Over the years, we’ve conducted thousands of job interviews, coached hundreds of clients on how to succeed in interviews and followed up to debrief after. With our years of experience, we’ve gathered some ideas of what questions are most asked and what questioned are most hated by candidates in interviews.

Often throughout an interview, there is a series of “negative” or “odd” questions asked and it is often hard to turn those negative questions into positive answers. For example – when asked, “wherein the past have to had troubles at work?” --- answering straight forward may dig yourself into a hold that never leads to a job offer. But, there are ways to overcome the negative posed questions into positive conversations that answer the question but don’t directly impact you negatively. 

We’ve taken some time to outline a few of those odd interview questions that could be asked in your next interview and how to answer them best.

What work do you not like?

Everyone wants to hire a team player right? Sure there are weekly staff meetings that seem totally pointless, but talk the team building aspect up with this question. It may seem a little off target, but expressing that meetings are the least favorite part of a job show that you like to work hard and accomplish a task.  However, you still value the opportunities to connect and build a relationship with co-workers. 

What’s the color of success?

Trick question? Nope! Answer: GREEN! Green is the color of money, and it would imply profit. However, if interviewing for a nonprofit- mention red – which is the color of impact.

 
Where will you be in five years?

It seems logical to be asked what your long-term goals are in an interview, but the reality is none of us have any ideas where we’ll be tomorrow, let alone in five years. Avoid talking about a geographical location for this one--- mention goals that are relevant to this job and how you plan to continue advancing them.  

Looking to learn more about interview questions? Catch up on the latest where we shared all about how to answer problem-solving interview questions.