100+ Winning Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions

by Casey Hawley M.A.

Titles in Barron's Business Series are of special interest to newcomers to the corporate world, offering them practical advice on career advancement. The books are written by experienced business professionals and cover a wide range of business topics, from effective methods of communication with business colleagues to dealing with difficult people. Updated to keep pace with today's business marketplace, this book helps job interviewees meet the challenges of that all-important employment interview. For instance, what's the best answer to give a job interviewer when he asks about your background and you know you have less experience than other candidates? The author offers good answers for this and for many equally tough questions. She also presents general tips that apply to all interview questions and advises on ways to give answers that are clear, direct, and to the point.

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2008

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book that covers various topics which are typically difficult to answer. This book focuses on keeping an upbeat attitude in whatever way you answer as well as being prepared for the many curve balls tossed your way.

OVERALL GRADE: B plus.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

While an examination of the unusual interview questions provides some comedic relief, it is largely counterproductive in preparing someone for a professional non-technical interview. The questions that will make or break your viability are a test of your personality, genuineness and ability to flow into new molds of work environments. Many of the questions, such as “Say something negative about yourself” or “What didn’t you like about your old boss?” are virtual landmines. In asking those questions the interviewer is trying to determine if you are a complainer and if you will be foolish enough to state a deal-breaker.
The questions listed and then answered, often several times, in this book are those tough ones that are designed to reveal your inner strengths and weaknesses. One must be prepared to make a smart, seemingly honest answer that does not appear to be rehearsed and sounds genuine. There is an art to stating an answer to a request to be critical that can be interpreted as critical yet sounds positive. That is a skill that is taught in this book.
In a tight job market for professionals, doing well in the job interview is critical as there are others that will be your equal in terms of qualifications. This book will help you prepare for the hard questions where you need to put a positive spin on an answer to a question where a straight answer is wrong either way.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am between jobs right now and am committed to interviewing smarter. I got several books on interviewing from the library and found this book to be most helpful. I give this 4 out of 5 starts because I found that the kinds of tricky questions and potential responses are very good. However I would also say that it is ALWAYS key to research the company and position and tailor answers to the position being interviewed for. However it gave excellent guidance on how to answer some tricky questions about my resume and situations better in future interviews. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for a new job.

[NiaDwyn— · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is too focused on marketing/business/sales jobs for my needs, I thought that it gave some good tips and was easy to use.

[Evan Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to my ratings, this book is as good as Moby Dick.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked it. I actually used some of their templates and they were very helpful.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

best of kind I have ever read; USD 9.99, CDN 11.50