• Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win
  • Best Beauty Buys 2023
  • Food
    • Eating Out
    • Cooking Tips
    • Festive Food
    • Asian Recipes
    • Food
    • Celebrity Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Western Recipes
  • Family
    • Family
    • Save Money
    • Parenting
    • Sex & Marriage
    • Travel
  • Beauty & Health
    • Beauty & Health
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Awards
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • Fitness
    • Wellness
  • Style
  • Great Women
    • Career
    • Great Women of Our Time
    • Real Life
  • Entertainment
  • EVENTS/WIN
  • #SchoolForLife
  • Hair Awards
  • Great Escape
  • Explore Singapore
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu
SPH Media

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.

  • Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win

Career

How To Answer These 9 Difficult Job Interview Questions

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Career

How To Answer These 9 Difficult Job Interview Questions

June 13, 2019

So you’ve already secured an interview with your dream company. The next step to ensuring that you get the job? Slaying your potential boss and/or the job recruiter with your charm, wit and of course, talent.

The key to a successful interview lies in how prepared you are. Make sure that you invest a bit of time into researching the company, as well as who you might be reporting to, before the day itself. It’ll give you more confidence when you meet with your interviewers and make you appear knowledgeable.

Below are nine questions that we’re certain your interviewer will be asking you and some of the best ways to answer them:

WATCH THIS VIDEO TOO:

Chic Ways To Style A Shirt For Work


READ MORE:
Job Hopping Could Actually Get You A Pay Rise Of Up To 50 Per Cent
Don’t Ever Quit Your Job Without Asking Yourself These Questions First
9 Ways To Dress For An Interview So You’re Confident And Comfortable

https://www.womensweekly.com.sg/gallery/great-women/career/how-answer-difficult-job-interview-questions/
How To Answer These 9 Difficult Job Interview Questions
1. What Can You Offer Us That Other Candidates Can’t?
image

This is a common question that is an opportunity for you to toot your own horn. Here’s the tricky part: Make sure it’s a sensible humble bragging. Going through your previous experience, collecting your thoughts and knowing what you want to say beforehand will help you out here.

Go over details in your resume and portfolio, and list concrete examples of how your previous experience — and you — will be an asset to the team. It’s likely that the other candidates have similar qualifications, so you’ll need to elaborate on the assets and skill sets you have that others don’t.

2. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Job?
image

The key here is this: Never speak about a former boss or colleagues negatively, as this will make you look unprofessional. Your answer should reflect your aims for positive personal and career development. Focus on the skills you’ve learned from your previous job and how these can add value to your new position.

3. What Are Your Strength And Weaknesses?
image

This is a favourite question of interviewers, so you shouldn’t be stumped when they pop this question. Before the interview, prepare a list. Focus on three to four strengths and weaknesses and address them one at a time. Have examples to back up each point.

Avoid generalisations like “I’m hardworking” or “I try my best at everything,” as they don’t say much about your specific qualities. Never say you don’t have any weakness, and don’t try to present a positive as a negative by saying “I’m a perfectionist” or “I work too hard”. Use this opportunity to identify something you can actually improve on. Employers will be impressed if you demonstrate a level of self-awareness.

READ MORE: How To Make Yourself Stand Out At Work, According To Yvon Bock Of Hegen

4. What Are Your Expectations Of This Job?
image

This question is about your career progression and aspirations, as well as your understanding of the job and company. Employers want to see if you’re forward-looking and whether you’ve done your research about the company.

Working in a company isn’t just about serving them robotically, it’s also about self-growth and development within the company’s structure. Define your job expectations by expressing what you want to gain as an employee of the company.

5. What Do You Consider Your Biggest Failure?
image

Choose wisely when it comes to this question. Select an experience that you can draw positives from and explain what you’ve learnt from this failure. Everyone makes mistakes – it’s how you pick yourself up that counts, so explain why you failed, and how you used this as a springboard for success and personal growth.

READ MORE: How Failure Can Be Good, According To Feisty Businesswoman Karen Tok

6.What Motivates You?
image

This is for your future employer to understand you better as an individual – what you value close to your heart, how you would work in a team, and what inspires you. Touch on the link between your professional style and personal self. Are you motivated by deadlines or customer service? Are you motivated by rising numbers?

Think carefully about your answer – it’s a time to do some soul-searching so you can be honest when faced with this question.

7. What Experiences Can You Bring To This Job From Your Previous Role?
image

Employers want to know how your previous experiences can translate into your new role and how this will enhance your performance. Ensure that you rehearse your answer beforehand, and so that the examples you present are appropriate and relevant to the role you’re interviewing for.

If you’re switching industries or starting a new career path, focus on transferable skills that you can bring to the role.

8. How Do You Evaluate Success?
image

This is for your employers to get a better sense of your work ethic, goals, and character. Do your research before the interview – browse the company’s website and read up on their vision and mission statement. Your definition of success should at least be aligned with theirs. This will also help them learn what kind of manager you might be, should you be responsible for a team.

Don’t lie when it comes to answering this question. If your idea of success and way of working don’t match up to the company’s mission statement, this might be a sign that this isn’t the job for you.

9. What Challenges Do You Foresee In This Position?
image

This is a chance to discuss the growth and development of the role you’re applying for. Go over the skills necessary for the job from the job description, and identify what you think you can do easily and what you’ll need to learn more of, in order to succeed.

You can also discuss how you think the job will evolve and what you can do when it comes to handling that as well.

READ MORE:
Horror Job Interview Stories You Have To Read
Never Say These Things At A Job Interview
26 Ingenious Ways To Make Extra Money Even With A Full-Time Job

Text: Cheryl Lim YS/Herworld
Photos: Freepik

  • TAGS:
  • career advice
  • career tips
  • interview
  • interview questions
  • job interview
  • jobs
SHARE THIS ON

What’s Hot

Career

Here Are The Signs It's Time To Resign ...

Career

How To Explain Your Career Gap To Employers

Career

How To Balance Work And Family As A New Mum

Career

What Makes A Successful Start-Up? These ...

Career

What To Tell Your Company If You Want To...

Career

The Fastest Growing Jobs In Singapore Ac...

Career

Experts Share Tips On Getting Your Resum...

Career

How Women Could Be Taking On More Emotio...

Career

Job Search Fatigue Is Real — How To St...

Career

Can Your Relationship With Your Manager ...

Career

5 Key Job Interview Questions To Ask A P...

Career

6 Top Female Business Leaders On Workpla...

Editor’s Picks
  • Career Here Are The Signs It's Time To Resign — And How You Can Leave On A Good Note
  • Great Women 11 Traits That Make For Effective Leadership In The Office
  • Great Women Got A Micromanaging Boss? Here's What You Can Do
  • Career How To Explain Your Career Gap To Employers
  • Career How To Balance Work And Family As A New Mum
  • Career What Makes A Successful Start-Up? These Entrepreneurship Experts Share Their ...
Don't Miss Out Ever Again!
Tips & tricks to stay sane + win invites to our events!

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
?>">
SPH Magazine

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.