Interview questions: what will be your biggest challenge in this position?

A common interview question is to ask a candidate about the biggest challenge they have faced and how they overcame it. You may have an answer prepared for that question but what about if you were asked about the biggest challenge you are likely to face if successful in your application? A good response to this problem can go a good way to impressing your interviewer and getting you the job.

Be positive about the company you are interviewing for in your answer. Talk about the company’s reputation and successes and state that it will be a challenge to live up to the high standards. Assure the interviewer that you are confident of meeting this challenge and talk about some of your qualities that will enable you to do this.

Fitting into a new organisation can often be challenging so you can use this as an example if you are moving to a new area of work, a new country or simply a company with a different culture. Stress that you have good interpersonal skills and work well in a team. Give examples of your flexibility and ability to work with others to solve problems. This will evidence that you are capable of adapting to your surroundings and meeting challenges in team settings.

Taking on your first management role can be a challenge. Be honest in interview if you have not led a team previously but offer suggestions about how you will meet the challenge of doing so. Talk about when you have deputised for your own manager or taken the lead in team projects. Showing that you recognise an area where you will need developing indicates that you have thought about the challenges ahead.

Being asked about your greatest weakness is another common poser in interviews. Try and combine this into your answer about your greatest challenge. Suggest one area in the job specification where you feel you will need to concentrate your learning and identify overcoming this potential weakness as a challenge. Link this answer into discussing training and development you would like to focus on. This will tell the interviewer that you are honest, self-critical and able to identify ways to improve your performance.