You may think any job interview is a stress interview, but there are those where the interviewer keeps interrupting you, disagreeing with you, dwelling on your weaknesses, smirking, acting hostile, or going silent and staring at you for what seems like forever after you answer a question. Then some interviewers suddenly demand to know if you could get rid of one state, which would it be, or how many piano tuners there are in the world—making you strongly suspect you should call security (and even the White House, about possible sedition).

Relax. The first type of interviewer may simply be trying to see how you react under pressure, mimicking difficult situations in the real business world where you need to think on your feet and stay cool when the heat gets turned on. It’s an act, so stay calm, don’t match the interviewer’s rudeness with your own, and don’t turn into a puddle of sweat. The interviewer may be a real softie under that confrontational crust. The second type hasn’t gone mad, but is merely seeking to assess your analytical thinking style with “puzzle” and trick questions often used by high-tech, consulting, and Wall Street firms. There’s usually no right answer to such questions; it’s just your approach he or she wants to see.

Job Savvy

Each bolded interview question is followed by a description of what the interviewer is trying to ascertain by asking the question. Then you will be given examples of good answers and bad answers to the question.

Why should I hire you? Or: I’m not sure you have enough experience (or education, or meet the qualifications) for the job. Or: What makes you think you can do this job?

Perhaps the interviewer has doubts about your background, or simply wants you to make a case for yourself to be hired or wants to see your reaction. It can be alarming when this is the very first question, but don’t let it unnerve you.

Good answer: See this question as a golden opportunity to sell yourself, and list your qualifications, show your desire for the job, and enumerate any pluses that distinguish you from other applicants. Ignore any negative undertone. If you think you know the reason for any concern—perhaps you are light in a certain skill, or lack years of experience or enough education—emphasize the skills you do have, the fact you are a quick study eager to learn new things, or your enthusiasm and ideas for the job. In other words, whatever is your strong suit.

Bad answer: A fumbling response that might confirm the interviewer’s fear that you don’t have what it takes for the job.

Job Jinx

Don’t let an interviewer’s silence intimidate you. Don’t rush to fill it with aimless chatter, but wait calmly for the next question or comment. Or ask a question you’ve prepared.

Do you know much about our organization? Or: What do you know about us?

He or she wants to see if you have done your homework and researched the employer, to see if you should be taken seriously as a candidate.

Good answer: A few comments that show you have read about the employer, its products or services, and what’s new. Impress the interviewer with a few facts you’ve read—perhaps an exciting new market or product, rapid growth figures, or a new direction the CEO is taking—and end with a question you’ve prepared, if you wish.

Bad answer: Never say no or admit you don’t know much about the employer. This is not a gambit to get the interviewer to talk.

Job Savvy

Know your weak points. Be prepared to answer questions about them calmly, so the interviewer doesn’t throw you for a loop by noting how inexperienced or underqualified you are.

Do you have any concerns or reservations about working here?

He or she is looking for reasons not to hire you, and a good one is that you are not all that enthused about the job. After you get the job offer you can decide if you want it or not.

Good answer: No, you don’t have concerns or reservations. You may have questions about the job or employer, but ask them when the interviewer asks if you have any questions at the end of the interview.

Bad answer: Don’t be like the job-hunter who once cheerfully admitted the job would be a hardship due to the commute. Negativity will not win you a job offer.

Have you ever been fired? If so, why?

If you have, the interviewer wants to know if you have a major character flaw he or she should be wary of—to avoid a repeat performance if you’re hired—or if the reason was more neutral, like a company restructuring where many blameless people were laid off. But he or she is aware that an employer tends to keep its best workers, even in bad times.

Good answer: No, if that’s true. If you have, try to couch it in the most positive light. If your job was eliminated, your department was downsized, or if there were massive companywide layoffs, say so. Layoffs have become such a common fact of life in recent years that being fired doesn’t bear the same stigma it once did. If there is perpetual high turnover at your employer, or a spate of recent high turnover (by quitting or firing), note a statistic (“X percent of employees left this past year”).

If you were given the face-saving option of being asked to resign and chose it, mention you weren’t fired, but that you quit. But if fired for cause (incompetence, frequent absences, or theft), the best course of action is to admit you made a mistake, perhaps had some personal problems, but learned from it and have since improved.

Bad answer: A lie, which may come back to haunt you if the new employer learns otherwise. If found out after a job offer is made, the offer may be withdrawn, and if discovered after hiring, you may be fired again. Or a defensive response which blames your ex-boss or ex-employer, leading the interviewer to think you don’t take responsibility for your mistakes.

Job Jinx

An outplacement firm found, in a survey of its outplacement clients, that 80 percent of fired employees say that a relationship problem at work, such as a boss or colleague, caused them to be fired.

Are you willing to take a drug test?

Drug testing is fairly common nowadays, with a job offer often conditioned on a job-hunter testing negative for drug use, so the interviewer wants to know if you will cooperate in giving a sample of your urine. The question does not mean there will be a test.

Good answer: Yes. You should be given a form to read and sign that lists the prescription and over-the-counter drugs and substances that tend to cross-react with the test. Be careful to note every single one you’ve taken in the past few weeks, because innocent things like ibuprofen (found in some pain medications), cold medicines, sedatives like Valium, and even poppy seed bagels may cause a false positive and wrongly show drug use. If you test positive, ask for a second but different type of test, lest you be branded falsely as a drug user and denied the job.

Bad answer: No. This looks like a red flag that you have something to hide, even if you don’t. Don’t make the interviewer feel suspicious.

Job Jargon

A false positive means a drug test shows a positive result for drug use by mistake. Testing positive is often caused by a harmless prescription or over-the-counter drug or substance which cross-reacts with the drug test.

Are you willing to travel, work weekends, or put in overtime?

The interviewer wants to know you will put in the long hours to meet deadlines or the amount of travel the job may occasionally (or often) require.

Good answer: Ask first how much travel (several times a week, month, or year), where you might be traveling, and what their method of reimbursement is. You might also ask how often weekend or overtime work is required (and if you are paid in comp time, money, time-and-a-half or standard pay, or not at all). Then answer honestly, because you may not want a job that requires many overnights or long trips if you have young children (or for other reasons), or frequent weekend or overtime work that interferes with your outside interests or activities.

Bad answer: Shock, annoyance, or other signs that you balk at the job straying beyond a strict 9-to-5 schedule and cutting into your personal time are a red flag to the interviewer that you are a clock-watcher who is not overly interested in your career. Or an answer that doesn’t honestly reflect what you are willing to do if hired, meaning you’ll be disgruntled and may not perform well.

How many hours a week do you take to do your job?

The interviewer doesn’t want to hear 35 to 40 hours, but generally is less interested in a number than knowing that you put in extra hours to keep up with your workload when needed—but not an excessive amount constantly, which may mean you don’t plan your time well.

Good answer: Give a balanced answer showing that you try to manage your time as well as you can, but now and then work late or on a weekend if a deadline or crunch time demands it. If you sense this is a place that prizes workaholics, where employees are encouraged not to take their full vacation time consecutively or call in often when away from the office, tailor your response accordingly.

Bad answer: A response that shows a work style against the corporate culture, the style of doing things and values held important by a specific organization. This is often driven by its CEO and his or her personality. An answer that doesn’t encompass enough hours for a workaholic-loving employer, or living at the office for a place that regards this as a fault signifying poor time management or a meager personal life and outside interests.

Job Jinx

Stay cool. Don’t fidget, play with your hair, cover your mouth with your hand, talk faster than usual, bite your nails, avoid eye contact, swing your foot, or exhibit any other nervous gesture. The interviewer will wonder if you are anxious because you have something to hide.

How long would you stay here?

The interviewer fervently hopes the job would not be a brief pit stop but that you would stay long enough to contribute meaningfully to the employer.

Good answer: Show that you are enthusiastic about the job and would love to make a contribution and grow here professionally as long as the employer permits. Obviously, you have no crystal ball, and this is easier to pull off if it is consistent with your background. If you are a job-hopper who has left after a year or a few months several times in a row, it will be hard to convince the interviewer this job will win your loyalty.

Bad answer: Best to avoid “as long as I keep learning,” since this sounds like the burden is on the employer to keep you in a perpetual state of amusement and stimulation.

Would you be willing to work on a (fill in the blank) account?

He or she is letting you know the type of account the job requires, and wants to know now if you’re going to balk at it for some reason, good or bad.

Good answer: If you object to working on a tobacco, liquor, abortion, gun manufacturer, or other account for ethical or religious reasons, admit it. Better for you, and the employer, to know now than later.

Bad answer: Say yes, and then be hired and balk later at working on a client you firmly disapprove of.

What other job offers have you received?

The interviewer hopes you will reveal how sought-after you are, so he or she knows how much leverage to use to get you.

Good answer: Admitting you have other job suitors makes you more attractive as a candidate, but you are by no means obliged to blow it by disclosing who they are.

Bad answer: Revealing where the job offers are from, which may hurt you. The interviewer may hold a dim view of these employers, may know they pay far less, or the fact that they are so different—even in a different industry—may cast doubt on how serious you are about this job.

Are you willing to relocate?

He or she wants to know if you will move to where the employer needs you. Relocation is often critical to career advancement at many employers, so if you won’t budge, the interviewer wants to know now.

Good answer: Yes, if you are willing to move to another city, state or country—obviously, your answer may depend on where—or no, if you are not. Be aware of where the employer’s headquarters and branch offices are located before the interview. If relocation is required, ask about the relocation package the employer offers at the time of the job offer.

Bad answer: An irritated no—why would you ever want to leave your home, friends, and relatives?

Job Savvy

If overseas relocation is required, many U.S. companies pay for moving expenses, an initial home-hunting visit, your children’s schooling, cost-of-living adjustment allowances, exchange rate protection, language training, and health care.

If you had to get rid of a state, which would it be?

The interviewer is simply trying to test your analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. “Puzzle” questions like this are often used at high-tech companies like Microsoft, big consulting firms, and Wall Street firms. There’s no right answer, but he or she wants a quick tour of your thinking process.

Good answer: Ask a question or two and then offer a reasonable rationale for your answer. For example, does removing a state mean all the people will be killed? If so, the least populous state (Wyoming) is the only defensible response. But if it means its citizens will be relocated without loss of life or limb, and only the borders will disappear, then decide why, of the least populous states, one will be missed the least.

Bad answer: Inability to respond to the hypothetical parameters of this question.

How many piano tuners are there in the world?

Again, the interviewer is simply probing your analytical thinking and problem-solving skills with another “puzzle” question. No need to shoot out a figure, as there’s no right answer.

Good answer: Show you would find out how many pianos there are in the world, how often they need to be tuned, and how many pianos tuners tend to work on each, or if there is a trade association of piano tuners that may know the answer to this.

Bad answer: Inability to respond to the hypothetical parameters of this question.

Job Savvy

A fascinating book on “puzzle” questions and why they are beloved by high-tech, consulting, and financial firms is How Would You Move Mount Fuji? (Little, Brown, 2004) by William Poundstone. A website with dozens of puzzle questions is at http://techinterview.org.

You are presented with three doors. One door has a million dollars behind it; the other two have goats behind them. Monty Hall asks you to choose a door: You do and announce it. Monty then shows you one of the doors with a goat behind it and asks you if you would like to keep the door you chose, or switch to the other unknown door. Should you switch doors? If so, why?

This is known as the famous “Monty Hall” question, which is intended to test your probability skills.

Good answer: You should state that your situation has improved because the odds of a million dollars behind one of the doors have just increased from one in three to one in two.

Bad answer: Inability to respond and stunned silence that the interviewer thinks a game show is relevant to your job hunt.

Is the interviewer a nasty or confrontational person, or is he or she deliberately trying to rattle or provoke you? Who knows? Who cares? It doesn’t matter: Imagine a Zen-like calm settling over you, and stay cool and professional no matter how you’re treated. You may be surprised when the interviewer rushes to shake your hand afterward and say you have the job. If you’re sensitive about any issues and dread being asked about them, the only way to conquer your anxiety is to objectively examine what happened, prepare an answer that couches it in the best possible light, and practice until the fear is gone.