Take a deep breath………as everyone always says. When preparing for an interview it’s hard to foresee those tough interview questions that are going to cause you a problem, make you freeze on the spot, and completely make you lose your train of thought. Prospective employers can quite often ask oddball questions, in order to try and test your ability to think on the spot and attempt to see how you would react in a specific situation.
When preparing for an interview, the basic point to remember is there’s no such thing as being too prepared. Although we’ve heard it all before, it really is true. The more you practice answering those on the spot direct questions, thinking about your skills and what they enable you to do, aswell as thoroughly researching what would be required of you, the more successful your likely to be. Preparing some sample answers can be a great way to ensure you are detailed and concise, allowing you to give greater depth to your answers and give you greater confidence in what you are saying.
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Try to act as confident as possible, even if you don’t feel it, and aim to be clear and articulate, in order to emphasise your fantastic communication skills and ability to respond to a direct question comfortably. Often, there is not necessarily a right and a wrong answer, however, it’s best to just consider your own abilities – think about what is required for the role and why you could be successful, considering alongside this both the company and its culture. Positivity, determination, and passion for your work, and the position you are applying for can go a long way…
Keep your nerve and tackle tough questions to the best of your ability, we’ve all been in the hot seat before but the candidates that are most successful are the ones that stay calm, and are therefore able to position themselves in the best light, no matter how pressurising or alien the question may be.
Competency based interviews in particular have become a frequent part of candidate selection…..check out our guide to competency based interviewing by clicking here!
What’s the toughest question you’ve ever faced??? Let us know your comments…..
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