Tackling tricky interview questions

Have you considered starting your own business?

When you attend any job interview, there are instances where the interviewer tries to find this out. There may not be a problem if it's a large/medium sized company, but it matters a lot for a startup/small size company. Because too much enthusiasm in answering “yes” could rouse the paranoia of a small company indicating that you may plan to go out on your own soon, perhaps taking some key accounts or trade secrets with you. On the other hand, if you answer “no, never” you could be perceived as a security-minded drone who never dreamed big. So understand the company's culture/retention policy before you answer this kind of a question.

Recently, in one interview, an interviewer asked me "tell me how you dealt with the situation when your work was criticized"... I couldn't reply in a proper way. Please suggest how to tackle such interview questions. - Jaahnavi, Noida

Ans: It's to test how well you accept criticism, direction and admit your weakness. It's also to test how you handle criticism at the work place. Remember no one is perfect and we all commit mistakes at some point or the other. Admitting it and learning from it makes us different and unique from others. Tell them that you like to learn from mistakes and are welcome to suggestions for improvement. Given an example of the early days of your career just to demonstrate, what or how you learnt from your mistakes and improved. If you are pressed for a criticism from a recent position, choose something fairly trivial that in no way is essential to your successful performance. Mention that you have learned from this, too and over past several years/months. Be careful, the interviewer may not hire if someone reacts in a bad manner to criticism or someone who takes it as a personal attack.

You can tell them: "If there is any constructive criticism then I generally welcome it. I love the work which I do, I always appreciate if someone is giving constructive criticism or feedback; especially those who want to see me grow in all aspects."

Sir, I am pursuing my final year degree. I wanted to work in the security industry. But many of my friends are suggesting against choosing that field, so please advice. - Srikanth, Nalgonda

Ans: When you're interested to work in security, do not look back. Just follow your interests. Lot of qualified students underestimate or give less importance to Private Security. You can try in the State/Central Police Department or start your career in Private Security itself. There are several positions including Managerial cadre for qualified aspirants like you. Do not entertain de-motivating comments from your friends. There is a company called RJ Security Services started recently by the retired senior police officers in Hyderabad. They do provide free training and placements to the desired aspirants. Their objective is to utilise their past experience and skills for training eligible youth and providing well trained and efficient people to various organisations / institutions or anybody who requires them for legal reasons. You can send your application to [email protected] and get their appointment to discuss in person.