7 Most DIFFICULT Interview Questions ANSWERED Business English Course Lesson 5

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy today i’m going to be

talking to you about the most common job

interview questions and how to answer

them this is the second part of a

two-part lesson in the previous lesson

we discussed seven of the easier and

more basic questions in this lesson we

are going to discuss the more difficult

questions let’s get started with the

lesson question number one what is your

biggest weakness the dreaded question do

you turn it into a joke and say

something like chocolate do you answer

really honestly or do you use it as

another opportunity to show off what

your interviewer is really trying to do

with this question is judge your

self-awareness and your honesty and also

screen out any red flags let’s start

with what you definitely shouldn’t say I

don’t have any weaknesses

no one wants to have someone deluded or

arrogant in the office other big no-nose

include I can’t meet deadlines

or I have a temper

that makes you sound like a liability or

even a lawsuit waiting to happen

one cliche that you shouldn’t say is I’m

a perfectionist

everyone says it and nobody believes it

anymore

you absolutely must not lie employers

want to see that you can reflect and

improve think about something that you

aren’t particularly strong at but could

easily improve for example in my

previous role I could have been better

at delegating tasks or I’ve never felt

completely comfortable talking to large

audiences it’s something that I’m

actively working on I still get nervous

but I can handle it I don’t feel like it

holds me back number two is what are

your salary requirements this question

is frankly horrible and puts you in an

awkward situation but you need to be

ready for it you need to carry out

research on websites like Glassdoor to

get a rough idea of what you should be

expecting you could also see if you can

get any insider information from the

recruiter or from someone else in the

industry you need to state as high a

salary requirement as you can honestly

and reasonably justify but also say that

you are flexible and negotiable chances

are the interviewer already has a budget

and will negotiate with you at a later

date so you need to leave room for that

negotiation if you state a salary

requirement that is much lower than what

they might be willing to pay you are

cheating yourself out of proper

compensation if you walk into an

interview without a clear idea of what

you want to be paid then you are going

in unprepared so make sure you think

about this question in advance question

number three is do you have any

questions for us remember that an

interview isn’t just about the

interviewer seeing if you are a good fit

for the company you also need to use it

to see if the company is a good fit for

you you absolutely need to go into any

interview with a handful of questions

and also try and develop some questions

throughout the interview itself here are

some great questions that you could ask

in the majority you should use the

conditional what would my day be like

number one what would an average day

look like in the company number two what

projects are the team working on at the

moment

mint

number three what sort of budget would I

be working with number four is this a

brand-new role number five how would I

be trained

number six what’s the performance review

process like number seven what’s your

favorite part about working here

number eight who would I be reporting to

number nine what’s the company culture

like and number ten what is the next

step in the interview process

question number four is why was there a

gap in your employment

this is a hard question but you can

understand why an interviewer would want

to ask it it definitely raises a red

flag for them the most important thing

that you can do is be honest never be

tempted to extend your period of

employment in a previous position just

to cover up the gaps there’s every

chance that the interviewer will call

your previous employees to verify your

time there instead follow these six tips

number one is don’t over share they

don’t want to know the details of your

personal problems

number two is offer a simple explanation

don’t be too mysterious just say one or

two sentences about why you took time

off and what you did number three is

talk about the new skills you developed

in your time off volunteer work courses

classes reflection time did you have a

baby talk about the soft skills which

include communication adaptability

problem-solving and critical observation

number four is emphasize that you are

sure that you now want to work again

number five is be confident don’t

downplay what you achieved you shouldn’t

feel embarrassed about time off and

number six is move on there’s no need to

dwell on it

try and move the conversation gently on

question number five is can you tell me

about a time that you disagreed with the

decision made at work the interviewer is

really asking about your communication

skills with this question disagreements

do happen it’s what you do when they

happen that says a lot about you and

your personal skills they also want to

see that you maintain good relationships

so this is definitely not an opportunity

to talk badly about your previous work

mates and bosses you do need to prepare

a specific situation and this will be

different for everyone do not lie as

again they might bring it up whilst

talking to your references some tips are

that you should answer the question in a

positive way even if it was a difficult

disagreement

discuss how this situation will help

prepare you to handle disagreements in

the future

don’t be afraid to admit that you were

in the wrong if that’s what happened

the ability to admit that you’re wrong

is a good skill to have also don’t

pretend that you’ve never had a

disagreement at work this makes you look

like a yes-man an example answer is I

once disagreed with my boss over some

advice he was giving to a customer

rather than question his authority in

front of everyone I talked to him in

private I was open and honest about the

problems that I had with the way he

wanted to do things

it turned out there was just a simple

misunderstanding and my boss was

actually correct but he was glad that I

spoke to him as I then understood where

he was coming from for the future

question number six is why are you

leaving your current job or even more

difficult to answer why were you fired

this question is more about what not to

say number one never badmouth your boss

especially if you were fired it’s all

the more reason for them to contact and

question your previous employer number

two is do not say that you had a fight

with a co-worker and definitely don’t

try and blame them for it if you

couldn’t get on with your old workmates

who’s to say that you’ll get on with the

new ones

number three is don’t make it sound like

money is the only thing that you care

about instead you could say I didn’t

feel like there was opportunity to grow

or advance further in that role so I

decided a change would be best for my

career number four is don’t sound too

impulsive they are investing in you for

the long term and they want to minimize

their staff turnover

they’ll be hoping that you stick around

for a long time number five is don’t be

too vague or illusive if you look like

you have something to hide they might

find you untrustworthy so what should

you say if you were made redundant the

most important thing is to be honest you

could say my position was eliminated and

I was made redundant

layoffs happen you can be specific about

why because it wasn’t your fault just

remember to not badmouth the company

what about if you were fired well I

recommend that you tell the truth and

come clean it’s not worth lying and

getting caught later when they check

references even if you get hired at the

position if they ever find out you lied

it is grounds for termination question

number seven is are you interviewing

with any other companies

this is a tough question they want to

see how popular you are as well as

finding out the supply and demand in the

market they might also want to predict

what sort of salary you might be offered

at competing firms my advice is to link

it back to the company for example you

could say I’m in the beginning stages of

my job search I’m attracted to positions

that require keen analytical skills in

fact what I like most about this opening

is and then you can say something about

the specific role if you’re already in

serious talks with another company you

can mention that but it can both benefit

and disadvantage you so now we have

discussed all of the most common

interview questions and how you should

answer them please feel free to share

your model answers in the comments down

below and you can use each other as

inspiration

you can also provide constructive

criticism and feedback when the person

asks for it that’s it for this lesson I

hope you enjoyed it and I hope you

learnt something don’t forget to connect

with me on all of my social media I’ve

got my facebook my Instagram and my

Twitter and I shall see you soon for

another lesson

you

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