There is nothing worse than when you finally get the big interview you wanted, everything is going great, and then they throw you that tricky interview question that makes you go blank.

Maybe you cobble together a halfway decent response and hope they don’t judge you too harshly based on one blemish. But it’s better to prepare so such moments don’t keep happening.

The Balance Careers examined the topic and shared some good answers for the tricky interview questions.

What Is Your Biggest Weakness?

The point of an interview is to sell yourself, so it feels counterintuitive to highlight your weaknesses. Don’t deny having any, because that screams disingenuous or lacking awareness.

Instead, go with something you can spin into a positive, like being a perfectionist who cares about every detail but needs to work a bit more on time management.

Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?

Honestly, with how much the world has changed in the last five years, it feels a bit silly to expect anyone to predict where they will be in half a decade.

But focus on your loyalty by talking about how you are driven to advance in this field and hope that in five years you have the tools to be in a more experienced role within the same line of work.

What is Your Dream Job?

This is more of a softball to make sure this isn’t a transitory role to you.

Focus on the same field as the job you applied for but say that you aim to one day be in something like a management role in that field. This shows you plan to stick around but also have ambition.

What Sounds Most Challenging About this Job?

You can be honest about an area where you don’t have as much experience, but then turn that into a dialogue about how you want to work to improve on that.

Maybe even share any courses or workshops you are taking to address that gap in your knowledge.

Why Do You Want to Work Here?

This isn’t the time to talk about what the company is offering you. This question basically is you reiterating why you would fit in with the company.

Use what you learned in your research of their history and culture from their company site to share similarities you have with their workstyle.

These questions feel like traps, but don’t look at that as a negative. If you demonstrate you know how to give smart responses, it will set you apart from everyone who wasn’t prepared.

For more tricky interview questions and what the interviewer really wants to know, check out the post from The Balance Careers here.

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