Interview Success Starts Here – Part 2

How to Succeed in a Job Interview – Part 2

 

We build on our last article and tackle tough interview questions.  Whenever I interviewed someone, I always had hard interview questions.  I would ask questions like “If you had an idea for a new product, what would you present to the CEO and what would you present to sales?”  I love this question because it forces them to think through so many aspects that were critical to the job.  Moreover, I was able to see how they think.  Right there. Right in front of me.  I could see how they dealt with a challenge.  I could see if they make assumptions, miss key factors, or just gloss over critical information.  I would always hope they would ask clarifying questions, or for more information.  Their behavior said so much to me and what they would be like on my team.

Being prepared for hard questions is essential.  Let’s review some techniques.

Tough Interview Questions

• Have you ever been fired from a position?  Why were you fired?
• Your resume looks like you’ve been job hopping lately; can you tell me about that?
• Have you ever had a conflict with your boss or a co-worker?  What did you do?
• What is your greatest weakness?
• Why should we hire you for this job?
• What are your salary requirements?

 

If you have difficulty creating the right answers to difficult interview questions, get some assistance!

Here is the key to all tough questions, if you don’t have a ready answer that you prepared especially for the question, don’t answer the question.  Your thinking “What?”  That’s right, answer a question you wished they asked.  For instance, “Were you ever fired from a position? Why were you fired?”  Change this into a question you want to answer.  For instance, let’s say you spent time on a side business that got you fired.  Answer with the following, “I was fired.  I took over responsibility for creating a new business line in addition to my day-to-day responsibilities.  This new business took considerable time and energy.  We were able to achieve x, y, z (enumerate your accomplishments).  However, business slowed and the company couldn’t afford to keep the venture going.  This was very disappointing because we had just started to see real progress… “  Sound good?  Always look for the bright side of the coin.

If you ever want to learn these techniques better, watch CSPAN when congress holds hearings.  When someone asks the question, you know what they want the answer to be “I am guilty”, “I did it”, “I am fallible.”  Watch how masterfully (or not) the person responds.

Even Tougher Interview Questions:

 

#1:       Imagine a couple that agreed to meet this evening, but cannot recall if they will be attending the opera or a football match. The husband would most of all like to go to the football game. The wife would like to go to the opera. Both would prefer to go to the same place rather than different ones. If they cannot communicate, where should they go?

 

#2:       There are five rational pirates, A, B, C, D and E. They find 100 gold coins. They must decide how to distribute them.  The pirates have a strict order of seniority: A is superior to B, who is superior to C, who is superior to D, who is superior to E.  The pirate world’s rules of distribution are thus: that the most senior pirate should propose a distribution of coins. The pirates, including the proposer, then vote on whether to accept this distribution. If the proposed allocation is approved by a majority or a tie vote, it happens. If not, the proposer is thrown overboard from the pirate ship and dies, and the next most senior pirate makes a new proposal to begin the system again.  Pirates base their decisions on three factors. First of all, each pirate wants to survive. Secondly, each pirate wants to maximize the number of gold coins he receives. Thirdly, each pirate would prefer to throw another overboard, if all other results would otherwise be equal.

Good luck.