Question - What are your outside interests ?
Answer -
Try to gauge how this company’s culture would look upon your favorite outside activities and be guided accordingly.
You can also use this question to shatter any stereotypes that could limit your chances. If you’re over 50, for example,
describe your activities that demonstrate physical stamina. If you’re young, mention an activity that connotes wisdom and
institutional trust, such as serving on the board of a popular charity.
But above all, remember that your employer is hiring your for what you can do for him, not your family, yourself or outside
organizations, no matter how admirable those activities may be.
The “Fatal Flaw” question
As every master salesperson knows, you will encounter objections (whether stated or merely thought) in every sale. They’re
part and parcel of the buyer’s anxiety. The key is not to exacerbate the buyer’s anxiety but diminish it. Here’s how…
Whenever you come up against a fatal flaw question:
Be completely honest, open and straightforward about admitting the shortcoming. (Showing you have nothing to hide diminishes
the buyer’s anxiety.)
Do not apologize or try to explain it away. You know that this supposed flaw is nothing to be concerned about, and this is
the attitude you want your interviewer to adopt as well.
Add that as desirable as such a qualification might be, its lack has made you work all the harder throughout your career and
has not prevented you from compiling an outstanding tack record of achievements. You might even give examples of how, through
a relentless commitment to excellence, you have consistently outperformed those who do have this qualification.
Of course, the ultimate way to handle “fatal flaw” questions is to prevent them from arising in the first place. You will do
that by following the master strategy described in Question 1, i.e., uncovering the employers needs and them matching your
qualifications to those needs.
Once you’ve gotten the employer to start talking about his most urgently-felt wants and goals for the position, and then help
him see in step-by-step fashion how perfectly your background and achievements match up with those needs, you’re going to
have one very enthusiastic interviewer on your hands, one who is no longer looking for “fatal flaws”.