How to Answer the Interview Question, ‘What is Your Biggest Fear?’

Q. What’s your greatest strength?

Q. What’s your Weakness?

These are some of the most common and popular job interview questions. Additionally, hiring managers sometimes throw oddball questions such as, ‘What’s your biggest fear?’ It is tough to answer this question because you want to neither be caught in a negative response nor deny that you do not have any fears. The interview question regarding one’s biggest fear helps the hiring managers to learn deeply about their candidates’ character, personality, and abilities.

Tips for Answering the Interview Question, ‘What’s Your Biggest Fear?’

Outlined below are some tips you must take notice of while preparing an answer to this interview question:

1. Keep it strictly professional

Do not share generic fears such as fear of heights, water, etc. That is not what the hiring manager wants to know. Keep your answer strictly professional and related to your career/profession. Most common fears that professionals face are not living up to their own expectations, getting distracted from their career goals, not being able to maintain a healthy work-life balance, etc. What is important here is to ponder over this question deeply and responding honestly as it gives the interviewers a peek into your true personality.

2. Your fear should not come across as a hindrance to progress

While it is important to answer honestly, you must ensure to frame your answer in a way that your fears does not come across a hindrance to the progress of the projects that you take up. For example, if you are somebody who finds it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance can say that sometimes you get too excited about projects and take back work at home which is neither good for your health nor for your personal life.

3. Focus on how you overcome your fear

It is good to know what your fears are, but what the hiring manager also wants to know is what countermeasures you are taking to overcome your fears. Hiring managers want to know whether you are somebody, who succumbs to his/her fears or takes charge to overcome them. It shows that the more sincere you are towards your own self, the more sincere you are in every aspect of your life including your professional life as well and that is an admirable quality for hiring managers.

4. Speak confidently

Confidence is necessary for impressing a hiring manager and you must remain confident throughout the duration of the job interview, including the time you are talking about your fears. It shows that instead of denying your fears, you are comfortable accepting them and taking corrective actions to overcome them.

5. End your answer on a positive note

Always end your answer on a happy note as happy endings leave a positive impact on people. The simplest way of doing so is by sharing from your real life example that how you identified a certain fear, what solution you thought would be effective in overcoming the fear, how you executed the solutions and the positive results you have seen afterward.

It is important to understand that the interview question regarding your biggest fear is not just about your personal fear. For hiring managers, it is about understanding how you deal with obstacles and how well you cope up with your anxieties. Hope the above tips will help you prepare your answer well.

All the best!

*Image Source: UVgreen / Shutterstock.com