An expert in job interviews has warned folks that there's a 'huge red flag interview question' which could be thrown their way and a very wrong way to answer it.
The questions you might face in a job interview and how to answer them play on the minds of plenty, as it can be pretty crushing to get round a table with your prospective next boss and learn they liked someone more.
Your interviewer will be asking you all sorts of questions and gauging your responses, and they might be asking more than they seem at first.
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If you made it to the interview there's already going to be something they liked about you, but they'll still want to see what makes you stand out.
They'll basically want you to give the right answers which say the right things about you as a person, and if they want you to ask them some questions that's a test as well.
Don Georgevich is an interview coach who has some very useful advice to follow when it comes to the question he considers a 'red flag', which interviewers could use to trip you up.
He said: "Beware of this huge red flag interview question because a common question you're likely to get in your next interview is: What did you like about your past boss?
"Some candidates are going to say 'well, nothing' and then they're going to go into a rant about how much they hated their boss.
"But that's the worst thing you can do. If there was ever a time to lie in a job interview this is it.
"Not really, but let's say you hated your boss and nothing good comes to mind. That's ok, I understand, but if you had to find one good thing to say about your boss what could it be?
"Maybe he always works late, then just say that. But I urge you to find one good, honest thing you can say even if it's the last one that comes to your mind."
The interview coach said he understood if there was a problem with your past boss, but using the interview question to vent about your former employer to a prospective one 'is going to do nothing more than keep you unemployed'.
Don added that badmouthing your old boss in a job interview would make your potential new boss assume you'd do the same to them.
Basically the question can be a bit of a trap and if you start criticising your old boss, you've fallen right into it.
They're asking what you liked about a former boss, not giving you a platform to go 'actually they were awful'.
Don also added in the comments that giving a good answer to this question would help a possible future boss know what you're looking for from them if you were hired.
Topics: Jobs
Joe Harker