What are some tricky interview questions?

 

Introduction

You may not have control over the questions that you’re asked, but you have complete control over how you answer them. Here are some of the toughest interview questions that interviewers use to test your ability to think on your feet and deliver an impressive answer in front of others:

Why should we hire you?

When it comes to the interview, there are always a few questions that have a bit of a trick behind them. One of those tricky questions is “why should we hire you?”

It’s important to think through this question and answer it as best you can. This is because it’s one of those situations where you need to show them why having someone like you on their team would be beneficial for everyone involved. You’ll want to highlight your skills and talents in order for them to see how they would benefit from having someone like yourself working with them at all times, which should make the rest of your answers easier.

If you had a superpower, which one would it be?

Super speed, teleportation, flying and invisibility are the most common superpowers. But what if you wanted to be different? What if your superpower was something else entirely?

A mind reader could read thoughts without having to ask questions and get answers. Someone who has telepathy can see and hear things from far away. Telekinesis is the ability to move things with your mind. Pyrokinesis is the power of fire — you can create flames with just a thought! Someone who has x-ray vision can see through walls and other objects as if they aren’t there at all! And time travel: If you could go anywhere in time, when would it be? How about ancient Egypt or medieval England where magic seems real?

How much money would you need to make to live the life you want?

This question is a bit tricky because it’s not so much about the answer itself as it is about how you approach the question.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Be specific. It’s better to say “I’d like more than $1,000 a month” than just “$1000 per month.” This makes your answer easier to follow, and gives them an idea of how close or far apart you are from their expectations for what that amount of money should be.
• Be honest. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly how much money would make you happy — no one does! But if someone asks this question, they want an answer from which they can gauge how committed (or not) someone is to working at their company. If someone has no idea what kind of salary will make them happy but says “a lot” anyway, then that person might seem unserious or uncommitted when they’re actually just trying to think through something complicated and figure things out on their own time — which could ultimately hurt their chances at landing the job!
• Be realistic. If there isn’t enough room in your budget to afford even one nice meal each month with friends after work (or none), then maybe that’ll help show employers why being able give them what they need will be hard for some people who have lower incomes now but hope someday soon that things will get better financially? Just bear in mind: unless there’s an obvious reason why asking this questions isn’t fair (like being unemployed), sometimes honesty may work better than withholding potentially embarrassing details from interviewers during initial conversations; it helps keep things professional

If I called your previous boss and asked for three weaknesses of yours, what would he say?

This is one of the most common trick questions. Your interviewer will want to see how you handle criticism, and what you do when you’re put on the spot.

There are a few ways you can answer this question:

• Be prepared with a good answer. If one of your weaknesses is that you work too hard or don’t keep up with changes in technology, then be ready to explain why it’s actually a positive trait for this job (you would work late on occasion if necessary) or why it won’t affect your performance on the job at hand (you’ve learned all there is to learn about using technology).
• Say something like “I’m sure he’ll say I’m not perfect.” Then get them talking by asking them what they think his response might be before offering an answer yourself.
• Focus on something completely different: “I’m sure he’ll say I’m not perfect,” followed by a question like “What do you think is my biggest weakness?

If you were an animal, which one would you be and why?

• Think about the animal’s characteristics and how they are different from your own.
• Describe how you would behave if you were that animal, including your habits and diet.
• Describe how you would look if you were that animal, including features like hair color, skin color or patterns of scales or feathers.
• Describe how you would sound if you were that animal; for example: lions roar when they’re hungry.
• Finally, describe how an animal smells; for example: dogs smell like wet grass after a rainstorm

What is your biggest regret in life?

• What is your biggest regret in life?
• You can ask about the interviewee’s biggest regret, or you can ask what they wish they had done differently. For example: “What do you wish you had done differently?” or “What do you wish you had done more of?”
• You can also ask what they wish they hadn’t done. For example: “What do you wish you had not done?”

Who would play you in a movie?

This question is meant to get you talking about your personality and values. The interviewer might ask it because they want to see if you are self-confident and comfortable talking about yourself.

You can name anyone, but don’t say someone who is famous or has a big ego. If you really have no idea who would play you in the movie version of your life, it’s okay not to answer this question at all — it’s just one of many questions that people get asked during an interview!

If I were playing myself…

I think I’d be very different from how I am now (and then). Maybe if I had grown up with more money or education, for example. Or maybe if I’d been living somewhere else — like maybe Japan?

If I were to give you this salary (or wage) you requested but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?

A job description is a written document that describes the duties and responsibilities of a job. A good job description should include:

• What is the job? This means what work does the employee do? It’s important to think about all aspects of your job, not just one or two parts.
• Who does this task? Is it you? Or multiple people working together? If so, who else will be involved in completing tasks related to this position?
• How often does this task need to be completed? For example, if you are responsible for completing weekly reports for customers on Fridays at 4 pm each week, then that would be an important aspect of your job description.

Tell me something that’s true, that almost nobody agrees with.

This question tests your ability to argue, defend your beliefs and think on your feet. It also looks at how well you can explain why you believe what you do and why other people might disagree with you.

It requires a good memory too — you need to be able to remember facts about current events so that you can support your answer with evidence.

Here are some examples:

• The government should raise taxes on high earners in order to reduce the deficit. Most experts agree that this will have minimal effect because most of the money goes straight back into savings or investments that result in even higher tax revenues for governments. Therefore it would be better for governments just to cut spending rather than raise taxes as a way of reducing their debt problems.
• There’s no such thing as climate change caused by human activity; it’s just natural variability in weather patterns which have always existed since before humans came along and will continue long after we’re gone from this planet!

How many basketballs can fit in this room?

If you’re ever faced with the question “How many basketballs can fit in this room?” you can use a little math to give an answer. You’ll need to estimate the volume of both the space and basketballs, which isn’t hard since your interviewer will probably tell you what dimensions they have. You can also assume that all basketballs are roughly equal diameter and height, so it’s reasonable to assume each ball has similar volume (and thus weight). Once you’ve estimated these things, calculating how many balls would fit in a given space is easy: simply multiply your answer for either one by itself!

How do you weigh a Boeing Jumbo Jet without using a scale?

The question is asking you to find the center of gravity of a Boeing Jumbo Jet without using a scale.

There are many ways to solve this problem, but here’s one approach:

• Find out the weight of everything inside and outside the plane: passengers, luggage, fuel, cargo and so on.
• Use this information to calculate how much air there is in each part of the plane by dividing its volume by its density (which we know from science class).
• The sum of all these things will give us our center of gravity!

It may not matter what they ask — it matters how you answer.

If you are interviewing for a job, it is important to know that the most important thing you can do is show up. Not just go through the motions, but really be there.

If you are interviewing for a job and they ask if you have any questions, ask away! It’s not your fault they didn’t tell you what they were looking for or what the position entails — it could be that those answers might give away too much information about their business model (or worse: tell them something about yourself).

It’s always best to be honest with your answers during an interview: if someone asks if anyone ever gave feedback on your performance at work or school in reference to teamwork skills or leadership abilities, don’t gloss over this question by simply saying “yes” when in reality no one has ever given any sort of feedback on such things. If this happens multiple times during an interview process then maybe the interviewer isn’t asking enough questions….

Conclusion

As you can see from the list above, there are plenty of tricky interview questions that you could be asked at any stage of the hiring process. It’s important to remember that it doesn’t matter what they ask — it matters how you answer. If there was one thing I learned from all my interviews, it’s that preparation is key! You need to know your own strengths and weaknesses so that when asked about them, you can talk about how they make you an asset for the company.