But more importantly, you know exactly how to prepare.  You know the best ways to research any company, how to recap your experience the way that Hiring Managers want, how to prepare for and answer the tough questions, and what questions you should be prepared to ask yourself in the interview.

In order to best use all the knowledge you now have, make a promise to yourself to perform the following steps every time you get an interview:

1.  Thoroughly research the company.
2.  Prepare your 30 – 60 second marketing message, tailored to what that specific position is looking for.
3.  Prepare anecdotes, tailored to that specific position, for the frequently asked “behavioral” questions.
4.  Write out on paper your answers to the commonly asked questions, again being sure to customize those answers to that specific job.
5.  Practice how you’ll answer the difficult questions.
6.  Write down four or five questions that you plan to ask at the interview.

Does doing all of this for every interview seem like a lot of work?  You’re absolutely right – it is.  But this is what the best prepared candidates – your competition – will do.  And in today’s tough economy, it’s the best prepared candidates that get the job offers.

Now that you’re done everything that you can in the way of preparing for your interview, the big day will inevitably arrive – the day of your actual interview.  Most candidates will be nervous with a serious case of the jitters…but not you!  Sure, you’re a bit apprehensive, but you’re now thoroughly prepared and that will make all the difference.

Oh, you may be taken by surprise with some unexpected questions you hadn’t anticipated, but no problem.  You’ll be able to confidently field any question by using all the background information you now have about the company.

My next several posts will guide you through everything else you need to get you through that all-important interview day and to hear those four golden words: “When can you start?”

We’ll specifically discuss the following topics and how to ace them in your interview:
•     How to Dress
•     What to Bring
•     When to Arrive
•     How to Behave
•     How to Handle a Phone Interview
•     The Best Way of All to End Your Interview
•    What to do after your interview

We’ll start next time by reviewing how to dress for your interview and I’ll tell you my favorite story about a candidate who dressed wrong.

One of the things I always ask applicants at the end of the interview is what questions would they like to ask.  Sadly, the vast majority of the time when I ask this, the applicants either say no or they’ll ask some general, meaningless question that has nothing to do specifically with that job or my company.  But handled properly, this is an excellent opportunity to show you’ve researched the position and the company.

You should prepare at least four or five questions.  In the event that some of them will have already been covered by the interviewer, you want to be still have a few you can ask.

Here are some general questions you can ask that will fit almost any interview and show that you have a deep and genuine interest in the position.  If you can tailor them even a bit more specifically for that position, so much the better.
•    “If I were to ask one of your employees what the best thing is about working here, what would they say?”

•    ”Can you tell me about the people I’d be working with? How long have you worked with them?”

•    ”How will you measure success in this job?”

•    ”What projects will I be working on?”

•    ”What do you look for most in a new employee?”

•    ”What do you like best about your company? Why?”

•    ”What do you see as the most important qualifications for this job?”

In addition to these more general questions, it’s best to also have a question or two ready that clearly demonstrates that you’ve researched that specific company.  For example, you can ask a question about some aspect of one the company’s objectives or strategies, or ask what the results were for a specific initiative, etc.  The point here is to let your questions demonstrate to the Hiring Manager know that you’re well prepared, knowledgeable about the company and have a high degree of interest in that exact position.

Having said all this, I need to stress one very important point about any questions you may ask:  always remember that the first interview is NOT the time to ask questions about either salary or benefits. Save these types of questions until you’re actually offered the job.

My next post will begin a series about the multitude of other things you need to do in order to be the most well prepared candidate in your interviews.

It was an answer to a question that, while very difficult to answer well, is one that is pretty commonly asked in interviews.  Though the exact wording used by a Hiring Manager may vary, It usually goes something like this: “If two senior executives each wanted you to do something at the same time, with the nature of the tasks being such that you could only do one, how would you decide which one to do?”

While this is a pretty simple question on the surface, it can be extremely difficult to answer and presents you with a real puzzle.  Just exactly how do you decide to do one without antagonizing the other executive?  Since you can only satisfy one request, how can you keep both executives happy?  In other words, how do you avoid committing CLM (Career Limiting Move)?

A number of years ago I was actually asked this question myself when I was interviewing for a job and I’ll admit that I fumbled it pretty badly.  It was a question I had not considered in advance and as a result was completely unprepared to answer it.  There just isn’t an easy answer for the dilemma raised by this question.

At least that’s what I thought at the time.

Fast forward a few years and I was on an interview panel that was interviewing an applicant for a middle-management position.  As it turned out, this question was on the list of questions we were given to ask.  And did that ever bring back bad memories!  The applicant we were interviewing was an amicable, seasoned manager who fielded our other questions very well, so I was of course anxious to hear how he would handle this one.

His answer was simple, elegant and brief: “I’d do the one that’s best for our customers.”
That’s it – the single best interview answer I’ve ever heard – and the interview panel was blown away.  This one-sentence answer to an extremely difficult question was simply awesome and it said it all.  What executive could possibly argue with doing what was best for the customer?  In fact, what better reason is there for doing anything in business?  And by the way, this candidate did get the job – by a unanimous vote.

This answer, tweaked a bit to fit the circumstances, could be an excellent response to a wide variety of questions.  It’s hard to go wrong by answering as an advocate for the customers of whatever organization you are interviewing.

Just watch the members of an interview panel start nodding their heads when you work a customer service attitude into your answers.

In my next post, I’ll flip the subject of interview questions around and talk about the questions YOU need to prepare and ask.

Take on a Part-Time Job
Earning extra money the old traditional way is to simply find a part time job you can work at night and on weekends. If you are able to manage your time wisely, you should be able to add a couple of nights a week to your schedule. Restaurants, department stores, and call centers offer nighttime and weekend hours. Even if it is only a couple of hours a night, or over the weekend, this is certainly a viable way of earning extra money while keeping your day job.

Selling Your Unwanted Items
Many of us have boxes and boxes of stuff we are no longer using. Now may be the perfect time to clean out those boxes, and place items for sale on eBay or Craigslist. You know the old saying, “One mans junk is another mans treasure”? Once you have gone through your stuff, try heading out to yard sales on the weekends, and go through other peoples stuff. You can purchase items from yard sales cheap, then turn around and sell them on eBay or Craigslist at a higher price.

In addition to eBay or Craigslist, consignment stores and flea markets are a great place to sell your stuff. Clothing and baby items are a big hit at consignment stores. You could also hold your own yard sale from time to time to create additional income.

Affiliate Marketing
Many Americans have turned to affiliate marketing as a means of making extra money. There are thousands of opportunities available with affiliate marketing. Affiliates are selling anything you can imagine from coffee, greeting cards, make-up, pocketbooks, to pet food! You name it, there is probably an affiliate marketing program out there selling it. With affiliate marketing, you can build a business working just a couple of hours a day selling other companies’ products. All you need to do to get started is create a website or blog and refer your readers to websites that sell the product. If one of your readers makes a purchase, you earn a commission on what they buy. Be sure to read affiliate network reviews before you get started.

Blogging
Creating your own blog is a great way to make extra money while keeping your day job. Blog about what is of interest to you. You may enjoy cooking, so create a blog about it. People are blogging about everything from parenting tips to travel. Figure out what it is that you would enjoy writing about, and start writing. Blogs only need to be about 200 words each. Eventually when you have many followers, you can start to earn money with advertising. The more followers you have, the greater the potential to make more money. As you become better at writing, you may want to consider writing an e-book about what you are blogging about and sell that on your website.

Babysit Evenings
Another traditional way to earn extra money is to offer nighttime babysitting services in your home. Since there are many people working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet, the need for quality childcare is huge, especially at night and on weekends when traditional daycare and schools are closed.

Making and Selling Crafts
If you are creative, and have the talent to quilt, sew, paint or craft, you can begin to sell your crafts to earn extra money while keeping your day job. Many crafters will work evenings creating their products, then display and sell their creations at craft shows, green markets, or flea markets on the weekends. If you want to step it up just a notch, create an online store and sell your items there. This will open up a much larger market for you. You can also post your crafts on etsy or eBay or Craigslist as well as other internet sites.

Take on Side Jobs
Whatever your talent, and current day job, you can earn extra money taking on a couple of side jobs. If you’re a teacher, consider tutoring students at night and on weekends. If you are good at transcribing, consider hanging a sign at the local college offering to transcribe reports.

One benefit of starting a home based business is the tax credits you are able to take on your home, and other expenses to operate your business such as; vehicle mileage, internet and phone, supplies, maintenance on the home, and vehicle maintenance just to name a few. There are many tax breaks for you, so check with your local tax professional for a complete list of what your are able to write off as a business expense.

Many people have been able to turn their part-time home based business into their full time gig. To do this, you need to take the time to build up your business. With persistence and patience, you too may be able to replace the income of your day job, and fire your boss.

With the times as tough as they have been, many people have had to become creative to help them make ends meet. The internet is full of great opportunities to create additional income. Figure out what it is that you are passionate about and then figure out a way to create a 2nd stream of cash flow doing what you love. You just need to find the best way that works for you. Whether it is selling make-up to your friends and co-workers, or delivering pizza at night, there are many ways for you to make extra money while keeping your day job.

These are usually designed to test how well you can handle surprises and how logically you can answer seemingly illogical questions.  There really are no right or wrong answers to these strange questions.  My best advice to you to either give an answer that sounds logical or, if you’re up to it, give an answer that shows a little humor (which, by the way, is always appreciated by hiring managers if used appropriately).

Let’s look at some examples of these oddball questions and how I might answer them.  There are literally hundreds of these types of questions and my intent is to give you some ideas as to approaches you can take.

Question: If you were an animal, which one would you choose to be?
Possible Answer: (I know, I know – it’s a really stupid question but it’s still asked).  Try this for a logical answer:  I’d like to be an elephant.  They’re big, they’re powerful, they have few natural enemies, they’re reasonably intelligent and they have a long life span.  This is a good, generic answer that will fit most situations.

If you’re interviewing for a job where aggressiveness is considered an attribute (many sales positions fall into this category), then try this one: I’d want to be one of the big cats – a lion, a tiger, or a panther, because I want to be at the top of the food chain, not the bottom.

Question: Give me a step-by-step explanation of how to tie my shoes.
Possible Answer: This is a good example of a question designed to test your ability to think logically and describe accurately.  It may about nearly anything.  What you need to do is envision the process in your mind and describe it one step at a time.

Question: If you were a tree, what type would you want to be?
Possible Answer: (yep, like the animal question, this one is equally dumb, but it’s still sometimes asked).  Avoid the cliché answer of wanting to be an oak tree “because they’re sturdy”.  Instead, try this: I’d like to be a Joshua tree.  They’re attractive, extremely hardy, and simply don’t give up – they can survive in harsh desert conditions where little else can.  That’s what I like to be – tough and durable.

This answer shows you have your head on straight and are realistic about life.  I can also practically guarantee won’t be used by any other applicant (unless, of course, they’ve read this post!).

Question: How many gas stations would you estimate there are in the United States?
Possible Answer: The point here is to see how logically you approach the question.  You’re not really expected to give an accurate answer.

This can be about anything: how may basketballs would it take to fill the inside of a ten foot square room, how many baseballs does it take to fill Yankee Stadium, how many stop lights are there in Chicago, etc.   The best way to approach this one is to start thinking out loud about how you’d solve the problem.

For example, let’s take the gas station question, I would reason it out like this: “Now let’s see, the town where I live has a population of about 20,000 and I estimate there are about 20 gas stations.  That means there’s a station for every 1,000 people.  There are about 300,000,000 people in the United States, so that would about 300,000 gas stations.”

This answer is probably wildly off but that doesn’t matter.  The point is that I arrived at it in a logical manner and that’s what the Hiring Manger is looking for.

Question: Tell me one thing about yourself that you don’t want me to know?
Possible Answer:  This is similar to the question “What is your greatest weakness?”  It’s a land mine designed to make you admit something negative about yourself.

The best way to handle this question is to admit some relatively minor bad habit you used to have.  For example, that you used to smoke but quit a long time ago, or you used to be overweight until you lost 50 pounds, etc.  The trick here is to make it a personal bad habit, not a business one, and one you have since corrected.

I could go on for hours describing these types of oddball questions, so don’t try to develop and memorize answers.  The key is to give answers that demonstrate logic, and to use minor or innocuous answers whenever you’re asked anything negative.

In my next posting, I’ll end my series on how to answer interview questions by sharing with you the best interview answer I’ve ever heard!

Unfortunately, there are still many American’s who are still out of work and haven’t even thought about making a job for themselves. Whether out of lack of knowledge or out of fear, millions are still waiting for the government or someone else to create a job for them. There are many careers you can start at home, and many opportunities for you to make up your own job and create the income and lifestyle you have always wanted.

To begin the process of creating your own job, you need to make a list. Your list should include:
•    Your technical skill sets: List everything that you know how to do. All of your technical skills and equipment you can work with.
•    Your social skills: List your social skills such as working with people, organizational skills, etc.
•    Your passions: Find the things that you are most passionate about and list them. If you create a job doing what you love, you will be more successful and the sacrifices you may have to make won’t be as hard to bear.
•    Start-up money available: Figure out how much money you have available for start-up expenses. Remember it may take a while before you are bringing in a good income.
•    What services you can offer that people are willing to pay for: Start a list of the services you can offer that people will pay for. Do a little bit of research in your local market to pinpoint what service businesses or consumers are crying out for.

Once your list is completed, it’s time to research the careers best suited for you. Compare the different choices and narrow down until you come up with the one perfect job for you to create. At the same time, it’s a good idea to ask for honest feedback from people who know you well. Don’t fill them in on your plans at first, because you may get discouraged by their reactions and doubt. However, it will be helpful to get their opinions on what you’re good at, and weigh that information into your decision-making process.

Here are a couple of internet based jobs you can create and how to get started.

Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is quickly becoming a great answer for many who are unemployed. The internet offers many opportunities for people interested in writing as a career. Freelance writing offers many areas for you to choose from.

One of the easiest ways to begin a freelance writing career is to begin a blog. You can create a website using a blog platform such as WordPress. Decide on your particular niche that you wish to focus on and you are set to blog. As your writing skills improve you can begin to write marketing articles, newsletters, SEO writing, eBooks and blogging for others just to name a few.

Overhead and start-up expenses are very low. You should create a web site for marketing and become familiar with freelance web sites where you can post your services, such as Guru, Elance, Odesk, and others.

As your writing skills improve consider publishing your own books. Amazon has made it easy and inexpensive to self-publish. There is no need to find a publisher; do it yourself. Simply set up an account with Amazon, upload your manuscript, create a book cover and your book is usually approved within 12 hours and live on Amazon. Royalties are paid directly to you.

eCommerce
Creating an online store has never been easier. Again, use the list you made to find a product that you can be passionate about selling and that you are knowledgeable about. Pick a niche that fits into your market and stick with it. Don’t offer the same items that are available on thousands of other sites. Homemade items such as crafts that are one of a kind are a great idea. Selling items that you already have on hand, such as antiques or sports memorabilia is also a solid model to follow.

Once you have your product, you will need to create a website that is equipped with eCommerce tools. There are many free website builders available that will walk you through building a great site for free or little money. The website builder will walk you through setting up shipping and payment methods and loading pictures and description of your products.

Create a marketing plan that is within your set budget. Daily blogging and article writing about the products and services you are selling will help draw traffic to your website. You will need to keep stock of the products you are selling and take care of the shipping and create a solid customer support system.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing gives you the opportunity to earn money online selling other companies’ products. There is very low start-up and overhead expenses. You earn commission off of the sales when people you sent to the company’s website purchase products.

To get started you first need to do some research. There are many companies out there offering affiliate programs so you need to make sure they are legitimate. Once you find the company that you want to work with, you need to choose products that make sense. Again, researching your market and the products you are thinking of advertising will help ensure you make the right choices.

If you don’t already have a website you will need to create one. If hiring a web design company isn’t in your budget, use one of the do-it-yourself website builder sites. Place the links on your website and begin your marketing.

Blogging and publishing articles about your products daily will bring potential customers to your website. Researching ‘keyword phrases’ plays a vital role in article marketing. Keywords are the words that consumers put into search engines like Google to search for the products or services they are looking for.

Service Jobs
If creating a job on the internet isn’t within your comfort zone, there are plenty of other options available to you. Consider starting a cleaning service for homes or businesses or a mobile car cleaning service. Lawn maintenance, pool maintenance or window cleaning services are increasing in popularity.

If you love to cook, how about starting a business where you cook and deliver meals for busy families? Babysitting is one of the oldest home based business opportunities out there. Think about setting up a home day care, or offer your services in their homes. Pet and house sitting is also another viable option.

As the economy continues to struggle to create jobs many Americans are taking the steps to create their own jobs, why not become one of them?

These particular ones are primarily designed test your character and bring out how you react to difficult and stressful questions.
As a Hiring Manager, I don’t normally use or like these types of questions, but with enough interviews you’re likely come across a version of them.

Question:  “What is a negative thing your last boss would say about you?”
How to Answer:  What you want to do here is state some minor mistake that you made and then add this: “But I think you’ll find my last boss would also tell you I admitted my mistake, learned from it and was a better employee as a result”.

Question:  “ Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
How to Answer:  While this question is intended to reveal if you have a reasonable amount of motivation and ambition, you certainly don’t want to come across as a threat.

Here’s the best way to field this question: “Well, in five years I hope I’ll have moved up one level and to be within shouting distance of moving up one more level.  This shows you have a healthy amount of ambition but avoids saying you want the Hiring Manager’s job.

Question: “Tell me what you think of your previous boss.”
How to Answer:   Uh oh!  You’re about to walk into a buzz saw unless you’re careful.  Under no circumstances – and I mean no circumstances – should you ever say a negative thing about either your previous boss or your previous company.  If you criticize a past employer, the Hiring Manager will very likely assume you’ll also bad mouth future employers. This is the kiss of death in an interview.

What you’ll want to do here is simply answer with something similar to this:  “My previous boss was very knowledgeable and someone from whom I learned quite a lot.”  This is generic enough to fit almost any situation without being untruthful.

Even if your previous boss was a jerk, you could still have learned a lot about what not to do as a boss…

Question:  “Tell me about a time where you were able to make order out of chaos.”
How to Answer:  I was actually asked this one while in an interview myself (many years ago!) and freely admit that I blew it.  This one is a particular favorite of some hiring managers so you should be ready for it.

What you need to do is prepare one or two examples of when you did things such as:  turn around a project that was in trouble, streamlined a procedure that was causing inefficiencies, stepped into a job where the predecessor left a complete mess, or any other experience that demonstrates you cleaned up a mess of some sort.

Question: “Give me five words that best describe your character.”
How to Answer: This is another favorite of hiring managers.  Its purpose is to show if you’re a good fit for that position, so the way to answer it is with adjectives taken right out of the job posting.

As an example, say that some of the qualifications from the job posting are: ability to get along with people, being a good team player, having good customer service attitude, the ability to learn new things quickly, and a good work ethic.  The five words from these that you could use to describe your character could be: friendly, supportive, helpful, intelligent and dedicated.   You can literally turn any qualification into an adjective in this manner.  Just be sure they truly describe you!

The bottom line is that you want to have your answers indicate that your character is a good fit for the job.  Just remember: when you study the job description carefully, you’ll be much better able to answer this question.

In my next post, we’ll look at some of the more unusual questions you may encounter and how best to answer them.

Best Case Scenario
People who have been unemployed for a long time feel as if they have nothing to lose by embellishing their resume. After all, things can’t get any worse can they? Actually, they can. Imagine you got the job on the basis of your lies only to find out that you’re in way over your head. It will become clear to the organization that you are not fit to work for them and you will promptly be fired. Alternatively, you could be a resounding success only to be called into the manager’s office one day and asked to explain why you lied on your resume. The hiring company may not find out immediately but they will eventually. The end result is you being fired and having an extremely bad reputation. And all of this can happen if you get the job!

Honesty Is The Best Policy
For your own sake, you must tell the truth. Some applicants may have circumstances that can’t be readily explained by a resume. For example, you may have taken a year off work in order to backpack through Australia or go on a legendary road trip of the United States. The resulting gap in your work history will be obvious on a resume but can easily be explained by a cover letter.

One of the most common lies told by job applicants relates to educational achievements. What usually happens is that the applicant either dropped out of college or missed out on a degree or other qualification by a few credits. Instead of explaining this on the cover letter, the applicant decides to enter the phantom qualification instead. As almost all major corporations and an increasing number of smaller businesses do background checks regarding an applicant’s education, this is a lie that will be quickly uncovered.

It is always better to take a chance and try explaining any unique situations via a cover letter while only listing actual qualifications and experience on your resume. There are many ways in which you can give your resume a significant boost while still keeping its integrity. Use action keywords and ensure that all your accomplishments stand out. As half of your competitors may already be ruling themselves out of the job by lying, an honest resume immediately enhances the likelihood of being called in for an interview. You may not get the job by being honest but lying on your resume will almost always come back to haunt you.

The first one is the always-dreaded “Tell Me Why You’re the Best Person for This Job” question. Actually, although this is admittedly a tough question, it’s also a question that you should want to be asked.  Why?  Because it’s your one chance to really sell yourself and bring out information that may not be asked in other questions.

From my Hiring Manager’s perspective, the way I’d like this question to be answered is a way that I very seldom hear:  state some of your most significant areas of accomplishments and experience in a way that relates to my specific opening.  The key phrase here is “in a way that relates to my specific opening”.  I can’t stress enough the importance of this.

Now, in order to pull this off, you have to do your homework prior to the interview.  You need to be thoroughly familiar with the specific requirements for my job, which you can usually get straight from the job posting, as well as thoroughly acquainted with my company, which you need to research.

This way, you can tell me you’re the best person for the job because your qualifications and accomplishments match the job requirements as well as the goals and objectives of my company.  I want to know that you’ve taken the time to figure this out.

To prove this, you should quote several qualifications from the job posting and relate them directly to your experience or accomplishments.  Or, bring up a specific goal or objective of my company from your research and demonstrate how your experience supports that goal.

As an example, let’s say you’re interviewing for a sales representative position and your research shows that growth is a primary objective of the company.
If you’re asked why you’re the best person for the job, put it like this: “I know that your number one goal is sales growth and that’s always been my primary focus.  In my last position I increased sales in my territory by over 25%, during a time period when sales for other territories were flat or negative.  I can do the same thing for your company if you bring me on board.”

Remember: regardless of the job or the company, sell your experience and accomplishments in terms that directly relate to that job and that company.  This is what I want to hear as a Hiring Manager…and so seldom do!
The second tough question I want to discuss is the equally-dreaded: “Tell Me About Yourself” question.
This is a deceptively innocent sounding question, but it’s actually a land mine that I’ve seen many candidates step directly on.

Some candidates will simply recap the last few jobs they’ve had (sorry, but I did read your resume).  Some candidates will ramble on at length about where they went to school, their personal lives, their hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc.  Sorry again, but none of this is relevant.

What the Hiring Manager really wants to hear (again!) is how your experience is relevant and meaningful enough to make you a viable candidate.  What you need to do to be ready for this question is very carefully prepare a 60 second overview of your most significant experience and accomplishments as they relate to this specific job.  In other words, tailor your 60 second “commercial” in terms that make it appear you are a perfect fit for the job.  Most candidates totally miss this.

We’ll continue next time with some less common, but just as difficult interview questions.

Specifically, I want to address what many people consider to be the most difficult and tricky interview question:   the dreaded “Tell Me What You Consider to be Your Greatest Weakness” question.

I have to tell you that to me this is actually a pretty ridiculous question.  It tells the Hiring Manager nothing useful about that applicant’s skills, experience or accomplishments.  However, it keeps cropping up in interviews and many Hiring Manager’s will ask it simply to see you handle a question for which there really is no right or wrong answer.  The whole intent is to see how you can handle a tricky, curveball of a question.

So, I’m now going to tell you the secret to answering this question: don’t answer it!  That’s right – don’t fall into the trap of using the worn out strategy of taking something that is generally regarded as a strength and turning it around to state it as a weakness.  An example of this is saying something such as “Everyone tells me that I drive myself too hard.”  Any experienced Hiring Manager knows this is a cliché answer that was obtained from some outdated interview advice article.  They will see right through it.

Okay, so how do you ‘answer it by not answering it’ ?  Well, here’s how I would like someone I was interviewing to answer the question:  “I’m sure we all have aspects of ourselves that we could improve, but the job, as I understand it, plays to my strengths, not my soft spots.  I don’t believe there’s anything in my experience or background that would prevent me from doing an excellent job for you.”

This is a great answer because it acknowledges that you have some soft spots (everyone does) but it takes you out of the “admission” mode and turns the question into an opportunity to sell yourself.

As you can see, you didn’t really answer the question, but instead made a powerful statement about yourself.  You clearly demonstrated you can think on your feet and give an answer that skillfully avoids the trap, instead of the floundering around done by other candidates as they try to answer an impossible question.

I can practically guarantee you’ll be the only candidate that gives an answer like this.  As a Hiring Manager, I’d send taxi cabs for applicants who could give this type of answer!

However, there’s always the chance that you’ll encounter a stubborn, short sighted Hiring Manager that still insists you confess to a weakness (red flag: do you really want to work for someone like this?).  In that case, here’s how I recommend you respond.   Say that at times you try to multi-task too much and take on more things than you can handle in a reasonable time frame, but that you work on keeping this under control by looking for ways to improve your organizational skills.

This admits to a weakness, but also signals that you’re working on improving it.  Next time, we’ll talk about the next two most difficult interview questions you’re likely to encounter.