In my 17 plus years of experience, I have attended many job interviews.

I also conducted numerous interviews with the candidates.

There are some commonalities I found in these interviews.

There are some questions, which assess job aspirants like you from many angles.

 

These are specifically asked to understand your attitude to maximum extent.

There are five interview questions candidates keep failing their interviews .

 

These questions are designed to put you under scanner.

They are also designed to filter out those candidates who are not going to be a good fit for the organization.

Therefore,  if you have a job interview coming up soon, this article is best suited for you.

Here, not only will I tell you what those five hardest interview questions are, I will also give you top scoring answers for those tricky questions.

 

So these answers will help you to clear your job interviews.

 

So here we go.

 

Which are the tough interview Questions?

 

 Here are the top 5 tough interview questions.

 

1. What didn't you like about your last job ?
2. Where do you see yourself in the next five years ?
3. Why should I hire you ?
4. What makes you unique ?
5. What is your biggest weakness ?

 

Let’s dig deeper into these tough interview questions and see why they are asked.

 

Why do they ask ‘What didn't you like about your last job ?’

 

This is a really difficult interview question to answer.

Because it is assessing your levels of honesty and your reasons for leaving your current job.

 

Why do they ask ‘Where do you see yourself in the next five years ?’

 
Hiring someone for any job role takes a lot of time and effort. And it also costs the company financially in terms of your monthly salary.

 

Therefore they want to hire a candidate, who wants to stay for a longer duration in their organization.

This is one of the hardest interview questions to answer.

 

Because if you are honest, you don't even know where you are going to be next year- let alone in five years time.

Having said that there is a way you need to answer this difficult interview question if you are going to pass your interview which i will give to you very soon.

 

Why do they ask ‘Why should I hire you ?’

 

This has always been one of the hardest interview questions to answer correctly.

 

The interviewer is asking you this question because it can help them to decide which candidate is the one person who can add the most value to their business. Who is the best fit for the open position.

They don't want someone who will just do what is asked to do.

They want someone passionate, self driven person, who goes beyond the expected duties.

 

Again this could be the one interview question that decides whether or not you will be hired. 

 

Therefore you have to make sure you give a brilliant, powerful answer that proves you can add value to the role you will be hired for..

 

Why do they ask ‘What makes you unique ?’

 

This is one of the hardest interview questions to answer.

Because the interviewer is using it to determine which candidate is the best person for the job 

 

This question is being asked because the hiring manager clearly wants to take someone on in the role who is going to make a difference to their team. So they look for an above average person.

But what makes a person unique ? 

Very soon I will give you an outstanding answer that is guaranteed to impress the hiring manager. You would be hired !!

 

Why do they ask ‘What is your biggest weakness ? ‘

 

This interview question is tricky. 

It is being asked for several reasons. 

The first reason is the interviewer  wants to see if you are honest about your weaknesses.

You can't say you don't have any weaknesses.

And also, you certainly can't give a weakness that is a match for the job you have applied for.

But again very soon I will give you the perfect answer that will help you to stand out of the average candidates.

 

Now let us take a look at each question individually .

I will give you the perfect answers for those. You can refer to these and I am sure, you will be delighting the interviewers.

 

Best Answer to the question ‘ What didn't you like about your last job ? ‘ 

As I mentioned earlier,  this question is being asked to assess the reasons why you wanted to leave your last job.

Or why you want to leave your current job.

If you are still working in your current job,  do not under any circumstances be disrespectful about your former employer or your boss or your colleagues.

You need to give an answer that demonstrates you are an ambitious and value driven person who wants to succeed.

Here's my brilliant answer: - 

“ There wasn't much I disliked about my last/current job.
They were very supportive and my team is composed of  hard working members.

However one area that did frustrate me slightly was the fact that I didn't think the company had achieved its full potential. There were opportunities to grow the business in our market area and expand the product range.

But the company is happy to maintain the current business position.

Being an ambitious person I wanted to do more and get involved with different projects.

But the opportunities to do so never materialized. 

However working for you I think I will get more job satisfaction because of your ambitious

plans and your innovative approach to business “

 

Best Answer to the question ‘ Where do you see yourself in next five years ?’

 

Do you know, one of the easiest ways to pass your job interview is to demonstrate to the interviewer that you want to build a career and stay for a longer time with their company.

 

Here's a great example answer :

 

“The company I work for is really important to me.We spend a lot of time at work and I genuinely want that time to be put to good use in a role that I enjoy doing.

And for a company that wants to be the market leader in five years I still plan to be working for you.
I envisage having developed by taking training courses and by upskilling on the job.

In five years from now,  I would also want to be respected, trusted and a high-performing member of the team.

And perhaps having even advanced to a more senior level.

So,I want to build a long-term career with your company”

 

Best Answer to the question ‘Why should I hire you ?’

 

This is your great opportunity to sell yourself.  

The fact is you just want a job !

But to say ‘you should hire me because I want a job’ is not going to get you hired.

Here's a great example answer :

“I believe you should hire me because :
I already have the right skills, qualities and the drive to match the job description.

You should hire me because I am a very quick learner.I will make sure I fit into your team and start achieving straight away.

You should hire me because I am flexible- I will do tasks that are outside of my job description.And I would work extra hours if needed, to help out the team/project.”

 

Best Answer to the question ‘What makes you unique ?’

 

This interview question is your chance to outperform  other candidates.

You need to convince the interviewer that you are an above average person.

 

Here's a brilliant top scoring answer:

 

" Couple of things make me unique.

 The first thing is my ability to communicate with people in a way that makes them feel comfortable.

I am a very supportive team member.

 

I think this is good for the project,  because I can help you increase sales and I will always put the needs of the team above everything else.

The second thing that makes me unique is - my passion, desire to continually improve.

And my understanding of how important changes within an organization.

I will never do only the bare minimum tasks assigned to me.

i will also support the company with its strategic vision and I will help you to achieve organizational goals”

 

Best Answer to the question ‘What's your biggest weakness ?’

 

This is the hardest interview question to answer. 

 

If you say you don't have any weaknesses,  you won't be getting hired.

 

Also, if you give a weakness that matches with anything listed on the job description, they might not consider you.

 

Therefore, when you answer this really difficult question, please make sure you give a weakness.

 

But be smart in your answer.

 

I will now give you three example weaknesses that will harm you in your interviews. You can choose anyone, which suits you.

 

Option number 1: My biggest weakness is my inability to say no to people.

I am a bit of a people pleaser and I tend to say yes to everything or take on extra duties.

Option number 2:  My biggest weakness is the fact I don't have any leadership experience yet.

I have never had the opportunity to lead a project or a team. 

Though I don't believe this will affect my ability to carry out my duties in this role, I would be keen to eventually lead a project if there were opportunities.

Option number 3: My biggest weakness and perhaps something that I get anxious about is public speaking.

I tried to give a presentation once to a small group of people but I was very nervous. But now I am working on it to improve public speaking.

 

Summary

So, during your interview, be honest. Do not be disrespectful with your current/previous job, company or team.

Try to highlight your strong points and also know your weaknesses. Have a plan to improve those.

Communicate to the interviewer that you want to grow with the company and stay for longer time there.

 

All the best.

 

If you think these questions and answers helped you attain your job, please do share with your friends and play your role in their success too !