The Toughest Interview Question You Will Ever Hear

By Christie Mims. Posted on Aug 19th 2012.

Think you have heard hard interview questions? Try these on for size...

Recently I've gotten a lot of questions on interviewing while I have been out and about. The people have spoken, and I have heard! So, it is time for a short post on interviewing questions because I know that they are difficult and anxiety inducing.

A couple of things to note: Obviously, in whatever field you choose, there will be field specific questions. However, I am going to create a list of some questions I feel are standard in many interviews that you might run across. One thing to keep in mind, however? Few firms actually train on how to interview, so some questions may be completely random!

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1. Tell me about your work history - where do you think you shine?

2. What will you bring to this organization/team/company?

3. What has been a big challenge for you in the past at work?

4. What kind of team do you like to work on?

5. How do you handle leadership/communications/difficult conversations?

6. Why THIS firm/organization/company?

7. What do you love about this work?

8. Why do you want this job? Why are you changing jobs?

9. What would you like to know about how we work?

and the toughest interview question you may ever hear...

10. Tell me about a time that you absolutely failed.

This last question is hard, as we are trained from early on not to share our failures. Employers who ask this question are looking to see how you view failure, and more importantly how you LEARN from failure. So think through your answer, and then wow them with your perspective!

This is a good list to start from, so take a look and make sure you can answer questions like these. Also, please remember that interviews are a conversation that can actually be fun. So do your prep, think through some answers, and then try and get to know the people you are speaking to and with.

Good luck!

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