What Challenges Are You Looking For In A Position? 4 Tips To Answer This Interview Question

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Interviews are like rollercoasters, with a plethora of twists and turns. While some questions are quick and easy to answer, others can catch you off guard and leave you in a world of dilemma. Worried about getting perplexed when a 'sounds easy but difficult to answer' question is posed to you out of the blue? Well, we have got you covered.

Read ahead to find one such question with sample answers so that when the hiring manager puts it up to you, you are in a position to answer it gracefully.

Why Do Interviewers Ask, 'What Challenges Are You Looking For In A Position?'

One of the most common job interview topics is candidates' attitudes to the challenges of the job. Because there's no role that comes without a challenge. By asking such interview questions, the interviewer determines whether the candidate is ready to take up new responsibilities and challenges and work for the betterment of the company without being a clock watcher.

The interviewer purposely puts up this question to see the employee's positive attitude towards the organization. This typical interview question is mostly asked to see if the candidate is a perfect fit for the available job profile, analyze their attitude towards difficult tasks, and see whether the person will gel well with the company culture or not. Some important soft skills that employers are looking for with such behavioral questions are - conflict resolution ability or problem-solving, time management, leadership skills, collaborative attitude, etc. 

Such an interview question also allows the interviewer to get an idea of whether the types of challenges that you are looking forward to are the ones that lie in the domain of the role being offered to you. Clearly, asking this interview question holds manifold benefits for the hiring manager.

How To Answer What Challenges Are You Looking For In A Position?

1. Think about your goals and your skills

Before answering this question, the first and foremost thing that needs to be done is to analyze your career goals and find skills (that you possess) that can go hand in hand with the responsibility being assigned to you. Say your future goal is to lead the team and you're applying for the role of a team lead. If you have taken leadership responsibility in the past, like having a strong team working under you, then you must possess the required skills. 

2. Align your skills to the job role and put them forward

Before going to a job interview, jot down your goals, correlating skills, and the job requirements. Then try to align the three when framing your response. Be sure to include any relevant certifications in your response. This exercise should be part of your job interview preparation checklist.

For example, if you are looking forward to a managerial role that requires submission of the assigned work on exact time, then time management skills play a major role. Meeting tight deadlines without any excuses plays a pivotal role in showcasing your skills, so share an example of where you managed said deadlines. 

Sample answer: "I am familiar with tricky situations and up for any challenge that may come. In fact, recently, I had to deal with overlapping deadlines. I have a project going on where the date for the final report submission overlapped with the deadline for another task. Since I was aware of the deadlines, I prepared a schedule that gave me time to accomplish both tasks without compromising on the quality. I divided the tasks by urgency and complexity. I also divided the projects into smaller, achievable tasks so that I was motivated to keep going."

3. Express motivation and show that you are up for any challenge

Always answer as if you are up for any sort of challenge. Show that you have a very optimistic approach towards all the potential challenges. For the potential employer, your attitude to challenges ultimately matters. The interviewer must get the impression that the candidate is up for any physical challenge as well as any intellectual challenges. Once the interviewer feels that the person is ready to take up the biggest challenge then it becomes an easy task for the candidate to match the skills mentioned in the job listing.

A good example can be showcasing communication skills. Here's a sample response for the same: "I recently received a certificate of recognition for my presentation skills and have been working on my communication skills. Since the job role demands these skills as primary skills, I think I will be able to do justice to the role and even learn more and widen my horizon." 

4. Include examples of challenges in your answer

Since this is a common interview question, most candidates prepare a response beforehand. The way to stand out is to include examples in your answer. Discuss situations where you applied your skills and completed the task. Let's say you were the president of your college. During the interview, you can put an emphasis on leadership role that you'd like to take by giving examples of how you will apply the learnings from your past experience. Mentioning such examples will leave an optimistic impression on the prospective employer and increase your chances of getting hired. Providing examples is a tried-and-tested way to stand out from the crowd when answering such common job interview questions. 

Here's a sample answer to this tricky interview question: "While I was working with XYZ IT company, we had a weekly programming puzzle session where we had to solve tricky questions on coding in the stipulated amount of time. I applied my creative thinking skills and devised an approach that allowed my team to consistently solve these problems in the shortest time. I used my experience of leading hackathons in college and utilized the key skills and learnings that I developed during that time to lead my team in college. Even though I was a junior, my problem-solving skills led us to victory continuously for a month. I want to be exposed to such roles and situations where I can tap into my past experience, and further hone my skills. 

Answering the question in such a manner will give confidence to the prospective employer that the candidate is confident and a good fit for the company.

The common mistakes to avoid

When dealing with such tricky interview questions, there are certain mistakes that candidates should steer clear of: 

- Keep your answers concise. Follow the STAR interview technique of answering questions to ensure your answer is comprehensive but you're not rambling. 

- Stick to the facts. The idea is not to talk about the fanciest challenge or give a long list of challenges, but rather showcase your attitude to difficulties. 

- Always align your response to the job requirements. 

Candidates can struggle to efficiently answer such tricky yet easy questions. The pressure of the job interview can make even the most confident candidate nervous. But remember, this is a question where there is no right or wrong answer. The trick is to be confident and honest in your response. 

Answers to such questions allow the employer to decide on the perfect employee who can take up any challenge and take the company to the pinnacle. This question is an advantage to both the employer as well as the employee as it allows the employer to figure out the best-suited employee and allows the employee to put forth their skills.

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