Copyright © 2005 by Vicky Oliver
Cover and internal design © 2005 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including
information storage and retrieval systems— except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without
permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert
assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly
Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective
holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
(630) 961-3900
FAX: (630) 961-2168
www.sourcebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oliver, Vicky.
301 smart answers to tough interview questions / Vicky Oliver.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Employment interviewing. I. Title: Smart answers to tough interview
questions. II. Title: Three hundred one smart answers to tough interview
questions. III. Title: Three hundred and one smart answers to tough
interview questions. IV. Title.
HF5549.5.I6O38 2005
650.14'4--dc22
2005008423
Printed and bound in the United States of America
BG 10 9 8 7 6
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my grandmother Margaret.
May she rest a little more peacefully,
knowing that I finally wrote something
in addition to advertising copy.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Professional Acknowledgments
Introduction: How to Prepare for the Most Harrowing Forty-Five Minutes of Your
Life: The Job Interview
Chapter 1:
Start with the Basics: Answering the Easy Questions
Chapter 2:
Give Us One Good Reason Not to Hire You
Chapter 3:
You’re Too Old, Too Young, Too Seasoned, Too Green, Too Female
Chapter 4:
The Impossible Questions
Chapter 5:
How to Ace the Personality Test
Chapter 6:
None of Your Business (Or, Are You Really Allowed to Ask Me That?)
Chapter 7:
Good Cop/Bad Cop Routines in the Interviewing Game
Chapter 8:
Questions from Another Galaxy, Far, Far Away
Chapter 9:
So You Were Fired
Chapter 10:
Your Turn
Chapter 11:
If I’d Only Said X Instead of Y, I’d Be Hired (Or, How to Change Your Answers
after the Interview)
Chapter 12:
Special Situations
Conclusion:
How to Snag the Job of Your Life in Forty-Five Minutes
Appendix:
Job Websites
Index
About the Author
PROFESSIONAL
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing is a solitary activity. But behind every successful writer is a team of people without whom
the book would have never been made. My heartfelt thanks to:
Charlie Schulman, for believing in this project from the very beginning and for introducing me to
“the second Charlie,” Charles Salzberg.
Charles, thank you for always meeting me for lunch at a moment’s notice to discuss random writer
emergencies, and for introducing me to the indomitable June Clark.
June, thank you for your energy, drive, dogged persistence, and especially for introducing me to
Bethany Brown.
Bethany, thank you for touching this book with your fantastic editing insights and for introducing me
to the wonderful world of publishing.