How to answer difficult JOB INTERVIEW questions - Business communication lesson

If you have a job interview coming up, and you're asked a question that you don't have a good answer to, what can you say? If you're an international English speaker then this can be extra difficult. Today we're talking about 3 techniques and native and international English speakers can use to communicate really well under this kind of pressure.

Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, DET or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

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Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job but don’t speak it natively then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to the breakout business English podcast. My name is Chris. I'm a business English and communication coach, and I've personally worked with well over 1000 international professionals just like you to improve the way that they communicate. At work, in English. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I know how valuable it is. And our topic today. Is how to answer impossible. Job interview questions or Maybe to phrase it another way, how to answer job interview questions that you really just don't have an answer for. And although the focus of this podcast episode is going to be job interviews, the tips... Strategies and vocabulary that we discuss here can absolutely be applied and used more generally in your professional communication. So even if you don't have a job interview coming up, I'm sure you'll find it useful. So let's start with a question. Have you ever? Been asked a job interview question and simply not had an answer to offer. Maybe a question that started with, Tell me about a time that... And you think... I've never done that before in my life. Or maybe How would you solve this problem? And you realise that you have no idea how to solve this problem. So today we're going to explore three strategies. Three ways that we can confidently answer these questions in a way that makes our interviewer want to hire us. Our first solution today is to turn your answer into conversation about professional growth and development. Everyone has opportunities to grow. This is why interviewers ask questions like, what is your biggest weakness? Or tell me about a time that you failed. Being aware of these opportunities is a strength in job interviews. Ciao ! This is an opportunity to use this as a tool. Instead of worrying that you don't have the skills for the job. For instance, imagine that you were asked Tell me about a time. When you had to manage stakeholder expectations. When you are struggling to achieve a deadline. You can say things like, This is actually an area that I see as a growth opportunity for me. I'd love to improve my abilities when it comes to stakeholder communication and managing expectations. And I wonder how the company might be able to support me in that going forward. Now, your answer might be a little longer than that. You might be able to add detail about your experience talking to and dealing with stakeholders. But the message... Is the same. Instead of saying, I don't know what I'd do in that situation. You identify the core area or skill set that the interviewer wants you to discuss and turn it into a conversation about learning and professional development. So in this answer, the area that we identified was stakeholder communication and managing stakeholder expectations. Importantly, notice how positive this answer is. Yes, you're talking about not having a skill or not being able to do something. But the atmosphere in the meeting is still one of positivity. And that's the feeling. You might say the vibe that we want all of our job interview answers to have. Indeed, I always tell people that at the end of your interview, your 45 minutes, maybe even your hour-long interview, the best outcome... Is that. Your interviewer, ends the video call. Or you walk out of the room and the interviewer says to a colleague, Yeah, I like that person. I think I could work with them. And the best way to achieve this, to get this positive feeling is to answer as many questions with positivity and to bring as much positivity into the room as possible. And a quick note on this idea of turning a question into a professional development discussion. It only really works once per job interview. If you're answering every question in this way, then maybe the job you've applied for isn't quite the right one for you. Our second solution to this problem is to give a hypothesis-driven Answer. This is where We tell the interviewer, what we would do if we were in that position. And how we would approach solving that problem. Remember, the reason that you're being asked this question is because the interviewer wants to know how you would react if this happened to you in future. Yes, we often answer with stories. We usually answer with stories about the past. But the reason we tell these stories is to give ourselves context. To explain how we would deal with something in the future. So, Here? You're going to walk them through the process. How you would find that information. Often who you would talk to. And how you would start to break the problem down. This becomes a problem-solving exercise right there in the job interview. You might not have a good answer. But If you get the job. You're going to need to solve this problem at some point. So let them know how you would do that. And Pro tip. This is a great opportunity. Talk about your team as a resource and how you want to be a resource for your team. You can say something like, I know that one of the biggest resources I have is my team and my colleagues. And I haven't met them yet, but I'm sure that the team I'll be working with have a lot of knowledge and experience in this area. And that's something I'm excited to learn from. Equally, I know that there are competencies. That I'll bring to this team that can add value. So I'm excited to be someone who my colleagues can come to and ask questions when they need help. In 2026, if you are not talking about the team in your job interview, then you're not performing as well as you could. This is a great opportunity to bring the team and your future colleagues into your answer. And if you want to work on your ability to communicate with your colleagues, or more specifically, your job interview performance, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job, but you don't speak it natively, then I'd love to meet you. Equally, if you have a job interview coming up, then I have to tell you the job interview coaching is amazing. Possibly my favorite part of what I do. I spend between five and seven hours every day on video calls, coaching people around the world. And usually between two and three hours of that is job interview coaching, depending on the day. So I've got a lot of practice helping people to solve problems, to package their experience and to communicate their ideas. And if you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to breakout.com. That's businessenglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, breakoutbusinessenglish.com. And find out more. Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills and the mistakes that you make most often or cause the biggest problems with your communication or maybe with your job interview performance. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30 That's podcast30.com. At checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes, whichever is best for you. I've worked with well over 1,000 non-native international English-speaking professionals, from new graduates all the way up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Okay, so number three on our list today. Is to ask a question right back at them. Again, similar to our conversation about professional development, We're going to turn this into a conversation. I recently worked with a product manager in the FinTech industry, financial technology in the FinTech industry. And we talked about a question. That was something like, Tell me about a time that you owned a metric that went in the wrong direction. And what did you do? Now. When I put him on the spot with this question, he couldn't think of anything. He didn't have a story prepared for this topic. So. What questions could he have asked his interviewer? In return. How about, I have a few strategies for dealing with that I've used on different projects in the past. Can I ask what metrics are most important for this role? Then once you've got an answer for that. How about? And which of those do you find are most sensitive to other changes in the business? And once you've asked a couple of questions like this, you can build a hypothetical. For instance. If I was in a situation where that specific metric was not behaving in the way I wanted, Here's what I would do. Now, in this situation, you have not completely answered the question. You have not given them a story from your own experience. However, What you've done. Is show the interviewer how you would practically apply your skills to a hypothetical in their business. Which is, at the end of the day, the information they're trying to find out. It is not a direct answer, no. But... It's a lot better. Than telling your interviewer that you don't have an answer to that question. Or you don't know. In this situation, you're speaking a little more like a politician. By this, I mean that you don't Av, a great answer to the question. So instead, you're engineering the conversation. To go in the direction that you want to. Remember, one of the most important parts of your job interview is building rapport and a professional relationship with the person on the other side of the table or the video call. They need to like you. Even if you won't be working directly with them, they are the person. Who will be recommending you or not for a role. So turning the question into a conversation can be a great way to start that process. Build that relationship and make inroads with your interviewer. And equally, remember that The person who gets the job is very rarely the person who looks on paper like the best candidate. More often, it's the person in the interview who communicates better, who can answer questions better. I know for a fact that many people go for job interviews, have fantastic CVs and resumes, but Because they have trouble communicating and packaging their experience into great answers, they don't get jobs. Hans That's what I coach people to achieve every day. Okay, let's talk about a piece of vocabulary that I used a couple of minutes ago. And that was to put someone on the spot. When I was telling you a short story about my client. I said, When I put him on the spot with this question, He couldn't think of anything. When I put him on the spot with this question, He couldn't think of anything. So to put someone on the spot, this means to suddenly ask someone a difficult question. Or push them. To give an answer right there in front of other people. , It's an uncomfortable feeling. A bit like a spotlight suddenly pointing at you on stage and everyone's waiting for you to say something. This phrase is usually about people, not tasks. So you put a person on the spot, never a project or a problem. Grammatically. It works with put, and on. Often a reason attached with The word buy? Or the word with. For instance, I was put on the spot with that question. I was put on the spot with that question. All. He put me on the spot by asking in front of everyone. He put me on the spot. Bye. Asking in front of everyone. This phrase has a slightly negative feeling to it. Nobody enjoys being put on the spot. So you can use it. When describing pressure, or awkwardness at work. Now, not all of these approaches will work for every role and job interview. I work with a lot of C-suite level people of upper management and when you're at a senior level, talking about learning and personal development is often not appropriate. I was recently coaching someone going for a CFO role in the oil and gas industry. He had a lot of experience in the industry, an incredible CV. And In that situation, interviewing for that CFO role we decide talking about the way he would solve a problem. Especially utilizing the knowledge and experience of the team. So, indeed, you definitely have to think carefully about the situation you're in and decide for yourself How these tools apply to your industry and the role that you are applying for. I used the phrase at the end of the day. As in... Which is, at the end of the day, the information that they're trying to find out. Which is, at the end of the day, the information that they're trying to find out. This phrase means the same as the word ultimately. Or maybe... The final. The most important point after you've looked at all the details, opinions or arguments. It doesn't refer to an actual day ending. People use it to summarize what really matters, especially after a long discussion. For example: A manager might say, At the end of the day, we need to hit our targets. At the end of the day, we need to hit our targets. מה שמיון כל מה שדהיינו the one thing that truly counts. It's a phrase that is very common in workplace conversations, especially when someone is cutting through a debate to give the bottom line. One useful note. Is it's often followed by we or you. And a simple direct statement. It works best right before the main point, not buried in the middle. It can sound a little overused if you say it too often. It's worth swapping it for a synonym now and then like "ultimately". Which is maybe a little more formal. Or when it comes down to it. Which is a little less formal. And both carry that same meaning of the most important thing. So don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc. In today's episode or work on your preparation for an upcoming job interview, Then you can book a session to work with me on your English communication skills by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, breakoutbusinessenglish.com or clicking the link in the show notes and use podcast 30 at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. Equally, I spend a lot of time working with HR managers and people in recruitment who interview a lot of candidates and I work with them. Talk about how you can make your candidates maybe more comfortable. And get the best out of them, get the best performance out of them. So ultimately, At the end of the day. Y'all. 公 司 拘 捕 最 好的 选 手 Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Search for Breakout Business English on those platforms and you should find me there. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. I put a video out a couple of days ago called "How to sound confident at work even when you're not". And it's another one that is great in job interviews. It's all about the phrase, does that make sense? Or... Did you understand? And it's a way to deal with this feeling that a lot of people have that you want to finish your explanations with. Does that make sense? Aww. Did you understand that? So. If these are phrases that you use and you'd like some alternatives, then just search for Breakout Business English on YouTube and take a look at that video. Equally, if you head over to the website, I think there's a link on there somewhere. There should be a link on the website to the YouTube. Right. Yes. At the top of the website, there's a bunch of YouTube videos linked and you can click on one of them and that will take you straight to the YouTube channel. I built the website. I really should know what's on it. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and to grow the show. So if you found this podcast useful and you think that there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words and a thank you in advance. That's another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. And since we last spoke, the World Cup has come to an end. I work with a lot of people in Spain, both Spanish people and native Spanish speakers and international professionals from around the world. I've been hearing about the incredible celebrations in Spain and the happiness on the streets there. So congratulations to everyone in Spain. From what I hear, you are having a great time. And England, no. Not this time, but it was our best performance since 1966. We got to the semifinals and then were knocked out by Argentina and... As I mentioned, Spain won the tournament, but it was a fantastic tournament and Four years, another four years more and we'll be back. So that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I know how valuable it is and I really appreciate and respect your choice to spend some of it with this podcast. I hope you have a great week ahead, a great rest of your week. And I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English Podcast. Thanks a lot, everyone. Talk to you soon.