A curriculum vitae, or CV for short, is an essential document for those in academia, research, and medicine. It’s a comprehensive summary of your professional life, including your qualifications, educational background, accomplishments, and experience.
Unlike a resume, which is often more concise and tailored to specific job applications, a CV allows you to detail your expertise and professional journey thoroughly.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all format for creating a CV, the key is to choose a layout that presents your information clearly and coherently. The goal is to craft a CV that effectively showcases your skills and experiences and sets you apart from other job seekers.
1. “Tell Me About Yourself”
This common opening question seems simple but can trip up interviewees who don’t prepare an organized pitch highlighting their top selling points for the job.
- Keep it concise; limit yourself to 3 key achievements or experiences that prove you’re qualified. Get right to the point instead of rambling.
- Structure your pitch. Start with an introduction, followed by 1-2 career highlights, ending with a skill you would bring to the role.
- Customize your answer to show how you would add value to this company or position.
2. “What Are Your Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses?”
Another popular question is the most complex interview question, which tests your self-awareness. The key is keeping your answer positive, even when discussing weaknesses.
- Choose universally appreciated strengths like problem-solving, communication skills, or being highly organised.
- When discussing weaknesses, choose non-fatal ones you’ve taken steps to address through training or mentorship. Show how you’re leveraging support to manage your weaknesses.
3. “Why Do You Want to Work For Our Company?”
Interviewers ask difficult questions like this to assess if you’ve researched the company’s mission and values. They want to know you’re genuinely interested in them specifically.
- Research the company’s mission statement, latest projects or initiatives, office culture and values. Align your answer with the qualities that appeal to you.
- Show enthusiasm by including specific details about why this company is uniquely appealing compared to others in the industry.
4. “Tell Me About a Time You Overcame a Challenge at Work”
One of the most popular behavioural interview questions allows hiring managers to understand your problem-solving process based on a real example.
- Think back to a time at work when you faced a particularly tough challenge that demanded either creative problem-solving or just plain hard work.
- Share a story about a tough challenge at work that demanded either innovation or perseverance.
5. “Why Should We Hire You?”
This is your perfect opportunity to demonstrate why you’re the right fit for the role. Spend some time highlighting your most relevant skills and the unique contributions you can make to the team.
- Before the interview, do your homework about the role’s responsibilities and must-have qualifications.
- Speak about how your background makes you uniquely qualified, focusing on one or two top selling points. Provide real evidence of times you’ve excelled in similar roles.
6. “What Are Your Salary Expectations?”
Go ahead carefully, as negotiables like salary often determine whether you will receive an offer. Thorough compensation research is key to crafting your answer.
- Don’t provide a direct number. Instead, reframe to focus first on the value you’d bring to the organization if hired.
- Do market research on average pay range based on location, industry, role type and years of relevant experience.
7. “Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?”
This common question is used to determine ambition, interests and retention likelihood. Hiring managers want to ensure you’ll stick around.
- Indicate interest in advancement opportunities within the company by showing you’ve researched possible senior roles suited to your skills and interests.
- Speak aspirationally about your skills growth hopes over the next five years, framing your career vision around the company’s needs and strategic goals.
8. “Describe a Time You Worked With a Difficult Colleague”
Hiring managers evaluate your communication, empathy and problem-solving abilities essential for avoiding workplace drama by asking for an example of navigating conflict or disagreements.
- Set up the team or collaborative context, as well as the conflict triggers and actions you took to de-escalate tensions through open communication.
- Share how you created space for understanding all perspectives and created common ground among employees.
9. “How Do You Handle Stress and Pressure?”
This question invites you to share how you keep cool and manage emergencies gracefully, even when the workplace becomes stressful.
- Start by outlining productive stress management tactics you use daily, such as planning ahead, exercising, or asking mentors for advice as needed.
- Give a real-life example of staying calm under a lot of pressure. Talk about how you got help from others and the positive steps you took.
10. “What Motivates You Professionally?”
This question reveals whether your career goals and sources of motivation align with the company’s opportunities and environment. Match your answer to the employer brand whenever possible.
- If a company offers room for growth, cite advancement opportunities that excite you as a key motivator.
- Mention if you’re driven by collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, or community impact that is aligned with the company’s strengths.
11. “Have You Ever Made a Big Mistake at Work? What Did You Learn?”
This is an off-putting but common question; the interviewer wants to see that you can take ownership of errors, reflect on them constructively, and focus on growth opportunities.
- Briefly explain the nature of the mistake without getting bogged down in self-blame or defensiveness.
- Emphasise insights gained, processes improved, or greater maturity developed to prevent future issues.
12. “How Do You Prioritise When Juggling Multiple Tasks and Projects?”
Employers are interested in how you manage your time and keep things under control when work gets very busy.
- Provide examples of times you’ve successfully balanced competing priorities using productivity tools or daily to-do lists to organise and schedule efforts.
- When there are too many tasks and not enough time, it’s important to prioritise them based on their impact. Instead of letting tasks be overlooked, talk about choices and compromises.
13. “Describe Your Leadership Style”
Even if you are not gunning for management, expect tough job interview questions assessing your skill in collaborating with colleagues and guiding team efforts.
- Listen first to understand teammates’ strengths, growth edges and motivational triggers.
- Share how you provide customised support like coaching, skill-building opportunities or public recognitions for individuals.
14. “What’s Your Biggest Career Achievement so Far?”
Tough interview questions like this require you to confidently recognise your most impressive accomplishment, showcasing the strengths the hiring manager is looking for.
- Select an achievement demonstrating capabilities which strongly align with the target role’s primary objectives and qualifications.
- Measure major successes such as increased earnings, improved productivity, lowered expenses, and better efficiency to support your achievements with strong proof.
15. “How Do You Handle Constructive Criticism or Negative Feedback?”
Receiving feedback is essential for career growth and sets good employees apart from outstanding ones in the workplace.
- Start by expressing appreciation for all feedback as an opportunity to learn and fine-tune your efforts to amplify impact.
- Provide real examples of incorporating constructive criticism gracefully rather than getting defensive.
16. “Tell Me About a Time You Solved a Problem Creatively”
Not all difficulties have textbook solutions. Interviewers ask this to evaluate your critical thinking and innovation abilities when stuck on a complex issue.
- Set the context by describing an atypical, multifaceted problem you faced, lacking straightforward fixes.
- Discuss how you thoughtfully brainstormed, researched, and collected expertise to come up with creative solutions specifically designed for the unique needs of the situation.
17. “How Do You Build Strong Professional Relationships?”
Interviewers want to be confident that you’ll thrive in creating constructive connections with diverse teammates and partners, which is essential for achieving organisational goals.
- Provide real examples of relationship-building efforts like one-on-one informal socialising over coffee, active listening and support during tough times or giving public recognition of someone’s contributions.
- Share when you bridged divisions between dissenting groups by finding common ground or reframing perspectives.
18. “What Do You Know About Our Industry and Competitors?”
Employers want to know your passion by seeing how much you learned about them and others in their field.
- Visit the company website to understand the products/services, mission statement, recent news, and leadership team profiles, which are your starting points before the interview.
- Also, read industry reports about trends, changes, company market share, and new ideas from top competitors.
19. “Tell Me About a Time You Went Above And Beyond for a Customer”
This behavioural question reveals your commitment to nurturing strong client relationships even during high-stress situations.
- Set up a challenging client request demands significant time, resource allocation or creative problem-solving from you.
- Share the partnership-building steps you took and the deeply empathetic point of view you brought to understand the client’s unique needs during the situation.
20. “Do You Have Any Questions for Us?”
This final space to make an impression allows you to demonstrate genuine interest and thoughtfulness regarding the company’s strategic priorities emerging from your research.
- Inquire about challenges and opportunities tied to the company’s growth strategies as the industry evolves over the next few years. How does leadership aim to differentiate moving forward?
- Ask intelligent, open-ended questions about the vision for elevating the team/department’s impact based on business objectives. Where might your role fit in?
Conclusion
Most challenging interview questions are intended to push you outside your comfort zone to help employers accurately assess your capabilities compared to other promising candidates. Don’t guess answers because you’re nervous about what they want to hear. Prepare yourself to succeed by using the advice given here.
FAQs on How to Answer Tough Inteview Questions
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about confidently navigating challenging inquiries employers are likely to ask:
Q1. What if I blank on a tricky question during the interview?
A1. Take a breath, then be honest about wanting to gather your thoughts before providing your best answer. Use bridging phrases like “Great question” or “I’d be happy to reflect on that…” to buy yourself time formulating a calm, thoughtful response that showcases your reflective nature.
Q2. Should I admit I don’t know something if asked an obscure interview question?
A2. If handled gracefully, transparency can build trust. It’s perfectly acceptable to say you haven’t had experience with a technical skill or industry-specific concept they ask about while conveying an eagerness to learn. Lean on your transferable abilities.
Q3. What kinds of questions should I prepare to initiate with the interviewer?
A3. The most impressive candidates ask informed, well-researched questions, conveying a genuine interest in better understanding the company’s challenges, goals and culture while determining fit. Draw from details in the job descriptions and research about the company’s direction.
Q4. What body language tips can help me look confident and engaged?
A4. Maintain an upbeat posture, lean slightly forward to convey engagement, actively listen by nodding and avoid fidgeting or distracted gestures like checking the time. Smile warmly while keeping eye contact through any question complexities.
Q5. Should I send a follow-up thank you notes after a tough interview?
A5. Yes, always express genuine appreciation for the interviewer’s time and insights into the role. Show interest and highlight one or two top selling points you want to stick in their mind while decision-making.
Q6. How can I learn from challenging interview experiences testing my composure or confidence?
A6. Keep a running journal capturing details of challenging questions, knowledge gaps identified, nervous tics noticed, etc., to strengthen preparation for future interviews.
