Readers' Wisdom: How to Answer Difficult Interview Questions

Last week's post about how to answer some troubling interview questions set off a hugely interesting conversation among readers who joined in to share their experiences with difficult interviews, as well as their best advice for how to respond to tricky situations. Out of a flurry of comments, three types of interview questions emerged as the most vexing for readers:

1. Questions about weaknesses or failures -- these questions are framed to get you to criticize yourself or to cough up examples of past problems. Examples include the straight up "What are your greatest weaknesses?" and more round about versions such as "Tell me about an actual time when you had a disagreement with your manager" or "Describe a situation where the client was irate and how you handled it."
2. Questions on pay and level of ambition -- no one wants to sell themselves short but how high is too high?
3. Oddball questions -- these are designed to shake up the interviewee and elicit unscripted answers. Examples abounded in the comments and included everything from "Describe your closet" to the slightly unbelievable but hugely imaginative "Imagine you're in Antarctica, running naked wearing only a tie around your neck. Suddenly you see a gorilla chasing you. What do you do?'

Meanwhile, majorstu suggests one way to frame a strength as a weakness without making the effort absurdly transparent and unconvincing. His solution: use a concrete real world example of how what constitutes a plus to some could be an issue for others. His answer:

I had a very good relationship with my first manager in a job, got performance reviews with comments like "takes charge, gets things done". Then that manager retired and I got a new one, suddenly the atmosphere changed and my first review commented, "oversteps the bounds of his authority". I use this response when asked about weaknesses, adding that the weakness is that I try to work through the problems and get the mission accomplished, but sometimes misjudge other people's perceptions of my attitude.

Thanks to all for the thought-provoking comments. Keep 'em coming.

(Image of the view from the interviewer's seat by David Davies, CC 2.0)