What do you do if you're faced with difficult interview questions?

Ask questions back to clarify to work your way through the problem and give yourself time to think about it. For example: Question: How many golf balls fit in a bus? Response: That's a great question but how big is the bus?

While facing any difficult questions, what I have experienced is to take a pause and calm down. Give a minute to process and understand the situation before reacting or responding. It is ok to not knowing the answer as we cannot have every kind of experience. It is to understand how we are able to handle the situation and react under stress. We need to take the situation under control and project ourselves in calm and composed way.

If hard questions come up in an interview keep calm and handle them peacefully; it is also good to ask for clarifications where one is not clear and take a moment to see if you understood it before answering. Answer logically – use some practical examples that relate to your life experience when presenting such topics.

I tell the interviewer the truth ‘Thanks for the question, I would request you to be patient with me as I would like to take a moment to pen down my thoughts so that I can provide you a better explanation from my understanding.’ The question is challenging and thought provoking which requires some additional time for me, hope that’s okay for you? :)

When I would get a new non-qual checking in on the subs I served on back in the day, I would always sit them down and ask them a few questions. Most of the questions weren't something they could have the answered yet, but I wasn't looking for an answer. What I was looking for was a thought process that would tell me they would be a good fit on the boat. I wanted to see some effort put forth. When you work in a VERY dangerous environment, you want people who can not only follow the rules, but also be able to think on their feet while coming up with either the proper answer, or a proper response to learn the proper answer.

Always :) I like to ask ‘can you please ask me the question again in another way because I didn’t quite understand it yet?’ I would request you to please rephrase the question for me so that I understand the purpose of this question to give you the answer that you’re looking for :)

Repeating it back, in my opinion, is a great way to make sure you are on the same page. "so just to understand clearly, you are asking (rephrase question in your own way) correct?"

You can get creative here and show them your story telling skills Start with adding curiosity ‘That’s a great question which reminds me of my extraordinary performance that I achieved in my leadership abilities and received great feedback from my team.’ Talk about the situation, task and action at the end :)

In general terms you have to think that each question might be scored out of 5 and your answer needs to tick all the boxes to get a 5. Using the star method is the easiest way to do that...just give some background context to why this is a suitable answer, then describe the situation and then what you learnt from it. Make sure not to apportion blame in an answer if it was something that went wrong, it is the event not the individuals they want to understand.

When in such difficult situations, better be honest. There is nothing wrong in a statement of not aware-off. We all are learning and it is also a way to understand how open we are to learn new things. Some of the best ways to answer--- "I am not sure about it but given a chance, I can learn and adapt quickly..." "Honestly, I have not worked on this or did not get an exposure to work on but I would like to understand more and learn quickly..."

Always be honest during interviews about what you know and what you want to learn further to improve. If you are unsure or have not come across a situation that the interviewer is asking about, be clear and state that you haven't experienced such a situation. Express how you would handle the situation; it's all about being adaptable and humble. This can help make a positive impact on the interview

Be you, be honest, be vulnerable. You may stumble, get back up, nail another one. At the end of the day if you gave them the best you that you could. That's what they got. Wouldn't you rather be hired for you, as you are, rather than being an over studied, robot, with copy paste (the internet told me this is the best answer) answers.

In a selection interview I conducted, a candidate was asked about his technical skills in a specific area. He claimed to have extensive experience in this field, presenting himself as an expert. However, during the interview, his answers were inconsistent and evasive, raising suspicions. Upon further investigation, I discovered that he had significantly exaggerated his technical skills to impress. As a result, his lack of honesty undermined the trust the recruiting team had in him. He was not considered for the position and, more importantly, his professional credibility was damaged in the market. This story highlights the importance of honesty during an interview and the serious consequences of trying to deceive recruiters.

I have interviewed 1000s in 4 years of recruitment and we interviewer definitely got the skill to pick up any lies you’re trying to tell so please be aware here Integrity is your essence. Choose the path of truth and if you want to play, play it really well and smart that even if you got the job from your game, you are open to dedicate to perform because remember you get 6 months to be reviewed ;)

What you learnt from a situation is the real reason for any question. One they know you have encountered the scenario and two they are employing someone who has the right solution. They are buying your experience so show the positives. No one wants to hear blame as businesses will say they don't have a blame culture and dwelling in failings is a good trait.

It is OK to ask to circle back to a question. Often when navigating the rest of the interview, something might jar your brain or cause you to remember something relevant to the sidelined question. "You know, I would like to digest that one a little to provide the most relevant answer possible. Would it be ok to circle back to that question?" - AOK to do this. Shows vulnerability and honesty. U R HUMAN Then at the end of the interview, they most likely will bring it back, or proactively you can as well at the appropriate time.

Interviews aren't designed to catch you out they are designed to get the best out of you. in my experience of interviewing 100s of candidates there are no trick questions and there are no questions that should catch you out. Most questions are very generic so a quick Google search will find the top type of questions for a similar role. Just make sure you practice answers and have more scenarios in reserve. Be professional be friendly and try to inject some personality into the interview. It is important that they can also see that you would fit into their team. Ask about the team, as they will want to talk about what they have built so far. Most importantly be honest and if you are unsure just discuss the question.