How to answer "What will be the most difficult challenge for you at this job?" in an interview

You’re in an interview for your dream job! The interviewer has told you all about the job position, but now they want to know what will be challenging for you. Your mind races.

Everything will be challenging! I can’t say that, can I?

Remain calm! You can do this.

Learn how to answer this question and you’ll be able to breeze right through it!

Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash

Think about the job description. What specific job skills or duties might be challenging?

Avoid being too general:

The whole job will be really challenging!

Choose something small that you can easily improve. It could be a program or system you haven't used before or a non-technical skill like organization, communication, or time management.

Explain why it’s challenging. What makes this difficult for you? For example, if you're interviewing for a sales position, you could say:

This job has older customers than I'm used to, so I'll need to learn how to make sales with these customers.

This job has a very fast-paced environment, so I'll need to learn how to be really efficient.

Explain why it matters. Why is this skill important for your job?

Getting to know my customers is really important because it can help me make more sales.

Being efficient will allow me to help more customers.

Avoid saying you're "bad at" something.

Instead, talk about overcoming the challenge. Remind them that it’s something you can handle.

You could observe others or ask your colleagues for help. It’s even better if you can describe specific steps you can take yourself to overcome the challenge.

You can say:

I plan to solve this problem by...

If I'm having a hard time, I might...

You've landed an interview for a teaching job!

The interviewer asks: "What will be the most difficult challenge for you at this job?"

What should you say?

1. Everything will be challenging! I’ve never taught anyone anything before.

2. I’m looking forward to meeting my students, but it will be hard to remember their names. Remembering students’ names helps me connect with them, so I’m planning to write down all of their names on a seating chart and practice them.

3. I’m terrible with names! I know it’s going to be really hard for me to remember everyone’s names. It will probably take me the whole semester!

You know what to do! Before your next interview, prepare by thinking about potential challenges and how to overcome them.