Tough Job Interview Questions
The odds are very high that you could be eliminated from
consideration for jobs based on your answer (or, more likely, your
lack of a good answer) to one or more of the interview questions or
issues we bring up here. None of us is perfect. We all have things
about ourselves and our past that could be or will be a problem fro
some employers. You may have "too much" or "too little" education or
training or gaps in your work history; you may be "too old" or "too
young" or have other characteristics that concern some employers. Some
of these things you can't change, but it is your responsibility to
make these matters less of an issue in a decision to hire you over
someone else. We mentioned earlier that about 80 percent of all
people who get interviews do not, according to employer surveys, do a
good job in answering one or more interview questions. These problem
questions vary for each person and depend on your situation. The job
seeker's inability to answer these problem questions is a very big
obstacle in the job search and has kept many god people from getting
jobs they are perfectly capable of handling. They didn't get those
jobs because they failed to convince employers that they had the
skills and other characteristics to do the job. In many cases they
left employers with a sense that there was an unresolved problem. That
is to say that the job seekers would have gotten the job offer if they
had done better in the interview. One of the difficulties with
problem questions is that the employer often does not ask these
questions in a clear way, or doe not ask them at all. For example, if
you live a long distance from the employer's job site, the interviewer
may be wondering why you would be willing to commute daily to a
distant location. His concern may be that you would leave once you
found a job closer to home. The interviewer may never directly ask you
about working so far away from home, so you would not have the
opportunity to address his concern, and that job is likely to go to
someone else. It is not fair, but that is the way it is. So the
issue here is not your ability to do the job, rather the issue is your
ability to communicate clearly that you can and will do the job well.
The following text helps you quickly identify problem questions an
employer may pose about your particular situation and gives you some
ways to handle them in a truthful and positive way. Turn Your
Negative into a Positive So let's assume that you are concerned
that you might be unfairly discriminated against and you are
reasonably well-qualified for the job you seek. First, understand that
highly qualified people with no apparent problems often are unable to
obtain jobs after many interviews. The labor market can be very
competitive, and others may get the jobs simply because they have
better qualifications. In addition, less-qualified people often get
offers simply because they do well in the interview. Because you can't
easily change your personal situation, you need to improve your
interview skills to give you an edge. |
