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ev
is
101
ed
toughest
interview
questions
... and answers that win the job !
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101 Toughest Interview
Questions
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Contents
List of Questions.........................................................................vii
Introduction...................................................................................1
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vii
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List of Questions ix
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List of Questions xi
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Introduction 3
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Instructions
As you anticipate potential questions that you might be asked in an
interview, read through the 101 questions (but not the sample an-
swers) and select those that would be the most difficult or challeng-
ing for you to answer. Any question that you dread being asked is one
that you should prepare for thoroughly—take extra time to contem-
plate your response and then practice delivering it confidently and
articulately. If you fear a specific question or type of question, always
make time to deal with it before you are sitting across from the inter-
viewer. You don’t want to be in the position of struggling to answer
a challenging or uncomfortable interview question, especially if you
were fairly sure it would come up. Be ready to tackle the hard stuff—
gaps in your career, problems with bosses or coworkers, whether you
are overqualified or underqualified, why you left your last job, and so
on. You can’t stop the interviewer from asking these questions, but
you can diffuse your anxiety by being ready.
Once you have made a list of the questions you find challeng-
ing, write down an answer that you might give to an interviewer for
each one (but don’t look at the sample answers yet). After you have
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Introduction 5
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1 Understanding the
Interviewer’s Concerns
To ace your job interviews, you need to understand the role of inter-
viewers and what they are trying to accomplish. Sure, they want to
hire someone for the position, but they want to hire the right person.
It is their goal to make an informed and reasonable decision, so every
question they ask has meaning and importance. The questions they
ask aren’t random; they don’t pull them out of a hat and hope that
they can divine who is the right person for the job. Every question is
designed to illuminate and clarify some piece of information about
you so they can determine whether you are the best person to hire.
In the broadest terms, every question asked in an interview address-
es at least one of the following four main concerns:
1. Can you do the job?
2. Who are you?
3. Will you fit in at the company?
4. What will you cost us?
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Most employers have had at least one bad experience in the past
when hiring someone; they need to know that they won’t be making
a mistake by hiring you. You must make interviewers feel that the
risks to them are very minimal if you are hired. Specifically, you need
to reassure them that you will fit in at the company, get along with
your coworkers, actively contribute to the company’s well-being and
progress, and not add to the challenges that they already face.
For a complete list of questions that address the interviewer’s
third concern, see pages x–xi. The primary strategy for dealing with
this type of question is to provide information about how you have
reacted in the past and to show there will be no unpleasant surprises
from you in the future. Demonstrate that you get along well with
others and can relate to people at all levels of the company’s hierar-
chy. Be sure to:
• List your interpersonal skills and describe methods you use to
deal with people.
• Give examples of your interactions with former superiors.
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101 Toughest Interview
Questions
visit one of these online retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Borders
IndieBound
Powell’s Books
Random House
www.TenSpeedPress.com