How could you have improved your career progress?

TRAPS: This is another variation on the question, “If you could, how would you live your life over?” Remember, you’re not going to fall for any such invitations to rewrite person history. You can’t win if you do. BEST ANSWER: You’re generally quite happy with your career progress. Maybe, if you had known something earlier in [...]

What would you do if a fellow executive on your own corporate level wasn’t pulling his/her weight…and this was hurting your department?

TRAPS: This question and other hypothetical ones test your sense of human relations and how you might handle office politics. BEST ANSWER: Try to gauge the political style of the firm and be guided accordingly. In general, fall back on universal principles of effective human relations – which in the end, embody the way you would [...]

You’ve been with your firm a long time. Won’t it be hard switching to a new company?

TRAPS: Your interviewer is worried that this old dog will find it hard to learn new tricks. BEST ANSWER: To overcome this objection, you must point to the many ways you have grown and adapted to changing conditions at your present firm. It has not been a static situation. Highlight the different responsibilities you’ve held, the wide [...]

May I contact your present employer for a reference?

TRAPS: If you’re trying to keep your job search private, this is the last thing you want. But if you don’t cooperate, won’t you seem as if you’re trying to hide something? BEST ANSWER: Express your concern that you’d like to keep your job search private but that in time, it will be perfectly okay. Example: “My [...]

Give me an example of your creativity (analytical skill…managing ability, etc.)

TRAPS: The worst offense here is simply being unprepared. Your hesitation may seem as if you’re having a hard time remembering the last time you were creative, analytical, etc. BEST ANSWER: Remember from Question 2 that you should commit to memory a list of your greatest and most recent achievements, ever ready on the tip of [...]

Where could you use some improvement?

TRAPS: Another tricky way to get you to admit weaknesses. Don’t fall for it. BEST ANSWER: Keep this answer, like all your answers, positive. A good way to answer this question is to identify a cutting-edge branch of your profession (one that’s not essential to your employer’s needs) as an area you’re very excited about and [...]

What do you worry about?

TRAPS: Admit to worrying and you could sound like a loser. Saying you never worry doesn’t sound credible. BEST ANSWER: Redefine the word ‘worry’ so that it does not reflect negatively on you. Example: “I wouldn’t call it worry, but I am a strongly goal-oriented person. So I keep turning over in my mind anything that seems [...]

How many hours a week do you normally work?

TRAPS: You don’t want to give a specific number. Make it to low, and you may not measure up. Too high, and you’ll forever feel guilty about sneaking out the door at 5:15. BEST ANSWER: If you are in fact a workaholic and you sense this company would likethat: Say you are a confirmed workaholic, that [...]

What’s the most difficult part of being a (job title)?

TRAPS: Unless you phrase your answer properly, your interviewer may conclude that whatever you identify as “difficult” is where you are weak. BEST ANSWER: First, redefine “difficult” to be “challenging” which is more positive. Then, identify an area everyone in your profession considers challenging and in which you excel. Describe the process you follow that enables [...]

The “Hypothetical Problem”

TRAPS: Sometimes an interviewer will describe a difficult situation and ask, “How would you handle this?” Since it is virtually impossible to have all the facts in front of you from such a short presentation, don’t fall into the trap of trying to solve this problem and giving your verdict on the spot. It will make [...]