Some job interviewers ask tough questions to trip you up or to get you to reveal information you may be trying to conceal. Others want to get a better sense of your thought process or see how you respond under pressure。
Whatever the reason, you’ll want to be prepared。
In her book “301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions,” Vicky Oliver says in order to prevail, you need to “trounce your competition。”
“You could be competing against someone with three times your experience, or conversely, against someone who can do the job at half your salary level,” she says。
One of the best ways to stand out: have the smartest answers to the toughest questions。
有些工作面試官會(huì)提出尖銳的問(wèn)題，雞蛋里挑骨頭，或者想要從你口中套出你可能試圖隱藏的信息。另外的面試官則是想要更好地了解你的思維過(guò)程或看你如何應(yīng)對(duì)壓力。
不管原因是什么，你都要做好準(zhǔn)備。薇姬·奧利弗(Vicky Oliver)在她所寫(xiě)的《尖鉆面試問(wèn)題的301個(gè)機(jī)智回答：》一書(shū)中說(shuō)，為了獲勝，你需要“打敗你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。”
“你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手可能有你三倍多的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，或相反，他的工作能力也許只夠得上你工資水平的一半。”她說(shuō)。
脫穎而出的最好方法之一：用最聰明的回答去應(yīng)對(duì)最棘手的問(wèn)題。
1. Q: You have changed careers before. Why should I let you experiment on my nickel?
A: As a career-changer, I believe that I’m a better employee because I’ve gained a lot of diverse skills from moving around. These skills help me solve problems creatively。
1.問(wèn)：你曾經(jīng)換過(guò)工作，我們?yōu)槭裁匆斑@種做你的墊腳石的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?
答：正因?yàn)槲覔Q過(guò)不同工作，所以我成為了更好的員工。在不同的工作轉(zhuǎn)換之間我學(xué)到了不同的技能，這些技能幫助我更加創(chuàng)造性地解決問(wèn)題。
2. Q: What if you work here for five years and don’t get promoted? Many of our employees don’t. Won’t you find it frustrating?
A: I consider myself ambitious, but I’m also practical. As long as I am continuing to learn and grow within my position, I’ll be a happy camper. Different companies promote people at different rates, and I’m pretty confident that working for you will keep me motivated and mentally stimulated for several years to come。
2.問(wèn)： 如果你在這里工作五年還沒(méi)有升職，我們?cè)S多的員工都是這樣的，你會(huì)不會(huì)感到沮喪?
答：我認(rèn)為自己懷揣雄心壯志，但我也很實(shí)際。只要我可以在崗位上繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)和成長(zhǎng)，我就會(huì)是一個(gè)快樂(lè)的人。不同的公司提拔員工的速率不同，我確信在貴公司工作會(huì)使我在未來(lái)的幾年內(nèi)都保持積極性和工作激情。
3. Q: If you knew that things at your company were rocky, why didn’t you get out of the company sooner?
A: I was working so hard to keep my job while everyone around me was being cut that I didn’t have any time left over to look for another job. With all of the mergers that have been happening in our field, layoffs are a way of life. At least I gave it my best shot!
3.問(wèn)：你一早就知道自己所在的公司堅(jiān)持不了多久了，為什么沒(méi)有早點(diǎn)脫身?
答：當(dāng)時(shí)我周?chē)暮芏嗳硕急徊脝T了，我十分努力地上班來(lái)保住這份工作，以至于沒(méi)有任何時(shí)間去尋找另一份工作。我們這一領(lǐng)域處處都發(fā)生著兼并的現(xiàn)象，裁員已經(jīng)成為了一種生活方式。至少我為之盡力了!
4. Q: From your resume, it looks like you were fired twice. How did that make you feel?
A: After I recuperated from the shock both times, it made me feel stronger. It’s true that I was fired twice, but I managed to bounce back both times and land jobs that gave me more responsibility, paid me more money, and were at better firms。
The morale here is very high. I’ve been exposed to the “seamy underbelly” of this business, but I’m still passionate about working in it。
4.問(wèn)：從你的簡(jiǎn)歷里我看到你曾經(jīng)兩次被辭退，對(duì)此你有什么感覺(jué)?
答：在從這兩次打擊中恢復(fù)以后，我感覺(jué)自己更加強(qiáng)壯了。的確，我兩次被解雇，但是我兩次都設(shè)法恢復(fù)了，并且都進(jìn)入了更好的公司，得到了薪水更高、需要承擔(dān)更多責(zé)任的工作。
貴公司的士氣非常高。我曾經(jīng)接觸過(guò)這個(gè)行業(yè)的“丑惡”，但我對(duì)于工作的熱情有增無(wú)減。
5. Q: You majored in philosophy. How did that prepare you for this career?
A: Philosophy didn’t prepare me for a career in architecture at all. But it did force me to become philosophical about my prospects. After two years of trying to figure out what to do with my life, I visited Chicago one weekend, and was absolutely spell bound by the gorgeous architecture all around me。
I came home, applied to architecture schools all over the country, and was accepted by one of the best. I’ve never looked back…this is definitely the career that I was meant to be in。
5.問(wèn)：你的專(zhuān)業(yè)是哲學(xué)，那么你哲學(xué)對(duì)你的職業(yè)生涯有什么樣的幫助?
答：哲學(xué)本身并沒(méi)有對(duì)我的建筑事業(yè)起到幫助，但卻是哲學(xué)使我對(duì)自己的未來(lái)冷靜規(guī)劃。我用了兩年，試圖弄清楚自己要怎樣生活，有一次周末我參觀了芝加哥，于是我被身邊華麗的建筑迷倒了。
我回到家，就開(kāi)始在全國(guó)各地申請(qǐng)建筑學(xué)校，最終被最好的的建筑學(xué)校之一錄取了。我從來(lái)不會(huì)回頭后悔……我肯定建筑就是我注定的職業(yè)。
6. Q: What do you view as your risks and disadvantages with the position we are interviewing you for?
A: I think that with the home office located halfway across the globe, there is a very small risk that one might not have the chance to interact with the key decision makers as often as might be ideal. On the other hand, teleconferencing, email, faxing, and having a 24/7 work ethic will go a long way towards bridging the gap。
6.問(wèn)：你認(rèn)為你做這份工作的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和劣勢(shì)是什么?
答：我認(rèn)為公司總部位于全球的中心，決定了失去與關(guān)鍵決策者隨時(shí)聯(lián)系的機(jī)會(huì)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是非常小的。但是另一方面，在電話會(huì)議，電子郵件，傳真，還有隨時(shí)遵守職業(yè)道德等方面，公司還有很長(zhǎng)的一段路要走。
7. Q: We love women at this company, but our clients are from [xyz country] and so we were thinking of hiring a man for this particular job。
A: Why is that, exactly? It seems to me that I am probably more qualified to handle this position than anyone, man or woman。
My father’s career as a diplomat took our family around the world seven times, and I even spent my junior year abroad in the Far East. I would need far less training than an American man who grew up here and has never worked outside our borders。
7.問(wèn)：我們公司很歡迎女性員工，但是由于這份工作比較特別，客戶來(lái)自某國(guó)，所以恐怕需要一位男士來(lái)勝任。
答：這是為什么呢?我似乎比其他任何男士或者女士都適合這份工作。
我父親的職業(yè)是外交官，因此我們家曾七次環(huán)游世界各地，我甚至在遠(yuǎn)東地區(qū)讀了大三。我所需要的培訓(xùn)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)少于土生土長(zhǎng)的，從來(lái)沒(méi)有在國(guó)境之外工作過(guò)的美國(guó)男士。
8. Q: Can you describe your dream job?
A: This is my dream job and that’s why I approached you about it in the first place. I am excited about the prospect of helping your promotion agency upgrade and fine tune your loyalty programs。
8.問(wèn)：能請(qǐng)你描述一下你理想的工作嗎?
答：這就是我理想的工作，也是我來(lái)應(yīng)聘的原因。我想幫助貴公司促進(jìn)機(jī)構(gòu)升級(jí)并調(diào)整忠誠(chéng)度計(jì)劃，我為這樣的前景感興奮。
9. Q: What would you do if you really wanted to hire a woman under you, and you knew the perfect candidate, but your boss really wanted to hire a man for the job?
A: I’d recommend that we perform an on-site “test,” by hiring both candidates on a freelance basis for two weeks each。
9.問(wèn)：如果你想選擇一位女性下屬，并已經(jīng)有了最佳人選，但你的老板卻希望是一位男性來(lái)做那份工作，你會(huì)怎么做?
答：我會(huì)提議做一次在線“測(cè)試”，同時(shí)雇傭兩位候選人來(lái)做兩星期的自由工作。
10. Q: What if you worked with someone who managed to take credit for all your great ideas. How would you handle it?
A: First, I would try to credit her publicly with the ideas that were hers. Sometimes, by being generous with credit, it spurs the other person to “return the favor。”
If that doesn’t solve it, I’d try to work out an arrangement where we each agreed to present the ideas that were our own to our bosses. If that doesn’t work, I would openly discuss the situation with her。
However, if the person taking credit for my ideas was my boss, I would tread cautiously. To some extent, I believe that my job is to make my superiors shine. If I were being rewarded for my ideas with raises and promotions, I would be happy。
10.問(wèn)：如果你的同事宣稱你所有的好點(diǎn)子都是他/她想出來(lái)的，你會(huì)如何處理?
答：首先，我會(huì)嘗試公開(kāi)稱贊她的想法。有時(shí)慷慨的贊美會(huì)促使對(duì)方“做出回報(bào)”。
如果這樣不能解決，我會(huì)嘗試達(dá)成一致，使他同意只對(duì)老板說(shuō)出自己的想法。如果這樣沒(méi)有用，我會(huì)公開(kāi)和她討論這種情況。
然而，如果這個(gè)人是我的老板，我將謹(jǐn)慎行事。我認(rèn)為在某種程度上，我的工作就是讓我的上司光彩。如果以加薪或晉升作為我的想法的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，我會(huì)很滿意。
11. Q: How many hours a week do you usually work, and why?
A: I work pretty long hours most of the time. With the extra time, I try to find ways to “add value” to each assignment, both my own and the firm’s. When our clients read our reports, I want them to think that no one else could have possibly written them, except for our company。
11.問(wèn)：你每周通常工作多少小時(shí)，為什么?
答：我大多數(shù)時(shí)候都工作很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。在額外的時(shí)間里，我試著尋找給自己和公司的任務(wù)“增加價(jià)值”的方法。我想讓客戶看到我們的報(bào)告就會(huì)認(rèn)為除了我們公司，沒(méi)有其他人能寫(xiě)出。
12. Q: Does a company need B players? Or is it better off only having A players on staff, and why?
A: I believe that a company needs both A and B players. When you’re pitching new business, you want the A players on the front line. But behind the A players, you need the B players who can hammer out the details of the projects and stick with them on a day-to-day basis. Having too many A players on the team leads to ego clashes and a disorganized, anarchical way of doing business。
12.問(wèn)：一個(gè)公司需不需要二線工作者?員工中都是一線工作者是否足夠?為什么?
答：我相信一個(gè)公司既需要一線工作者也需要二線工作者。當(dāng)新業(yè)務(wù)開(kāi)始時(shí)，你會(huì)希望一線工作者在前線沖鋒陷陣。但在他們身后，你需要二線工作者來(lái)敲定項(xiàng)目的細(xì)節(jié)，并堅(jiān)持在平時(shí)注意維持。團(tuán)隊(duì)中的一線工作者太多會(huì)導(dǎo)致自我沖突和混亂，工作則會(huì)陷入無(wú)政府主義的狀態(tài)。
13. Q: Are you better at “managing up” or “managing down”?
A: If you aren’t good at “managing up,” you rarely get the opportunity to “manage down。” Fortunately, I’ve always been quite good at self-management. I’ve never had a deadline that I didn’t meet。
13.問(wèn)：你比較擅長(zhǎng)“向上管理”還是“向下管理”?
答：如果你不擅長(zhǎng)“向上管理”，那就沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)“向下管理”，幸運(yùn)的是，我很擅長(zhǎng)“自我管理”，我從來(lái)沒(méi)有完不成工作的經(jīng)歷。
14.Q: Would you rather get permission from your boss before undertaking a brand-new project, or be given enough rope to “hang yourself”?
A: During my first week on the job, I would ask my boss how she would prefer me to handle projects. If she indicated that she wanted a take-charge person under her, I would take the ropes. If she told me she wanted me to run ideas by her first, I would comply. I think the real challenge is being able to adapt to your work environment, and I’m flexible。
14.問(wèn)：你比較希望在做新項(xiàng)目前得到領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的“允許”，還是完全靠自己來(lái)管理?
答：在我工作的第一個(gè)星期，我會(huì)問(wèn)一下我的老板她希望我如何處理項(xiàng)目。如果她表示，她想要手下是一個(gè)全權(quán)負(fù)責(zé)的人，我就會(huì)接管一切。如果她說(shuō)她想讓我先把想法告知她，我會(huì)照做。我認(rèn)為真正的挑戰(zhàn)是適應(yīng)工作環(huán)境，而我是很靈活的。
15. Q: Please give an example of the most difficult political situation that you’ve dealt with on a job。
A: I was hired by a woman who was on her way out. She asked me to be her “fall guy” on a number of assignments. I just learned to drop the assignments off with my boss on the day that they were due, and when the managers would ring me up, I would recommend that they simply follow up with her. This kept me out of hot water with my boss and with her superiors。
15.問(wèn)：請(qǐng)舉出一個(gè)你處理過(guò)的最棘手的行政狀況。
答：當(dāng)時(shí)我受雇于一位即將離職的女士，她讓我在一些任務(wù)中做她的“替罪羊”。我只是在我的女上司離開(kāi)當(dāng)天把這些任務(wù)全部推掉了。經(jīng)理打電話給我的時(shí)候，我只是建議他們直接詢問(wèn)我的女上司。這樣，我才從我的上司和她的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)之間的糾纏中脫身。
16. Q: Is it more important to be lucky or skillful?
A: I think that it’s more important to be lucky, although being very skilled can help to create more opportunities. Certainly, [at my former job, my boss'] confidence in me inspired the decision makers at our firm to trust that I could do the job. But clearly, I also happened to be in the right place at the right time。
16.問(wèn)：你認(rèn)為運(yùn)氣和能力哪個(gè)比較重要?
答：我認(rèn)為技術(shù)嫻熟會(huì)幫我創(chuàng)造更多的機(jī)會(huì)，但還是運(yùn)氣更加重要。在以前的一份工作中，我的老板對(duì)我充滿信心，這激勵(lì)了我們公司的決策者，使他們相信也我可以勝任那份工作。但很明顯，我也是在正確的時(shí)間恰好處在正確的位置。
17. Q: Have you ever been so firm that people would describe you as “stubborn” or “inflexible”?
A: When women are firm, they are sometimes pinned with these unattractive labels. I am not shy or mousy, so probably one or two people I’ve worked with might have thought that I was “inflexible” on a given assignment. But this adjective never came out about me on any kind of a performance review, and neither did the word “stubborn。” I believe that, all in all, I’ve managed to be firm and flexible。
17.問(wèn)：你是否曾經(jīng)十分執(zhí)著，以至于人們把你形容成”固執(zhí)“，”死板“的人?
答：堅(jiān)定的女性有時(shí)會(huì)被打上沒(méi)有吸引力的標(biāo)簽。我不害羞也不膽怯，所以可能會(huì)有一兩個(gè)和我一起工作的人認(rèn)為我在某些任務(wù)上有些“死板”，但這個(gè)形容詞從來(lái)沒(méi)有在任何類(lèi)型的績(jī)效考核時(shí)被提出過(guò)，更不要提“頑固”這個(gè)詞了。我認(rèn)為大體上來(lái)說(shuō)，我做到了既堅(jiān)定又靈活。
18. Q: When do you think you’ll peak in your career?
A: I come from a long line of healthy, hardy, mentally active types, and so I confess that I never even think about “peaking” in my career. That having been said, I do think it’s important to have some self-knowledge, and to recognize when one is past one’s prime。
18.問(wèn)：你認(rèn)為你的職業(yè)生涯何時(shí)會(huì)達(dá)到頂峰?
答：一直以來(lái)我都屬于健康、頑強(qiáng)、思維活躍的一類(lèi)人，所以我承認(rèn)我從來(lái)沒(méi)有考慮過(guò)自己的職業(yè)生涯中會(huì)出現(xiàn)“頂峰”。人們常說(shuō)起這一點(diǎn)，我也認(rèn)為自知之明并認(rèn)識(shí)到自己的全盛期已經(jīng)過(guò)去確實(shí)是十分重要的。
