Job interviews can be a terrifying prospect.
Maybe you have just been offered an interview for your dream job, that could change your life, or maybe you just need a new nine to five to keep feeding the family and paying the bills. Either way, a job interview is a huge personal test that seems to gatekeep the potential of our future, and even our hopes and dreams at times.
Job interviews come in all shapes and sizes - some will be group-based, others a focused one-to-one between you and your potential next manager - but in each of them you'll be tested and questioned on your abilities, your experience, your character and your ambition. And sometimes, you might not be able to answer these questions as easily as you'd hope or even expect.
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It is always good to be prepared. So, here are the five most daunting questions that could (and probably will) come up at your next job interview, according to Fish4Jobs, and how to answer them.
How to answer the question: What do you consider to be your biggest failure?
The best way around this question is to give it a positive spin and use your answer to work to your advantage. According to experts, the biggest mistake you can make with your answer is to say that you haven’t had any failures.
Instead, find an example where you turned a failure into a positive. Talk about what you learnt from this and how you used the experience to improve, and how that learning experience will help guide you in the position you are going for.
Own your mistakes and make sure you show how you used this mistake to succeed later on.
How to answer the question: Why is there a gap in your work history?
If you have a gap on your CV you need to be prepared to talk about why this is. This can seem daunting but it’s important you don’t shy away from it and address it head on.
Chances are an employer will ask you about it and want to know what you were doing. Whatever the reason make sure you talk about it in a positive way and how it helped you improve.
It doesn’t matter if it was a break to travel or have children, there will be something you took away from the experience that you can use to your advantage in a job interview. Even if you were let go from a job you need to be honest because an employer can easily check up on what you say.
See the previous question if you need to think about how to turn a failure into something sellable.
How to answer the question: What are your salary expectations?
Before you go into interview you should have a good idea what the salary is for the role. If it wasn’t specified on the job advert then make sure you have researched pay scales for that sector so you know what the expected salary is.
The last thing you want to do is ask for a salary that is unrealistic. This could ruin your chances and make you seem greedy, or just misguided and confused about the position you are going for.
Do your research into the industry and what other companies pay their employees for the same role to inform your answer before the interview. It can't hurt to ask the interviewer what they would expect to pay you before you answer - though if you tell them you want more than they say, be prepared to explain why.
How to answer the question: What motivates you?
There’s no right or wrong answer for this question. Everyone’s answer will be different and it’s important to have an answer that reflects your personality.
The interviewer is really looking to find out about you, what you are like, and what drives you, and to get a picture of your person. You need to be honest and say what your reasons are behind your motivations.
Be careful saying that money is what motivates you. As this can lead your employer to worry about you leaving the company at the first sign of a bigger salary elsewhere, or that your workplace decisons will be entirely motivated by money.
How to answer the question: Do you prefer working by yourself or in a team?
This is perhaps the toughest question of the lot because both are important and employers usually want someone who can work alone and in a team. You don't want to contradict yourself and say both, so a good way to approach this is to find a happy medium, and sell yourself as someone who can work in both a team and on their own.
It could be beneficial to say you prefer one over the other, as this could give some indication of your character. But you need to make it clear that you can excel in both areas.
Make sure you show you can do both and provide past examples of how you have done this.
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