What’s a tough interview question? One you don’t know how to answer.

I don’t want to be asked why there are so many gaps in my resume.

I don’t want to be asked why I went to a top school, got great grades, and then spent the next three years in dead-end jobs.

I don’t want to be asked about my ‘five year plan’ because I don’t have a one year plan.

I don’t want to be asked ‘tell me about yourself’ cause there’s nothing much to tell.

To answer the questions that concern you most, get real about your obstacles and remove them. Here’s one way to do it:  Write. Write the question that worries you, then write your response and keep writing. Write for five minutes without pausing to think, check, correct, or wonder what someone would think if they read your rambling response. Just keep writing. And there, right there at the end of your five minute marathon is the obstacle and the answer to the question. Take action on it and you’ll have the response you were seeking.

Here’s an example:

“Why are there so many gaps in my resume?”

If you knew what I’ve been going through you wouldn’t ask such a question. Do you think it’s fun to go from job to job, either getting fired or quitting because the people you’re working with are too stupid to recognize your intelligence or you scare the pants off yourself because you’re in a stupid job and you don’t know how to do it? Do you realize how frustrating it is to have this big deal, cost a fortune, four year degree and you’re working at something an idiot could do and you’re the idiot who can’t do it? I’ve got these gaps because I never sat down to figure out what I needed to do. I just believed that as smart as I am everyone would immediately get it and hire me into this great job and when that didn’t happen I lost all my confidence and now I’m back to square one, three years later, after my family thinks I’m a loser because I think I am, despite the fact I won’t admit that to anyone. So how do I get out from under of this load of you know what? I have to sit down with someone smarter than me who gets me and who is wiling to help me work my way out of it. That’s the biggest takeaway I’ve had from this insulting, ridiculous situation: that I’m not as smart as I thought, that other people can help me and I need to ask for that help because I’m finally ready to listen.

I’m there. I know what I have to do. I have my answer.

“There are gaps in my resume because until recently I had not taken the time I needed to figure out the direction I want to take my career. I’m doing that now and here’s what I’ve learned about myself and why I’m interviewing for this job…”