3 Trick Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
Know the Meaning Behind These Interview Questions
Interview Question #1 - Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Translation for this trick interview question - How long do you plan to stay with our company?
This interview question, This job interview question, designed to see what your intentions are, sounds simple enough. Many job seekers immediately respond to this trick question by speaking to aspirations having nothing to do with the company for which they are interviewing. Companies are waiting to see if the job seeker is serious about the opportunity or if the job seeker is looking to fill a gap or find a stepping stone. Job seekers who say things like, "I plan to be in Law school in five years," or "I want to own my own business," don't score points with the interviewer. To answer this type of trick interview question speak to growth with the company, learning and additional responsibilities. It might sound cliché, but companies want to know job applicants have plans that include them. It is a good place to show off company research about new markets, new products or a division where you aspire to work.
Interview Question #2 - What kind of work environment is best for you?
Translations for this trick interview question - Will you fit in here? Did you do any research?
This job interview question is really asked to get a sense of your organizational fit and whether any company or industry research was done to know the type of employee the organization seeks. Answers will show a match between what the job seeker considers a productive environment and what is typical for that company or industry. For example, if an applicant is interviewing at Zappos, the large online shoe retailer and responds to this interview question by saying they need quiet, calm work place to be productive, they might not be a good fit for the Zappos work culture. If the job seeker had Googled "What's it like to work at Zappos" they would know what the Zappos workplace is like. Research the company or the industry, to know their work environment before the job interview.
3. How do you handle criticism at work? Give us a specific example?
Translations for this trick interview question - Has your work been criticized? What quality work should we expect? Are you a team player?
This trick job interview question is a minefield. Employers watch body language to see how applicants even react to the word "criticism". To answer, it is best to not speak about being personally criticized or work product being criticized. It is more appropriate to speak about ideas that may have been shared which improved from input. If a job applicant starts to discuss how someone criticized their work, the interviewer could wonder about work quality. It is much better to speak about ideas or concepts being refined or getting feedback from team members to improve outcomes.
Other resources:
3 Steps to do Company Research
Published by Marcia Robinson
Marcia has been writing about work, employment, careers, education, entrepreneurship and related political issues for thirteen years. She has a strong commitment to supporting the personal and professional... View profile
- Prepare for a Job Interview: Answering Tough QuestionsWhat if someone asks you "what are your weaknesses?" This article is meant to help you answer that question and to use it as an opportunity to make yourself look like the best applicant.
How to Dress for a Job InterviewA polished resume and lots of experience may be enough to get you a job interview. But you need a professional look if you hope to get hired.- How to Reduce Job Interview AnxietyFeelings of anxiety during an interview are common and normal. Unfortunately for some people feelings of job interview anxiety seems to be overwhelming and a source of interference when it comes to responding to the i...
The One Thing You Must Have at a Job InterviewWant to set yourself apart from the rest of the job-seeking candidates? This trick will make you stand out!- How to Use Powerful, Popular Trick of Interviewers to Your AdvantageHiring managers increasingly get the real truth out of job candidates by using behavioral interviewing. This technique makes it difficult to bend or fabricate things in a job interview. But for that same reason, it's...
- Ten Common Job Interview Questions and Answers
- Job Interview Trick: How to Calm Your Nerves
- What You Should Know Before You Go to Any Job Interview
- How to Prepare for a Job Interview
- Job Interview Questions - Top Ten
- Job Interview Preparation
- In-Depth Interview Questions
9 Comments
Post a CommentQuite right. The other one is "What's your greatest weakness?" Ouch!
Very helpful, thank you!
super job
Excellent work!
You are right. You really have to listen to the question and sometimes give more information to fully answer.
Great tips on acing the interview. Thanks!
Excellent article! It is true that how you answer these probably determine whether you get the position or not.
Good Q&A article!
After being laid off in 2008, I went on more job interviews than I ever thought possible. These questions came up all the time. All of these are great tips for answering these questions. In general, these questions are basically asked to find out how much the interviewee prepared for the interview and how serious they are about the position. Great tips!