Use this easy framework to answer the toughest interview questions

Interviewing for a job is a source of stress for many professionals, and signs that the vetting process may be getting longer (and tougher in some industries) are likely to amplify the issue. There’s no way to know exactly what you’ll be asked by the hiring manager, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared—even to answer the toughest interview questions.

I recommend that my clients prepare for the standard interview questions we all can expect and the tougher questions that are far tougher to predict. Then, we use a combination of self-reflection and practice that always delivers.

Knowing you’re ready may be just the confidence boost you need to shine.

Preparing for the questions you should anticipate

Some questions will be asked in nearly every interview. Assume you will get some version of:

What makes you want to attain this position or take on this role now?

What is your vision for the role?

What are the top three things you would focus on in your first six months on the job?

You should think through how you’ll answer these questions because if you can’t answer them, your responses to more complex questions probably won’t matter much. They are also a great opportunity to highlight career high points, things that might set you apart from others, and your passion for your profession.

I recommend preparing for such questions by thinking through the story you want to tell in your interview. List five to 10 things you want to be sure the interviewer knows about you as a human being. These might be things like why you want to make a career move right now, what makes you want to work for this organization, and what excites you most about the job you’ve applied for. Clarifying these talking points will help you create a narrative for answering the basic questions you can and should anticipate in any job interview.

Preparing for the toughest interview questions you can’t anticipate

Sailing through the standard questions that start most interviews will get you to a good, confident place early in your conversation. This framework will ensure you don’t fall apart when the questions get tricky.

How tricky? How about some of these:

Tell me about a time you failed to solve an important business problem.

Discuss a moment in your career when you experienced conflict with a colleague. What happened and how did you handle it?

Describe a project that went off the rails. What went wrong, and what would you do differently in hindsight?

How have you balanced your employer’s needs to manage costs and invest in innovation?

Behavioral questions like these ask you to look critically at your performance and be honest about moments you could have done better. They are meant to shed light on how you approach difficult situations and your ability to learn from challenging circumstances. Most people do well when times are easy. Your interviewer wants to learn how you will perform when times are tough.

Trickiest of all, you can assume you will be asked behavioral interview questions during most application processes, but it’s hard to guess precisely what you’ll have to discuss. So, you need a pool of material to draw from—and a framework for presenting it. That’s where the PARL framework comes in.

A framework for navigating the toughest interview questions

The PARL (Problem, Action, Result, Learning) framework helps underscore your ability to deliver results and learn from difficult experiences. It’s almost as simple as it sounds. You’ll want to identify:

• A problem you faced or a project you had responsibility for. Think about things that challenged you and forced you to learn and grow (if they ultimately allowed you to shine, even better).  
• Clarify the action you took to solve the problem or complete the project. It’s always nice to give credit to others, but what part of this did you own? Be sure to explain it without underselling your role. 
• Describe the result you achieved in concrete terms. What did your action enable and how?  
• Close by sharing what you learned. Whether the outcome was good or bad, you should be able to reflect on it and see some things you would do differently next time. Or perhaps the experience opened up a whole new line of innovation.   

The most effective preparation for interviews using the PARL framework begins long before you hit the interview trail. I recommend that people create and regularly update a spreadsheet or other record of PARL stories. Every time you have responsibility for a major initiative, write a brief PARL about it when you are done. Write a PARL about tough situations you handled well and challenging situations that didn’t end well. This process is helpful for self-reflection and learning from your experiences. It’s also helpful when you start chasing your next big opportunity.

PARL in action

So how do you use your collection of PARL stories in the interview process? I ask my clients to list each of the following in preparation for the big day:

• Interview questions you know you will be asked because they seem obvious 
• Questions you hope you will be asked because they will enable you to shine 
• Questions you fear you will be asked because you are unsure how you will answer them in a way that helps your prospects 

Take this list and review it alongside your collection of PARL stories. Identify two to three PARL stories you can turn to as you frame your responses, then commit the details of each PARL to memory, so you can lean on them throughout the conversation as relevant questions come up.

Your PARL stories will enable you to answer questions of all types: the ones you know you’ll get, the ones you hope you’ll get, and the ones you really don’t want to be asked. When you share a few final words as the interview winds down, lean on a PARL story there. It’s a way to leave the interviewer with a memorable and positive message.

Practice makes perfect

There’s no wrong way to practice for job interviews, but it can be a good idea to rehearse, especially when it comes to recounting your PARL stories.

You may want to start practicing on your own in front of a mirror. Then, if you are comfortable, try rehearsing with a trusted friend, spouse, mentor, advisor, or coach. And then when you finish an interview, take stock before the next one. Debrief and make a note in your PARL database about how the stories you used landed in the interview. You will be glad to have those notes the next time, and you can use that debrief to think about how you would use the story again in the future.

The great thing about PARL is all the dimensions of your professional self you’ll be able to highlight. When you describe a Problem or Project you faced, the Action you took, the Result you achieved, and the Learning you took from the process, you demonstrate your ability to navigate complexity, deliver results, and learn from your experiences (even the tough ones).

Very few people sail through a full interviewing process without running into a tough question or two. After all, the process is designed to test you. But having some key situations top of mind—and a framework for describing them that puts you in your best light—will help ensure you can tackle any question with confidence.