When someone applies for an entry-level position, a typicaljob interview questionthey might be asked is how they’ve handled significant obstacles in the past. If you are currently in high school or college and lack work experience, interviewers may phrase this question as, “Tell me about the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a student.”
These challenges might be academic or personal—there is a wide gamut of situations you might choose to share. Perhaps you were tasked with completing an important team project, but your teammates bailed at the last minute. Maybe you were an officer in an extracurricular or service organization tasked with organizing a major fundraising project. Or, like many students today, you might have struggled to balance your classwork with the demands of a necessary part-time or full-time job.
More important than the challenge is how you handled it: Use this as an opportunity to highlight strengths that would be helpful on the job, such as persistence,communication skills, and time management abilities.
Learn how to answer interview questions about challenges, what to say when you respond, and review examples of the best responses.
Key Takeaways
- List the interpersonal or people skills that empowered you to overcome challenges as a student, and highlight these in your response.
- Ideally, use your answer to persuade your interviewer that you would readily accept challenges to grow your skills and contribute productively to their workplace.
- Use the STAR interview response technique to create a unique, illustrative example that the interviewer will remember when it comes time to make a hiring decision.
What the Interviewer Wants to Know
This question is a way for interviewers to get a sense of how you tackle problems and adversity. They are also interested in your level of self-motivation. Are you an individual who actively seeks new challenges in order to develop your skills and gain knowledge and experience? Or are you someone who passively avoids difficult situations until they arise?
Note
If possible, share examples that demonstrate to your interviewer how you are a person who embraces challenges.
How to Answer 'What Was Your Biggest Challenge?'
Be honest. It’s tempting to toss back a humble brag as a response, e.g., “My biggest challenge was that I’m such a perfectionist!” Don’t do this. Everyone has flaws and areas for improvement. By pretending you don’t, you force the hiring manager to assume you’re either lying or not self-aware. Neither makes a good impression.
Focus on challenges you’ve conquered. By the same token, now is not the time to present yourself in an unflattering light. There’s no need to share challenges you’re still actively trying to resolve. For instance, if you currently have trouble keeping your cool in stressful situations, don’t tell the hiring manager you tend to freak out when the pressure is high. Instead, look for examples that show how you faced a challenge and overcame it. So, for instance, if you used to feel stressed before presentations, talk about how you solved the problem by taking a public speaking course and creating a schedule that allowed you to prepare ahead of time.
Look for opportunities to show you’re the best person for the job. When answering this or any job interview questions, your goal is to show the hiring manager you’re the best candidate for the position. That meansmatching your qualifications to the joband using your answers to show you’d be a good fit. For example, if the job listing specifies that the employer is seeking someone with good time management skills, you might talk about how you developed a system to help you juggle a challenging course load and a part-time job.
Examples of the Best Answers
Here are sample interview answers you can edit to fit your personal experiences and background. Notice how these responses all demonstrate desirable soft skills that employers hope to find in their new hires.
Example Answer #1
My biggest challenge as a student was being as focused as possible. Sitting through the conventional lectures was sometimes difficult. My mind and body were always going, and I couldn't wait to get out of my seat, move around, share my thoughts, and interact with my peers. I handled it by focusing all my energy on listening and note-taking. It helped keep my mind busy and my body moving, and I also left with some great notes.
Why It Works:This candidate demonstrates a good degree of self-knowledge in admitting that they struggled with listening in class. Nevertheless, they demonstrated they could successfully recognize their struggles and adapt to the classroom environment.
Relevant soft skills: Interpersonal communications, teamwork, adaptability, flexibility, and active problem-solving.
Example Answer #2
My first year in school was when I faced my biggest challenge. I had never lived away from home before, and I experienced severe homesickness. I was almost defeated by it, and I had the opportunity to go home and attend a local college instead. However, I decided to try to overcome my homesickness, which I did by making a real effort to connect socially with new friends in my classes, my dorm, and a campus church group.
Why It Works:This is a smart answer because the speaker shares what is a fairly common challenge for many students and then outlines the steps they took to overcome it.
Relevant soft skills: Self-motivation, problem-solving, personal initiative, and tenaciousness.
Example Answer #3
Acquiring successful time management skills was the biggest challenge I faced as a student. It was an aspect of college life that I underestimated the significance of. Now that I am in the workforce, I continue to use the skills I gained, and I am always trying to improve on them as well.
Why It Works:Here, the candidate chooses to focus on a single job skill that enables them to be a valuable and productive employee: time management. They also express their belief in continuous improvement.
Relevant soft skills: Time management, self-initiative, self-knowledge, problem-solving, and willingness to learn.
Example Answer #4
One of the biggest challenges during my first year of college was the volume of work. It was a big change from high school, and standards were also much higher. I tackled this in a few different ways: I looked for opportunities to start or join study groups, met with my professors for advice on where to focus my attention, and set up a structured schedule to make sure I was putting in the required time studying. This resulted in my maintaining a 3.8 GPA even though I was also working a part-time job to help pay for tuition.
Why It Works:This answer effectively uses the STAR interview response technique to describe a past Situation, explain the Task or challenge involved, describe the Action(s) taken, and present the positive Result of the action.
Relevant soft skills: Strategic planning, problem-solving, personal initiative, communications, organization, and project management.
Tips for Giving the Best Response
Practice your answers. It’s a good idea to have a couple of answers in mind in case the interviewer nixes your first reply, or the interview goes in a direction you don’t anticipate. Regardless, you should devote some time topractice interviewsbefore you meet with the hiring manager. Ask your school's career services office or a supportive friend to conductmock interviewswith you to get a feel for how to answer questions effectively and organically—and change tracks when necessary.
Emphasize relevant soft skills. Even if you don’t have much professional work experience, as a student you’ve probably developed many of the interpersonal or people skills that employers are thrilled to find in entry-level job candidates. Highlight the soft skills mentioned in the employer’s job posting, then allude to these in your answer.
Be enthusiastic. Use your tone of voice and body language to express your confidence and willingness to accept the sort of challenges the job would present. Humor, judiciously used, can also work in your favor.
What Not to Say
Don’t mention asignificant challenge you failed.Don’t mention an important failure (like flunking a class) or use any sort of example that would raise a red flag with your employer about your reliability, coachability, or work ethic (like, “I had to miss a lot of classes”).
Don’t make excuses.When explaining a challenge, don’t make excuses for yourself or cast blame on an instructor or your classmates. Avoid negative statements like, “The professor expected too much.”
Possible Follow-Up Questions
- Why should we hire you? -Best Answers
- What is your greatest strength? -Best Answers
- What are your goals for the future? -Best Answers
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I prepare for an interview when I don't have a lot of work experience?
Make a list of your top qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge or experience that match the requirements in the job description. Then think of examples of how you have demonstrated those attributes in jobs, internships, volunteer roles, extracurricular activities, academic projects, or school activities.You'll have examples of how you can succeed on the job ready to share with prospective employers.
What are behavioral interview questions?
Behavioral-based interview questions focus on how you handled work-related situations in the past. Your responses will help the interviewer learn about your behavior, personality, and character. When you don't have formal work experience, you can share examples from your classes, academic projects, extracurricular activities, and volunteering.
