You’ve got some good stuff in this article. Having been there many times before, here are several things I found useful when getting pitched the “hardball questions” on an interview:

1. “What are your weaknesses?” To that question, my standard answer is always; ‘What is the purpose of that question?’ I actually stumped an interviewer with that question once. Obviously flustered (he was reading off his page of stock/standard interview questions), the only answer he could muster was, “What do you mean?” I replied that any weakness I could describe might be considered a strength to another interviewer or in a different situation. I then asked him if he could make the question more specific. We actually had a pretty good conversation after that; it was illuminating for him and it gave me a lot of information about the company. If you are really puzzled as to why an interviewer is asking a question, ask them the purpose of the question. It might lead to an illuminating conversation.

2. “What makes you think you’re any different from the 10 other people we’ve already interviewed for this position?” The Interviewer that asked me that question, I sensed, was just trying to get rid of me. I could have used the same answer as with question #1, but I actually took a few seconds to sit back and gave it some thought. A question like that is designed to put the interviewee on the defensive and evoke an emotional response. I decided to play the game, but by my rules. My response was, “Well, I have no way of knowing if I’m any different from the other 10 people you interviewed. But my only question is, do you need me to be different, or more effective in the job?” I don’t know about the other 10 people, but when all was said and done, the selection was down to me and one other guy. Unfortunately for them, I had three job offers lined up, and took a better offer. The tip here is, when you sense a question is being asked to provoke an emotional response, stay focused on why you’re there and what the real objectives are.

3. My most bizarre interview question: ” How many quarters do you need to stack up to equal the height of the Empire State building?” When the interviewer asked that question, I thought I was dealing with a head case. It was a flip question, so I gave him a flip answer: “How are you stacking the quarters; on edge or heads to tails?” The interviewer laughed and said no one had ever actually asked that question. We had a great conversation after that. It resulted in a one-year contract. In retrospect, I realized the question was designed to address critical thinking. The tip here is: too many times we are too eager to provide the right answer instead of asking the right question. People never forget you when you ask good questions.

Hope this is useful!

Happy New Year