What are you scared of? Spiders? Lions? Ghosts? No? How about interview questions?
That’s something that should strike fear into the heart of many, because if you can’t muster some anxiety about the interview then you can assume you don’t care about the job. It’s good to be nervous. It’s also not the worst thing to show that you’re nervous. As long as you answer your interview questions well, it’s something that an employer is likely to forgive.
But there are far more scary questions than a friendly “Nervous?” as you’re going into the boardroom. Take a look at our suggestions for the scariest interview questions and how you can answer them confidently here.
Tell me about yourself
These interview questions are the worst kind of scary: people don’t know they should be scared. People think answering these interview questions is a lot easier than it is. But unfortunately, “tell me about yourself” doesn’t mean mentioning what your weekend plans are or the type of music you’re into. It’s more about summing up your job profile and the core of your career thus far. When answering this interview question, focus on giving a pitch on who you are, hitting past, present, and future as you go. You can say that you’re currently in [this position] for [that company]. You got there after gaining your [insert degree] from [university of wherever] and you think you’d be perfect for this role because [insert reasons].
What do you consider your greatest weakness?
This one can send an alarm off in your head that says, “It’s a trap!” and it somewhat is. Any red flags should show themselves quickly and plainly with that interview question, but it’s also designed to test your honesty but also your self-awareness. So, no “too much of my greatest strength” isn’t the best answer, nor is “Nothing”. Instead present a grey area weakness that you might have struggled with in the past and talk about how you have or are working towards improving it. Maybe you’ve never loved public speaking, but you’re making moves like volunteering to speak when the opportunity arises.
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake
Again, these interview questions are less about the mistake you made and more about what you did to fix things. Make sure to be honest but don’t place blame on others. Once you’ve explained the situation, go on to explain what you did to fix it. Even if things were out of your control, demonstrate the favourable measures you took to try to get things back on track. When thinking about a story, focus on the aspects that are desirable in the job and work backwards from that. Does the job respect tight deadlines? Think about an instance where you had to juggle deadlines or had to go above and beyond to meet deadlines, just as an example.
These are the questions that strike fear into the heart of many a brave interviewees, but if you know the purpose behind the question and how to effectively answer it, you can enter the boardroom without fear.
Contact Recruiting Talent today and we can help you through the spooky questions. https://www.recruitingtalent.co.uk/contact-us/