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  • Hi, everybody, it's Richard McMunn again from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

  • And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to answer TRICKY interview questions!

  • So, tricky interview questions are tough and challenging questions that are designed to

  • assess whether you are a right fit for the job you are being interviewed for. More and

  • more employers, and hiring managers, are using tricky interview questions as part of the

  • selection process. I'm going to go through seven of these. Seven that are being used

  • more and more during interviews and I will tell you how to answer them. Please do stick

  • around because I don't want you to fail your interview! Now, a very warm welcome to this

  • tricky interview question training tutorial. My name is Richard McMunn. That's me there

  • in the center. The bald chap! And as always, I've been helping people for about 20-years

  • now to pass their interviews. Loads of you are passing your interviews after watching

  • these tutorials, which is great! So on that basis, please do make sure you SUBSCRIBE by

  • clicking the red button below the video, and then you are not going to miss out on my weekly

  • training videos. And if you enjoy this tutorial, I would very, very much appreciate your support

  • if you gave the video a like. Thank you very much. What is a tricky interview question?

  • A tricky interview question is a tough and difficult interview question that is one of

  • those where, if you say the wrong thing, you simply won't get hired. You could be going

  • through the whole of the interview and you could be doing brilliantly. And then they

  • ask you one question, and you get it wrong. You say the wrong thing, and this happens

  • a lot. So, I'm going to tell you all of the tricky interview questions and then make sure

  • you answer them correctly using the tips and high-scoring answers that I'm going to provide

  • you with. The first tricky interview question is, describe yourself in one word? You might

  • think, well, this is not really tricky. I could answer that. However, it is tricky because

  • you can quite easily give a word that is of NO BENEFIT whatsoever to the employer or the

  • hiring manager. So, you are being interviewed against a load of other people. We want to

  • give them a word, and there are some words that you should give which I am going to disclose

  • in a second, that will make you the ideal candidate. We want to think about what the

  • hiring manager wants. Give ONE WORD that is a total benefit to the interviewer. This is

  • what I would suggest you say to the tricky interview question, describe yourself in one

  • word? “In one word, I would say I am a person of INTEGRITYThat’s because, I will always

  • do a great job, I am loyal to my employer and, above all, you can rely on me to be professional

  • in my role.” I've given a word that I'm a person of INTEGRITY, and I've explained

  • why’. That's the important part. You can either pause the video and write that

  • down if you want to. Which is probably the best thing to do. Or, you can re-watch the

  • video once I've finished. Now there are, of course, other words that you might decide

  • to use. Here's a list of powerful words that will put you across as someonehighly-employable’.

  • Now, this is one that I think is great. I would say I'm DRIVEN because I am from a personal

  • and professional perspective. I'm driven, and that would be great if you are a hiring

  • manager. And you said, “Yeah, I'm a driven person.” That's great because you are somebody

  • who wants to do a great job and do lots of work. PROFESSIONAL is another word that I

  • would recommend you use. DEDICATED. I am LOYAL. I am RESPONSIBLE and COMPASSIONATE. I'm SELF-DISCIPLINED.

  • I am POSITIVE and I am RELIABLE. So, those are power words. Pick any one you want. But

  • that one, a person of INTEGRITY is, in my view, the top number one word or quality that

  • is attractive to any hiring manager. The second, difficult, tough and tricky interview question

  • is, why do you want to leave your job? Why is this tricky? Well, because if you are negative

  • about your employer, or your manager, or your work colleagues, you won't get the job! I

  • can guarantee that. When they say, why do you want to leave your job? If you say, “I

  • don't really agree with the direction the company's going inor, “you know, there's

  • been some changes that I've not been happy with.” Or, “my manager doesn't really

  • understand meor, “I don't get on with a couple of people in the team.” You won't

  • get the job. What we need to do, is be very careful in our answer to this tough, tricky

  • interview question why do you want to leave your job? My advice is to be POSITIVE about

  • your previous employer. (Please!) Please do that, as hard as it might be for some people.

  • Be positive about it, because that demonstrates professionalism, and integrity. Here is my

  • answer to: why you want to leave your job. “I want to leave my job because I feel I

  • am ready for a new challenge. My employer has been amazing, and weve achieved some

  • great things together. But, when I saw this job advertised, I knew I had to go for it.

  • I will leave my employer on great terms, but I am ready for a new, fresh and challenging

  • role.” That's the perfect answer to that tricky and tough interview question, why do

  • you want to leave your job? Tough and challenging interview question number three, what is your

  • greatest achievement? Now, again, you might think that's not tricky, but it is. This is

  • your opportunity to gain lots of extra points during the interview. Now, most people will

  • either talk about their personal achievements, you know, their grades. You know, “my greatest

  • achievement is I managed to get the grades that I wanted so I can apply for this job

  • or they will even saymy greatest achievement is my family. I'm very proud of my family.

  • I love them. They're very healthy.” And that's great. We are all very proud of our

  • family. Or, even some people might say, and I've heard this before, they'll say… “my

  • greatest achievement is the fact that I've managed to stay married to my partner for

  • 15 years!” Don't say that, and don't say any of the other ones! Okay. Whilst they might

  • be truthful, what I would say is something that is of BENEFIT to the employer. Tell them

  • about a work-related achievement where you or a team of people did something of significance

  • for your employer. Let me give you an example of a great answer to the tricky interview

  • question, what your greatest achievement? “I’d say my greatest achievement would

  • have to be when I worked as part of a team to win a big contract for my previous employer.

  • We had been working on the contract for three months and the stakes were high. If we succeeded,

  • our company stood to gain a significant financial reward, and if we failed, we would not get

  • this level of opportunity again for some time. We all worked together really hard to make

  • sure the contract proposal was to a very high standard. Thankfully, due to our combined

  • team effort, we won the contract which enabled the business to really move forward and grow

  • within our industry.” If you said that to me. If I ask you the question… “What is

  • your greatest achievement?” I would think, this person is passionate about the organization

  • and they want to do a great job! That's the way to answer the tough interview question,

  • what's your greatest achievement? Were going to move on to a few more now. Please

  • do stick around, and if youve not subscribed yet, please do. And if you are enjoying this,

  • I would very much appreciate if you gave the video a LIKE. Thank you. Next question. What's

  • your biggest weakness? Obviously, this is a tricky, difficult, tough and challenging

  • interview question. Now, it's very easy to give a weakness that is an essential requirement

  • of the job you are applying for. If you are, say, for example, you're applying for a call

  • center interview, where you have to deal with customers on the telephone. And you say, “well,

  • my weaknesses is that, sometimes, I'm not very confident when dealing with people

  • you won't get the job! What we have to do is give a weakness that actually puts you

  • across in a positive light; something that is of benefit to the hiring manager. Try and

  • turn your weakness into a positive one. Here is my suggested answer to the tricky interview

  • question: What is your biggest weakness? “I guess my biggest weakness is that I find it

  • difficult to strike a healthy work-life balance. I like to get stuck into my work and I often

  • end up taking on extra tasks and working long hours as a result, much to the dissatisfaction

  • of my partner. However, I am learning to make sure I take time for myself and my family

  • whilst still being a committed and dedicated employee.” That tells me that you are somebody

  • who is going to work a lot, and you are going to really put your work first, and you might

  • work late into the evening at times. That would be music to my ears as a recruiting

  • manager! Question number five of our tricky interview questions: How do you define success?

  • This is a difficult one, and it's used quite a lot. Why is this tricky? Well, it's tricky

  • because, again, it's really easy to lose track of what this interview question is aimed at

  • assessing. Are you a company person, or do you put your own success above everything

  • else? Some people will say, “well, I define success as staying in my joborhaving

  • a brilliant paycheckorgetting a promotion.” Now, there is a great way to answer this question.

  • Think about how your definition of success can be a BENEFIT to the hiring manager or

  • interviewer. Let me give you a great answer to the difficult interview question, how do

  • you define success? “Success to me is doing a brilliant job for my employer whilst also

  • building on the successes that the team has already achieved. I am not someone who likes

  • to sit back and just get by. I want to consistently achieve great things, whether that’s delivering

  • brilliant service for your customers, getting the company more leads or even increasing

  • sales higher than the previous yearsrecord.” You are putting the organization first, which

  • is really important when answering that interview question. Tricky interview question number

  • 6: Have you ever disagreed with how your manager wanted you to approach a task? Now, this is

  • tricky because most people will say, “No, I've never disagreed with them”, but that

  • would not tell me you are a person who is going to support your manager and come up

  • with different alternative suggestions at times. Now, it's OK to sayno”, but there

  • is a better way of demonstrating that you actually have an opinion, and that you want

  • to be supportive of your manager. Say you have disagreed on the odd occasion, but you

  • did respect their decision. Here is the way to answer the tricky and tough interview question:

  • have you ever disagreed with how your manager wanted you to approach a task? “Only on

  • the odd occasion have a disagreed with my manager. And whenever I have disagreed, I

  • have put forward my suggestion in a respectful manner and explained the benefits of perhaps

  • trying it a different way. On one occasion my manager agreed with me,

  • and on the other occasion she disagreed. Whatever the situation though, I would always respect

  • my manager’s decision and do what they ask.” That shows that you are not somebody who consistently

  • disagrees with them, but that you respect their decision. But you want to offer up alternative

  • ways of doing things at times, if you think that there is a better way of doing it. I

  • have a manager who challenges me on occasions. He is brilliant and I like it because he does

  • come up with some brilliant ways of doing things differently. But it is how you challenge

  • your manager that is important. Question number 7. Tell me about a mistake you made at work?

  • This is a tricky interview question, but why is it tricky? Well, this is tricky because

  • you could make yourself out to be foolhardy and even incompetent. And obviously we don't

  • want to do that! It's perfectly okay to make mistakes at work, because we all do it. But,

  • it's how you RESPOND to the mistake that's really important. Here’s a great way to

  • answer the difficult interview question, tell me about a mistake you made at work? “I’ve

  • only ever made a couple of mistakes, and I learnt a huge amount form both situations.

  • In my early days at work, I failed to double-check a stock take that I was responsible for, and

  • the figures came out wrong. As soon as I noticed the mistake, I was mortified and I informed

  • my manager, apologized and put it right immediately. In the rare occasion where I do make a mistake,

  • I will always take ownership of it and sort it out quickly.” That's the perfect answer

  • to that question. That's great, because it's how you put it across as well. I said, “as

  • soon as I noticed, I was mortified and I informed my manager straightaway.” This question

  • does assess your levels of honesty, your integrity and your values. But also, most importantly,

  • you TAKE OWNERSHIP. Those two words, I ‘take ownershipof situations and I sort it out

  • quickly. That is the perfect answer to that interview question. I hope you enjoyed that.

  • If you would like to download my 21 Great Answers to Tough Interview Questions that

  • comes in a PDF guide, you can download straight away by clicking that link in the top right

  • hand corner. Itll take you through to my website PassMyInterview.com where you can

  • get all of the answers to my questions. Watch the again video if you need to. Got any questions?

  • Please put them in the comments section below. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.com.

  • I've put my LinkedIn.com link in the description below the video. I hope you've enjoyed that.

  • I wish you all the best for passing your interview. Thank you for watching, guys. Goodbye.

Hi, everybody, it's Richard McMunn again from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

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