Difficult Interview Question Strategy:

1. Q: tell me about yourself.

A: your qualification, experiences, and achievement (not your personal life story)

Tips:

a. Give snapshot of each work story (what job, what title, how long, what you do)
“ I started working as a xyz in abc company 5 years ago where I do a, b, c, d)
b. Make the story achievement oriented → save time, save processes, generate more
result, or any quantifiable result
c. Tell the employer about what you know about the role you want.
“I understand/ I am aware that for this position, you are looking for someone who have a
strong background in … and …”
d. Tell the employer why you are the best person for the job.
“overall due to my background, experience, and qualification, I believe that I am the
perfect fit for the role.”

2. Q: What is/are your weaknesses?

a. Not a strength in disguise
b. Not a personality trait
c. Something that can be improved
d. Issues that you are working on
e. Provide context of when the weaknesses occur
- Example: instead of saying ‘I’m impatient’, say: “In situation where there is a
deadline to be met, I’ve tended to do my job quickly and efficiently. Aside from that, I
also consistently ask my coworker to update on their progress. It makes me appear
as impatient.”
- “I'm too detail oriented. I never want to leave anything out and I want everything to
be perfect. This is bad because it slows down my work. Initially, I tried to work faster
to compensate, but that only made me sloppy. So I decided to put more emphasis on
priority and planning. By doing so, I'm hoping that I can make the proper decisions
on what to work on and what to intentionally leave out."

Strategy

a. Make a list of weaknesses

b. Highlight the item that only appear in certain context, not all the time.
c. Pick one current and past weakness, and tell a story about it.
a. In situation where/when ________ I have tended to (describe what you do, not
tell the weakness) this has made me appear _____(the weakness)_____as a
result, I’ve become aware that this is not good and I have learned to improve it.
b. Instead now, ___________(your way to cope with the problem). As a result
____________(the achievement, or result of the coping mechanism).