YAHOO FINANCE, 5TH February 2024: ‘What to do if you can’t answer a job interview question – and how to recover’
You’re smashing a job interview, feeling confident and you’re nearly at the end. But then, disaster happens – the interviewer asks you where you see yourself in five years and your mind goes blank.
Two of the most difficult questions to answer are behavioural and hypothetical questions, says career coach Victoria McLean, founder and CEO of the career consultancy City CV.
Behavioural questions might require talking about how you respond to criticism or cope with stress. Meanwhile, hypothetical questions can require talking about imaginary scenarios, such as dealing with a rogue client or managing an ethical problem.
“In both instances the difficulty normally lies in having to think on your feet when you might be feeling nervous or anxious,” says McLean. “You can prepare for behavioural questions by thinking back through your career prior to the interview and cross-checking your experiences with questions that are likely to come up about the role you’re interviewing for.”
It’s a little more difficult to prepare for hypothetical questions, but it can help to write down a few difficult situations that you’ve experienced and overcome. For example, providing negative feedback or handling a mistake.
“Again if you’ve really given some thought to your previous experience, you should be able to draw on that. Interview coaching is a really good way to prepare for scenarios like this,” says McLean.
The article can be read in full here.