Interviews are hard enough as it is—adding the kind of impossible questions that people ask veterans every day can make them even worse. Here are a few tough ones, along with some suggestions on how to dodge the bullets.

WHAT WAS COMBAT LIKE?

“Combat is different for everyone. My experience taught me a lot about myself and what I’m capable of. I hope to use what I learned when I get this position.”

HAVE YOU EVER SHOT ANYONE?

“We’re really not supposed to comment on specifics about our missions. I can say that what I experienced over there gave me a good perspective on how important it is to work hard at whatever job is in front of you.”

WAS IT HARD BEING DEPLOYED?

“Sometimes it was hard, and there were times it was boring. But it was definitely a lot of hard work and something I learned a lot from.”

OH, YOU’RE IN THE NATIONAL GUARD? DOES THAT MEAN YOU’LL HAVE TO MISS A LOT OF WORK?

“I will have to serve about one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, but I usually know my schedule several months in advance.”

WHEN WILL YOU BE DEPLOYED AGAIN?

“Well, there’s no way to tell for sure, but unless there’s a big emergency somewhere, I’ll know months in advance if I ever get called to serve.”

THIS IS ONLY AN ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION. WILL YOU BE SATISFIED DOING THIS JOB?

“If there’s one thing the military taught me, it’s the value of hard work. If I get the opportunity to work for you, I plan on diving headfirst into this challenge.”