January 10, 2014

Be Prepared to Answer the Tough Questions

There are some questions that when you hear them during an interview, they make you want to cringe.  They are questions that most interviewers ask and most interviewees hate.  What questions am I talking about?  Well, let’s address two of them in the blog post.

The first question (drum roll) is; why are you looking to leave your current position or why did you leave your current position?

Obviously answers will vary for this question, depending on whether you are currently working or not.  It should also vary based on the type and size of the company you are interviewing with.

There are certain items that need to be taken into consideration:

1)      Don’t bad mouth your prior company, actually you want to give them some praise before you begin to answer the question about why you are no longer there

2)      Make sure to choose a reason that directly sells yourself to the company you are interviewing with.  For example if you left a large company and are interviewing with a smaller company, you may want to say you are looking for a more entrepreneurial atmosphere.

Now for the most dreaded questions of all!  What is your biggest weakness?  Well one thing is for certain, the worst answer you can give is that you don’t have any weaknesses.   So what should you be saying when asked this question?  Well there are really three parts to this answer.

1)      Explain what you believe is your biggest weakness

2)      Explain how you are working on or have worked on improving this weakness

3)      Explain how the weakness does not affect your ability to get your work done effectively

Thanks for reading!  You are well on your way to a successful interview.

John Greenblatt

CEO/Founder Five Star Resume