some responsibilities. I would have to check with my nanny to see if she can take care of my children first, and my wife is expecting in June, so I can’t travel around that time. Also, my mother is very sick, so it depends on the status of her diabetes. Also, I have a form of height related dementia, so I cannot be on a plane that goes over 3,000 feet in the air or I completely forget who I am or where I am.”

Good Answer

“I do have a few responsibilities, but in general I should be able to fit in travel with advanced notice.”

Keep the answer brief. If you are unable to travel at all, you may not be right for the job anyway if it requires travel. So assuming you have personal responsibilities but may be able to travel some of the time, simply state that you should be able to plan it with advanced notice, and do not elaborate further.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Do not provide any personal information.
• If you 100% can or cannot travel, be honest, even if it affects the job.
• If you might be able to, state that you have some responsibilities but with planning it should not be a problem. If it ends up being a problem later, so be it.