What do you find difficult?

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The question | What they are looking for | How to answer | See also

The question

What parts of the job are less easy than others?

Tell me about a time when things were difficult for you.

What they are looking for

In this, they may well be looking for the boundaries of your skills, where you are more challenged and your natural or learned abilities start to slope off.

They may also be interested in how you handle difficult situations and will look for signs of mood change, for example whether you become angry or introverted. A variant is that they may look for whether you blame or complain in your answer rather than being positive and constructive.

How to answer

Describe something you find difficult, though not if it is an important part of the job, of course. Select something outside the job or something that happens infrequently.

Occasionally it is difficult when a project you have put your heart and soul into gets stopped for a reason you cannot affect, such as budget or strategic changes.

Try to find something that shows you in a positive light, for example in being socially sensitive or able to face difficult situations. In such answers you may be able to take an important part of the job and show that you can do it.

I have had to sack people before now. It is not something I relish, but it has to be done so I don't drag it out and try to make as easy as possible for the person in question.

Although it is often a good idea to explain why things are difficult, be careful not to make this sound like complaining.