Some interviewers are tougher than others. It helps a great deal to know some of the questions that you are likely to be asked. This article details some of the most difficult and some tips that will help you to answer them. Fail to plan and plan to fail- more than just a buzz phrase- really good advice to get you through that tricky interview

Tell me a little bit about yourself. An old question but one designed to start to open you up. Find out if they want to know about your career or you as a person- try and keep control of the interview if possible. If you can’t bring yourself to ask for clarification, start talking about your recent achievements in a job role appropriate to the company that you are sitting in front of. Be prepared to answer this one- it’s almost certain that you’ll get asked this

What particularly makes you interested about in this role? Talk about the challenges it presents, the way it will give you an opportunity to use skills from past job roles. Show what you can do for the company, focus on your past achievements and you won’t go far wrong with this potential banana skin

Tell me about the company that you used to work for. Flashing lights here right now- they are looking to see if you will bad mouth them. No matter what happened at that company, you must come across as positively as possible. Any negativity on your part will be seized upon as they are looking for the real reason why you left them. They are also looking to see if you can be trusted. Watch out for this question, it could trip you up

What package are you looking for? Keep your cool, this question means that they are interested in you or they wouldn’t ask it. Whilst discussing salary isn’t usually a good idea, they started this discussion so it’s fair game. A good response is to ask them what sort of package they had in mind, or what was the last holder of the job being paid?

Is is always right to tell the truth? Great question, simple answer. Of course the answer is that you never lie. This is designed to take you off guard and to probe if you would actually lie. Never a good idea lying, sometimes though you can’t tell someone the whole truth though. Be on your guard- an interviewer asking this question is good

What is your worst characteristic? Oh dear, a flashing red light- this is a trap. The answer is to focus on something incriminating- for example, I can be a bit of a perfectionist- I like to get things right and sometimes this can annoy people whose work is less than satisfactory

About the writer: Mr. Hughes owns and operates a professional cv services business situated in Wales. A cv service can really help you with your job prospects