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The dreaded negative interview questions.  Hiring managers often ask these questions to see how you handle pressure, your level of honesty, and your self awareness.  The work environment isn’t always a walk in the park.  There are disagreements, unproductive days, projects that fail.  They are unavoidable.  However, it is important for the hiring manager to see how you perform under pressure.  The key is to acknowledge your weaknesses and reveal how you have made adjustments to manage it better through appropriate behaviors.  Don’t get defensive.  Remain calm and confident.  Remember, the interviewer isn’t always assessing the actual weakness.  They want to see how you react and hear how you respond to questions that require you to give what seems to be a negative response.

Take time this week to read through and prepare answers to these 8 questions.  Acknowledge your weakness then show how you have made adjustments.  With some practice, you will be a master in answering the negative questions.  And you can sit down with confidence during your next interview no matter what questions come your way!

1. Tell me about a meeting you’ve attended that was unproductive and why it was. What was your role?

2. If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?

3. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.

4. What are your greatest personal limitations?

5. Describe a challenge you did not overcome and what happened afterward?

6. Have you ever had difficulty getting along with a co-worker or supervisor? How did you handle it?

7. Have you ever missed a deadline or failed to complete a task that others expected you to complete? Explain.

8. What are some of the things in sales that you find difficult to do?