How to Tackle Tough Interview Questions About Working in Politically Sensitive Areas?

Hello Seniors! This is my first post since joining. A few days back, I appeared for a telephonic interview. Although the questions were similar, at one point, I got stuck. The posting was in a hyper-sensitive/politically disrupted country (the job was for a foreign country), and they asked why I want to join such a posting or if my family members agreed to such a job. Kindly advise as there is one more interview for the 2nd phase.

Regards

Welcome to the forum - hope you get a lot of opportunities to learn and to share. Coming to your query in the interview, could you please give your reasons? Obviously, there must have been some compelling reason(s) for your interest in this opening - despite the disturbed situation in that country - which I think you too must have known before the interview.

While it may be correct/appropriate to calibrate your interview responses to the situation/question, it's more important that you need to be clear in your mind yourself before you respond to such queries - else the chances are high that you could mess up the interview.

All the best.

Regards, TS

Great to see your post and welcome to CiteHR! Whatever may be the reason for choosing this job, the challenges and limitations differ from country to country. As you were unacquainted with the swift questioning of the interviewer, it's quite understandable to be bewildered. However, your opportunity to proceed to the second round shows that you passed the first, and they wanted to know your ideas clearly as to why you chose such a place. Now you should understand the reason for their questioning, the logic behind it, and what facts you can provide.

Good luck!!

Imagine you meet someone new in your life, and you hit it off in the first conversation. After about 20-30 minutes, you're both scratching your heads, wondering what to talk about next.

Why? Because, notwithstanding that a wonderful conversation has been happening, it is our basal instinct to wonder why the other person wants to know us or be friends with us—regardless of how pretty, handsome, or sexy they may be.

In a personal context, we usually accomplish this by tap-dancing around this instinct and asking a ton of seemingly silly but incredibly powerful questions. We size each other up in the context of our family backgrounds, life experiences, education, professional accomplishments, interests, hobbies, travel, etc.

We do this to establish whether the other person is only good for a point-in-time conversation or conforms to the mental image of our friends that we've been creating ever since we learned to say 'mummy!'

It's no different with organizations.

Once they're convinced of a person's qualifications, skills, and experience, they now want to go deeper into the person. They want to know the person's thinking, what drives them in their life, what their motivations are, what their life goals and ambitions are, etc.

This is vital because no company hires a robot. They hire people! And people are complex beings with tons more stuff happening in their 16oz grey organ than just their qualifications, skills, experience, etc.

And just like people have sensitivities and special feelings, so do organizations. Reading your post, I can't help but wonder whether the company in question also has a couple of these—particularly if it's situated in a politically sensitive and restless part of the world. They would've seen so much happening with their people that when they speak with you, they truly want to know what your drivers and motivators are to work in such tough circumstances.

In conclusion, remember—you cannot 'learn' the answers to such questions. They MUST come genuinely from your heart or your brain, or else the next 2 or 3 questions will catch you out—guaranteed!

Good luck and all the best!

Thanks a lot, Seniors, for such lovely replies!

Understanding the Situation

Going further, as Sateesh Sir had said, first it is to be clear in my mind. Well, I knew the situation out there. Of course, money is obviously one of the reasons. It may sound foolish, but as someone said, "money is not everything, but everything needs money."

Financial Struggles and Life Lessons

In the last 13 years of my life (since working), I have struggled a lot financially and have tried numerous times to save but failed. Although I have progressed, it has been at the speed of a tortoise. Once, I read a story (post) of the tortoise and the rabbit on this site about how times have changed. The "slow and steady wins the race" concept has now changed, and the time has come when "fast and steady wins the race."

Cultural and Economic Challenges in India

I think in India, as we have different cultures, we grow, have family responsibilities, children, savings, etc. I would especially like to talk about one class, the middle class, and how the struggle goes on throughout life to maintain basic necessities, struggling with the present and fearing the future.

I might be wrong here, as everybody struggles through their life, but I think it is in our hands how we mold our life.

Personal Aspirations and Responsibilities

I agree with Gaurav Sir's views that the answer will come genuinely from my heart or mind. Although the reason for opting for such a place was not compelling, I think there is a very small percentage of lucky people who get what they want in life. The same goes for me. I wanted to serve in the army right from my childhood, but I didn’t get through, and now I am doing a very static job that requires little movement, irrespective of the field of Security, because the position is in management. So, it is possible that somewhere in my mind or heart, a desire is still there to be part of some adventure. I know there are responsibilities on my shoulders for dependent parents and family, but questions arise again: what about my life?

I thank all of you again for spending your precious time, and please pardon me if I have hurt anyone's feelings.

Regards

You deserve full credit for initiating this lovely, lively thread. If the final interview has not yet taken place, you have the following options:

1. If the same question surfaces, you can give an answer that will be true to your conscience.

2. If the question does not appear and you feel you can improve your chances by raising it yourself, please give it a try.

Many thanks to Mr. Tajsateesh and Mr. Gaurav Sareen for the wonderful exchange of thoughts, truly a connoisseur's delight. Although I have been a member since March 2011, I have been active in this forum only in the last couple of months. This thread is unique.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan, Navi Mumbai

Please don't worry about this interview. I am sure life still has a long way to go—it may just be that this isn't the opening for you. Also, regarding your comments '...get wonderful thoughts of senior members...', NOTHING—REPEAT 'NOTHING' ever goes to waste when it comes to 'learning'. Would you believe that many of my comments/suggestions that I am mentioning in CiteHR now were mere 'inputs' to me 10-15 years ago, when I wasn't even involved in any sort of HR activities?

And, I am sure that's the scenario with most other senior members too—except that the experiences and lessons learned vary from person to person. All the Best.

Regards,
TS