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As discussed in the last post, where your interview takes place presents considerations beyond your ability to succinctly answer questions. This is also true for interviews that take place over video chat or the phone. Though in-person interviewing will eventually return in greater numbers, this past year has clearly demonstrated the need for job seekers to be prepared for remote interviews.
Tools that connect users via video are more numerous, much improved and readily available. But up until the Covid 19 Pandemic shuttered businesses video interviews were the exception as employers used them mostly to assess job candidates who lived out of town. Although some businesses are starting to … (read more: https://hanklondon.com/now-featured-on-the-small-screen-you-part-one/)
Tough Interview Questions and Answers
Every other week or so we pose a question you might get asked during an interview and a suggestion on how you might formulate your answer.
This week’s question:
Have you ever thought about going into business for yourself?
Under most circumstances this is the kind of question most interviewers won’t ask unless they see something on your resume, in your cover letter or something you’ve already said leads them to think self-employment might be a viable option for you. Many job seekers have embarked on one form of self-employment or another, whether it was selling hand-made book covers in a dorm room, sold chocolates door to door to support a school or nonprofit, wrote the code for a game, or drove for a ride-share company. It is possible you didn’t even think of these endeavors as a job, let alone self-employment, but if they’ve been mentioned or alluded to in your communication with this employer, the question is fair game.
Employers don’t readily take chances on applicants who in some way convey that they may leave for greener pastures or to pursue lofty external ambitions. Aside from concerns about the theft of intellectual property or other business intelligence that could be used by the competition, there’s little motivation for an employer to invest in a new hire they believe won’t stick around too long. HR people recognize that many people have a “side hustle,” but such endeavors can be viewed as a distraction from your full time gig.
Even if you really do have plans to start your own business – whether relatively soon or sometime in the distant future – if you are interviewing for a job, it is best to answer this question with a definitive, “No!” Tell your interviewer that you want to be working for a secure company that provides opportunities for growth and advancement, where you can use your existing skills to their fullest, and gain new skills and professional insights from those who are tenured in their fields. If there are other aspects that drew you to this company and position, let the employer know that these considerations were among the reasons you are applying at their company and that is where you want to be.
To see previous installments of
Tough Interview Questions and Answers,
click here
(Most recent are at the bottom of the list.)
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