I have a section on this site about so-called "tricky" interview questions. But there is a lot of debate that comes up around the entire topic of interviewing lately and, I guess in reality, the sort of issues swirling around the process of getting a job have always been there. What I want to do here is just present a some general thoughts on the process, more from a tactical perspective than an overall theory-based approach. I think we can break this down into a general consideration of interview styles and a breakdown of common questions and why they are probably being asked. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interview Styles Understand that there are different styles of interviewing that all have one thing in common: getting information from you to determine to what degree you are a fit for the position under consideration. Some example styles: Telephone Interview: Some organizations are using telephone interviews to help them make the selection of a short list of good candidates that are worth bringing in. These usually last about fifteen minutes, at least in terms of directed questioning with perhaps another fifteen minutes for filler about the company and the position or a chance for you to ask questions. The interviewer will probably have an interviewing matrix or list of questoins, which will obviously be structured around the basic requirements of the job. You will need to prepare well to ensure that you make an impression in this short space of time. Remember that this is often a tactical strike, so to speak, to see if you have the basic skillset. Criteria-Based Interview: A criteria based Interview is a structured interview designed around the key competencies of the job you are being considered for. If the job requires skills such as teamwork, communication skills, interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving, negotiation skills, etc., then the interviewer will ask questions designed to allow you to provide evidence of your ability in those specific areas. As some examples, you might get asked the following types of questions: Give me an example of when you worked as a member of a team? What was your contribution to that team? Tell me about the most difficult situation you have had to deal with. How did you handle it? What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience? Behavioral Interview: This is similar to criteria-based interviewing, in that it is designed around the key competencies of the job you have applied for. However, in this case, the interviewer will ask questions about and focus on your past behavior. A behavioral interview is much less about your specific skill-set, at least at a surface level, and more about how you behave in a given situation. For example, one idea might be to test how you respond to certain situations or certain means of being questioned. A so-called "stress interview", for example, might test how quickly or readily you get flummoxed or upset by a certain type
of questioning. As an example of this, you might be asked questions like: Tell me about a time when your work was criticized and you felt it was unfair. What was your reaction? Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a superior. How did you handle the situation? Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something with which you disagreed. How did you handle it? Behavioral questions are very common and it is important for you to feel comfortable answering them. These will generally be relatively open-ended questions that encourage people to describe job-related experiences from their past on the theory that people's past performance is a good predictor of their future behavior (assuming, of course, that they are telling the truth about their experiences). To answer such behavioral questions, a lot of people recommend using the so-called STAR Method, where STAR is used as such: Situation: Describe the circumstances? Task: What were you trying to do? Action: How did you achieve your result? Result: What was the outcome? Let us consider a brief example. Say that an interviewer asks the following open-ended question: "Describe a time when you went beyond the call of duty to do get a job done?" Using the STAR method, you might answer like this: Situation: "Well, our site was due to be previewed on a popular morning show and we knew we were going to get a lot of traffic from this. Management was convinced that we had enough bandwidth to handle any influx of visitors." Task: "I sat down with my manager and we worked out a rigorous performance test plan to make sure we could handle the traffic." Action: "We worked a lot of late nights and a lot of extra hours running all of the performance simulations we had come up with." Result: "We found our servers could not handle the expected workload. So we got permission to upgrade the servers. The site was shown and we did get a whole lot of traffic and, sure enough, the performance testing paid off because we had upgraded our servers. If we had not, the site probably would have gone down. So while we put in a lot of unpaid overtime and gaves ourselves a lot of stress with management initially, we not only got good press but also looked good to our managers who took what we said a little more seriously from that point on." Above all, try to not provide hypothetical answers to behavioral questions. The interviewer wants what you actually experienced and how you dealt with real situations. Situational Interview: In this, the interviewer will often give you a hypothetical situation (or a series of them) and ask you a question about that situation to see how you respond. What they are often seeking here is to test your thought processes and your logical thinking. They may want to see what kinds of questions you ask (or if you even ask them). They might want to test what kinds of assumptions you seem to make. They might want to determine how you assess situations and how you now analyze those problems in hindsight. Stress Interview:
This sort of differs depending upon the context. In general it means a situation where a lot of people are interviewing you at once, usually with relatively "rapid-fire" questions. Alternatively, it might just be one person interviewing you but the person takes on a somewhat combative stance with you. Also some people refer to stress interviews where the questions are designed to cover a wide range of topics, some not even directly related to the job at hand (or, at least, seemingly not related to the job at hand). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interview Questions There are certain questions that you get asked and sometimes you cannot see the reason such questions are being asked. Usually, however, there is a good reason and, regardless of whether or not you see that reason, the fact is that you will be asked some of these questions and how you respond will be indicative to the interviewer. Where do you see yourself in x years? This question is one designed to trigger a candidate's "wishful thinking" mechanism or thought patterns. If it seems as if anything and everything candidates say will weigh against them, you are a step closer to realizing the pitfalls of this question (both as an interviewer and interviewee). For example, let us say the candidate's five-year goals have absolutely nothing to do with the job being offered. In that case, would a company want to build long-term plans around that person? On the other hand, if the person's five-year goals indicate they plan on staying at the company (if they are hired), does that automatically mean they are telling the truth? What if the candidate indicates they want the bosses' position. That might be a threat (at least to that boss). But what if they say they do not have advancement concerns. Does that indicate they have low ambition for furthering their career? A lot of people might say, in response to this question, "I see myself in an executive position." Or: "I see myself as further up the ladder in management." However, note that what this does not talk about is how you plan to get there. It is a totally passive response. (Granted, the question is somewhat passive in that regard as well. But that means it is a chance for the interviewer to put a little spin on it.) Often, if you answer with something like the above, you need to discuss learning specific skills, networking with people, getting into the right positions and how you feel you can do that. That is what shows that you have a real plan as opposed to the ability to just offer up a statement. Many times it is more appropriate to talk about what you hope to become, such as "I hope to develop a real expertise for a variety of different techniques in Quality Assurance." Also consider that many times an interviewer might want to hear about where you want to be in terms of yourself rather than in terms your position in the company. To that end, you might talk about things you want to conquer, personality traits you want to improve, etc. If you are an interviewer and someone, in response to this question, says, "Well, I would like to see myself in a management or lead role", realize that this shows ambition and
there is nothing wrong with that. But what you might want to do (and what you should expect if you are the interviewee) is to be asked some follow-on questions, such as: "How long would you expect to have to work in our company to realize that goal? What skills and experiences would you have to master in order to make that five-year dream a reality?" A realistic response will typically show that a candidate has long-term goals and understands what they need to do in order to achieve them, at least at a general level. In general, a good (and smart) response will often avoid naming specific job titles other than the position the candidate is applying for. The proper candidate response will, instead, place more emphasis on the assumption of broadened responsibilities at the current position. The real goal of this question, from the point of view of the interviewer, is often to see if the candidate has a a balanced, logical, and realistic self-assessment. Your goal as an interviewee is to attempt to address the organization's needs and your ability (or abilities) to provide solutions to those needs. Tell me about your greatest strength? Sometimes this question will also be asked as: "What do you feel is the greatest asset you will bring to the company?" The "greatest strength" is one of those old standby's and, if nothing else, it does serve as a nice way to get the interviee comfortable because often people do not feel threatened by talking about what they perceive they are good at. That is really the basis for this question from many interviewer's standpoints: a way to reveal something about a potential candidate's self-perception. One thing to avoid as an interviewee (and to watch for as an interviewer) is if the person gives the basic generalities: hard-working, intelligent, loyal, committed, etc. All of these may be true, but how will you determine that? Remember that the goal of the interview (from both sides) is to gather evidence that the candidate is the right fit for the position and will be able to contribute to the organization as a whole. So, as a candidate be prepared to be asked to back up your strengths with requests for practical applications of those strengths. As an interviewer, make sure you ask for those practical applications. The idea here is really to qualify any generic responses, otherwise there is little point in asking the question. One thing to look for as well is if a candidate's strengths match the organizational needs. Basically you want this question (and its response) to help identify a candidate's motives and expectations as well as how well their strengths could be utilized at the organization and to what extent they will be challeged. Unfortunately, tihs question is rarely followed-up with questions that would probe a candidate's response. What is your greatest weakness? This question, like the "greatest strength" one, is designed as a self-evaluation query. The key here is that very often people do not want to discuss any of their shortcomings. The one real bad answer is: "I have no weaknesses." Interviewing, again, is about determining fit and capability. People who lie (and it is a lie, because everyone has weaknesses of some sort) are not a good fit. On the flip side, perhaps they feel they are telling the truth and, in that case, the person probably has little capability for self-evaluation. Also, keep in mind that the interview process is partly a way to see how a potential candidate deals
with uncomfortable situations and how they land on their feet, so to speak. A lot of times what the interviewer might be looking for is not to castigate you on a perceived weakness, but rather to determine to what extent you have poor communications ability (in order to directly answer the question) and lack of openness (in order to answer the question honestly). In general, an interviewer should look for replies that center around the person's impatience with their own performance, an inclination toward being a perfectionist (which could slow the individual down, but which might offer quality results), or a tendency to avoid delegating work to others for fear that it will not get done to the candidate's high expectations. What this means is that the interviewee is often best off chosing weaknesses that are strengths taken to a fault. The key here, like with the "greatest strength" question, is adding a slightly broader dimension to the response given. For example, an interviewer might ask the candidate why they think that their weakness is, in fact, a weakness. "How has that hurt you in the past?" is one possible follow-up to an interviewee's statement. As a candidate, the one thing to avoid is avoiding the question by putting a positive spin on the question rather than giving an honest answer. Note, however, that putting a positive spin on the question is fine; just do not avoid the question. What this means is that you can show the interviewer that you know yourself, that you are aware of your limitations, that you aware that you have areas of yourself that need improvement. That is honest. Now put the positive spin on things by showing how you plan to better yourself or how you have actively taken steps to enhance your abilities to mitigate the weakness. If you do admit to a given weakness, you might talk about how you try to handle situations where the weakness comes up differently. Describe a bad decision you made. The major pitfall that interviewee's often exhibit with this question is that they make the "bad decision" something they did when they were ten years old. The idea here is not to avoid the question. Pick something from the relevant past. We all make mistakes and a hallmark of honesty is admitting that and a hallmark of self-awareness is being able to recognize when we made those mistakes. Do not put your mistake so far back in the past that you are obviously picking something that is "harmless" but if you feel the need to do this, you might say something like, "Well, I have more current answers but I have one from my past that really stuck with me." If you go that route, then explain why that decision "stuck with you" and, more importantly, how it is has guided your actions in other areas so as to not make that kind of bad decision again. The real point here, for the candidate, is to turn this into a "lesson learned" answer. State your bad decision, make it clear why you perceive this was a bad decision, and then talk about what you learned from that. Tell me about a situation in which you disagreed with a superior and how you handled it.
This one should be easy and yet many candidates botch this one up. The idea here, as with all interview questions, is to really answer the question. If you truly never had an opportunity to disagree with a supervisor or boss, you can say that, but it will probably not be believed. A good answer would be to describe the situation in terms of exactly what you and your boss disagreed about. As far as how you handled it, generally the best thing you can say is, "Well, I gathered facts and evidence that supported my position and I was able to use that information to convince my boss beyond a reasonable doubt." How many gas stations are in the United States? How would you test a toaster? How would you design a salt shaker? This is basically a broad range of questions about logical puzzles or things of that nature, such as conceptual questions combined with testing insight. A lot of times people are asking these simply because it makes them feel clever even though they have no idea of how to determine a person's response. In general, these types of question show some interviewers how you would handle yourself when posed with something that is confusing, that takes a lot of thought, or that you simply do not know. A lot of times they are looking at your body language and are really listening for the first thing that comes out of your mouth, because they want to see how you deal with being put on the spot. Now, of course, an interviewer might be looking for the candidate to demonstrate comfort with numbers and analytic reasoning or critical thinking skills. Sometimes they are interested in the speed of response. Other times they are interested in the accuracy of the response, regardless of the speed. Yet other times they are more interested in the thought process you exhibit rather than how accurate you are. Sometimes these questions are designed not so much to look for analytic skill as they are to look for creativity. Unless the question will demonstrably offer up evidence of a given person's skill-set, there is very little reason to ask these kinds of questions. From the interviewee standpoint, if you do not know the answer and cannot even think of a way to approximate an answer, you are best off simply admitted that you do not know. In any sort of logical test or puzzle-based question, the first rule of thumb is to remain calm. Do not get flustered and show this to the interviewer because often this may be what they are looking for. Think about the problem you were presented as logically as you are able, including asking for clarifying information if you feel it is warranted. Concentrate on explaining the process by which you arrive at an answer, not on determining the "correct" answer. Do you plan on having children anytime soon? One thing I failed to cover in my initial pass through of this article were the illegal questions. These types of questions are sometimes used to discover information not possible by other means or to make decisions about you that should not be made regarding your suitability for the job. For example, if a woman, you may be asked: "Do you intend to have children in the next five years?" Whether you do or do not is generally going to be irrelevant and you are okay in not answering this question. However, note
that on some kinds of positions (particularly contracts) where long hours are going to be required, you may be asked if you have any prior commitments that would preclude you from working those hours (such as picking up children or whatever). While an interviewer should not ask about specific details, they are well within their rights to ask you if anything would prevent you from doing your job. Generally, with these kinds of questions, you should politely ask how the question is related to the job. You might also consider looking for the underlying reason for the question and responding to that.
How to Answer the Tough Interview Questions A lot of people know how to write a resume and talk their way into an interview. But when they get into the make or break dialogue, they stumble upon tough questions. Below, is some advice on approaching the tough questions that interviewers like to throw at job applicants: Why did you leave your last job? Real answer: It sucked. What you should say: I felt my talents and abilities were underutilized. What are your biggest weaknesses? Real answer: I can't concentrate for more than five minutes, hate all forms of authority and tend to fall asleep at my desk. What you should say: I'm a workaholic. I just don't know when to put down my work. You don't seem to hold on to a job long. Why should we think you'll stay here any longer than you've stayed elsewhere? Real answer: My employers have always had a hang-up about keeping only competent employees.. What you should say: I'm at a point in my career where I am tired of moving around. I really want to feel part of a team, a long-term enterprise, where I can make a contribution. For all those of u aiming for job switches............... How do you handle change? Real answer: I deal with it everyday, unless I'm out of clean underwear.
What you should say: I think everyone knows that today the only constant is change. I thrive on it. How do you get along with others? Real answer: Fine, as long as they stay out of my face. What you should say: I think the interpersonal dynamics of the workplace can be among the most satisfying aspects of any job. What does the word success mean to you? Real answer: It means that I don't have to drag my sorry ass out of bed to kiss yours. What you should say: Success, for me, would be knowing I am making a difference working with a team of people to make a more profitable enterprise. What does the word failure mean to you? Real answer: It means I continue to collect unemployment insurance. What you should say: Failure? I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. That word is not in my vocabulary. Do you get along with your current boss? Real answer: I get along fine, considering what kind of a malicious person he is. What you should say: I don't think I'd call him a boss; he's been more of a mentor to me. Do you ever get angry with co-workers? Real answer: I don't get angry, I get even. What you should say: Nothing angers me more than to see a co-worker not pulling his weight, goofing off or stealing. Yes, sometimes I do get angry with co-workers. Can I contact your references? Real answer: Sure, but they won't know who I am. What you should say: Some of them are out of the country right now. Maybe I can arrange to have them contact you.
hi. sample HR interview questions and answers
Questions About Candidate 1. Why did you choose this profession? Suggestion: Answer should be close to actual reason. If the job is in advertising, the reason can be you have artistic ability, you can visualize what people will like, etc. Avoid negative answer, such as, for money, you don't know what to do so you have chosen this profession, etc. Sample Answer: I always liked math and problem solving, even when I was kid. When I was in high school, I was fascinated with the computer and the programming, so I decided to be a computer scientist. Now, I know I made the right decision and I am happy about it. 2. What can you tell us about yourself? Suggestion: Answer may include where you came from, what school you went to, your education, skill, job and accomplishments. Try to answer the question in one to two minutes. Use the information from your resume and cover letter for this answer. Do emphasis your strong points. 3. What are your strong points? Suggestion: Talk about strong points related to this job. 4. What are your weak points? How do you plan to correct them? Suggestion: Be honest and choose one or two less damaging correctable weak points and tell how you are planing to correct them. Sample Answer: Sometimes if I do not succeed on an assignment on the first try, I get demoralized and become less enthusiastic. Since I identified my problem, I am working on it. I am convincing myself that it is not possible for anyone to succeed everywhere on the first try and I am not an exception. To tell you the truth it is working. Now, if I fail I don't give up anymore and try harder. 5. Why should we hire you for this position? Suggestion: Your answer should include your education, skill and experience pertaining to the job position. Talk about some skill you have which may put you above other applicants. 6. What is the toughest problem you have solved so far? Suggestion: Talk about a problem you have solved. If you have solved many tough problems, choose the one that may related to this company's work and/or which may impress them. For example, if the company is a financial institution, talk about some financial problems you have solved. 7. Tell us about one of your work assignments or dealings where you failed. What should have you done? Suggestion: Choose a less damaging situation.
8. How do you handle failure or disappointment? Suggestion: Answer positively. Answer may include you may feel bad, and you take caution so that it does not happen again. Sample Answer: As a normal human being, failure hurts my feeling. However, I do not let it get in my way. 9. Do you criticize others? Under what condition? Suggestion: Use your judgment. Remember criticism hurts feelings and does not help in any normal situation. 10. Are you a good communicator? Suggestion: Interviewer looks for a good communicator. If you are not a good communicator, start practicing. 11. How do you handle criticism? Suggestion: Choose your answer wisely. Sample Answer: A nice and constructive criticism helps me. Although, abusive or bad criticism may hurt my feelings, it will not reduce my performance. 12. How do you manage your time? Suggestion: Should be positive, and explain with example. 13. How do you handle deadline and pressure? Suggestion: Be positive in your answer and explain with example. 14. How do you persuade someone to agree with your point of view? Suggestion: Answer may include explaining your view, showing the positive side, etc. Sample Answer: By communication, I tell them what benefit my point of view will bring for them. I explain the up side and the down side of my proposal and most of the time they agree. I am always ready to negotiate and modify my plan with their input, if the situation demands. So things always work out. 15. What do you find frustrating? Suggestion: Be positive in your answer, explain with example. 16. Are you willing to learn new skills? Can you learn fast? Suggestion: Answer should be yes. Give them an example where you really learn fast. 17. Do you have problem in getting along with others? Suggestion: Be positive, should not be a problem. 18. How do you deal with surprises? For example: In an exam you have been asked a question from a topic that has never been taught to you; how do you handle it? Sample Answer: I try not to get nervous. First I answer all the questions I know and then I go back to this problem. I answer it as best as I can. 19. Did you prepare for this interview? How? Suggestion: Answer may include: researching about the company, reviewing your skill, etc. Remember this question may generate more questions and you must be ready to answer them.
20. What are your hobbies? Suggestion: Talk about your good hobbies. 21. Do you like to travel? Suggestion: Answer should be yes, however, be honest. 22. Do you have any problem in relocation? Suggestion: Tell the truth. Remember, the more flexible you are the more chances you have to get the job. 23. Where would you like to be in five years? Suggestion: Be positive and honest. Do not give an impression that you will leave or take over someone else's job (worse if that is the position of the interviewer). Sample Answer: In five years I want to be a valuable part of this company and help it to reach its goal. I also want to manage a challenging project and bring in the latest technology that will benefit the company. 24. What do you want in a job? Suggestion: Answer may include using your skills, gain new skills, challenge, recognition, satisfaction, etc. 25. What will your previous manager will tell me about your strengths and weaknesses, if I call him now? Suggestion: Be positive, emphasize on your accomplishment and skills. Do not avoid talking about your weakness (if there are any), however, don't talk lots about it. 26. Can you work under pressures, meet deadlines? Suggestion: Answer should be affirmative. 27. In your current work, what problems have you identified that had previously been overlooked? Suggestion: Explain a situation with example. Do not brag. 28. Do you feel that you will be better off in a different company? Suggestion: Remember if you are better off in a different company (in size or line of business), you will quit this company at the first chance you get and the interviewer will not like it. So think before you answer. 29. How would you describe your personality? Suggestion: Answer positively. 30. Through our ad you saw what skills we need, is there any skill are you missing? Suggestion: Answer positively, if you do not have a skill say it and if possible, back it up by something convincing. Sample Answer: Your ad says that applicant needs experience in Java. I do not have any work experience in Java. However, I did take a course in Java and practiced a lot. I also have 2 years experience in C++, which is similar to Java. So I am sure I will not have any problem programming in Java. Following are some questions you may be asked by the interviewer to know about you, your hobby, how you spend your spare time and weekends,
etc. Since the answer fully depends on you, we do not have any suggestions or sample answers. Just remember answer them positively and honestly. 1.
What magazines do you read?
2.
What kind of movies do you like?
3.
What is the last book you read? Did you like it? Why?
4.
What kind of sports do you like?
5.
Do you play any games?
6.
How do you spend your weekend?
7.
Do you do any voluntary work?
Questions About Organization If you are really interested about a company, you naturally do some kind of research about the company. Interviewers like it if you know about their company and the industry in general. These are some questions asked by the interviewer to know how much homework you have done about their organization. 1. What do you know about our organization? Suggestion: Talk about their product, size, location, reputation, income, etc. If you are not sure about something ask questions and show genuine interest, the interviewer will talk about it. However, never tell anything that your are not sure about. 2. What new technology should we introduce to our company to make it more productive and why? Sample Answer 1: Your Database does not have any interface to handle data formatted with XML tags. Since companies are using XML for ecommerce, you can grow your market by making your product XML compatible. Sample Answer 2: Since I never used your product in any of my work, I can not make any suggestion right now. I am confident that I will be able to make some suggestion, once I work with it. 3. Why you want to work in this organization? Suggestion: Some reasons can be: It is a famous company, has a challenging product to develop, you can use your skill, your desired line of work, etc. Some bad reasons: Money, near home, no pressure, can't find any other job or your parent told you, etc. 4. How did you find us? Suggestion: Tell them your source. If someone working in the company told you about the position, say it that may help. 5. What products do we have? Suggestion: Find out about their product (very important). 6. as us?
Can you name some other companies who make similar products
Suggestion: Research and find out and answer it. 7. What features of our products are better than our competitor's? Suggestion: Find a few features, be positive in your answer. 8. What weak points do we have compare to our competitors? Suggestion: Don't be very negative. Talk about some negative aspect of the company that is very obvious and rectifiable. Sample answer: Your product does not run under MAC-OS. Since MAC is coming back, you should make a version for it, unless it is not feasible. 9. If your family asks you about our company, what will you say? Suggestion: Should be similar to the question what you know about the company. 10. What do you find the most attractive about our company? Least attractive? Suggestion: Talk about some positive aspect of the company. Talk about one obvious negative thing about the company (say it nicely). 11. What important trends do you see in our industry? Suggestion: Tell them about one or two trends. Questions About Work An interview wants to know if your are fit for the position they want to hire you. These are some of the questions asked by the interviewer to know about your skill, how you do handle work issues, you expertise, etc. 1. Why do you want this job? Suggestion: Tell your reason, be specific. 2. Do you think you have enough skill to work in this position? Suggestion: Be positive, explain with example. Sample answer: Yes, I have enough skill for the position of web developer. I am creative, good with presentations and have 2 years experience with HTML and Internet. I know how to promote and attract people to a web site. I made a site for myself and I am getting about 500 hits per day. 3. If we are using certain technique to solve certain problem and you find that you know a better way to solve those problems, what will you do? Sample answer: I will suggest my solution. If it is possible I will make a prototype and/or a visual presentation of the solution to illustrate my suggestion. 4. What skills did you improve in your last work? Suggestion: If few tell them about all. If you improved many skills, talk about the skill relevant to this job. 5. be?
Tell us what do you think an ideal working environment should
Suggestion: Answer may include: job satisfaction, appreciation, feels at home, etc. 6. Will you describe a situation where your work was criticized? Suggestion: Be honest and as positive as you can. 7. What other kinds of job position or companies may interest you? Suggestion: Answer should relate to your field and same as this company. 8. If you are given an assignment which is a part of a big project and there is no detail specification, how do you handle it? Sample answer: At first, I will do all the general tasks without going to details. The little knowledge I get from the spec, I will try to fit this assignment with the whole project. By then I will have a clear idea about the assignment and the missing details. I will put all my questions in a paper and will setup a meeting or send an email to the designer or the person who gave me the project, and will find out all the answers. While waiting, I will plan on how to approach the problem. 9. Your supervisor gave you an assignment in the morning that will last for a week and he is leaving for one-week vacation tomorrow. What will you do first? Sample answer: I will go over the specification or requirement of the assignment and will plan my strategy to complete the assignment. If I find something not clear or if I have question I will write them down in a paper. Then I will meet my boss and get all the answers. 10. Your supervisor gave you an assignment in the morning that will last for a week and he left for one-week vacation and you don't understand the assignment. What will you do? Sample answer: All assignments have something common to do, such as, setting it up, do paper work, research, etc. I will do them first. If someone else knows about this project I will talk to that person. If nothing works, I will ask my acting boss to give me some other work for the time being. 11. One of your teammates quit job today. He completed half of his assignment and it is given to you and you are not sure what he did. How will you handle it? Suggestion: Sometimes it is better to start over than to finish someone else's unfinished work. Go over work requirement and find out what to do. Check half-done assignment and take whatever you can use and process. Your answer should be something like that. 12. Tell us about a tough project, which you helped to finish? Suggestion: Tell then the most impressive one. 13. Do you prefer supervised or unsupervised working condition? Suggestion: Say which ever makes you comfortable and productive and explain it. 14. What can you do for our company? Why should we hire you? Suggestion: Tell them about your education, skill and past experience that you can use for this company. Use some example from your past to illustrate.
15. How do you manage your time at work? Suggestion: Answer should be productive. 16. What do you prefer, verbal or written (email) communication? Suggestion: Both are OK. Whatever you say, justify. 17. How much supervision do you need to complete a job? Sample answer: In the beginning I may need some help. Once I understand the project, I do not need any supervision. However, occasional check and feedback will help me to assure myself that I am on the right track. 18. How long would it take you to get adjusted and start productive work? Suggestion: Answer may include, time for orientation, adjustment, etc. should not be very long. Sample answer: Since, I do not know anything about company's standard, rules or style of doing an assignment, I need to learn that, plus I need to learn about your corporate policies. Since I am a fast learner, I can learn all that within your planned or allocated time. To do the actual work, if it matches with my skill, it would not take much time. 19. Have you helped to increase sales? Profits? How? Suggestion: Explain with real example. 20. Have you helped reduce costs? How? Suggestion: Explain with real example. 21. Do you like working with figures more than words? Suggestion: Tell your preference with some explanation. Questions About Team Work 1. If you have a disagreement with a coworker, how would you handle it? Suggestion: Answer should include discussing the problem, reasoning, etc. If one-to-one meeting does not solve the problem, help from the common boss or an arbitrator may be asked. 2. What teammate? Suggestion: Be Sample Answer: life easier if behavior.
minimum quality should a person have to be your practical and reasonable. Although, I can work with any person, it will make my the person is a team player, can communicate and nice in
3. What behavior of a person do you not like? Suggestion: Search for most common one, such as lazy, not-punctual, bad behavior, foul mouth, etc. 4. If you find that your teammate is rude, racist and/or sexist, how will you handle it? Sample Answer: If there is a corporate policy, I will follow it. If not, I will warn the person the first time and if he continues, I will report it to the proper authority.
5. How do you handle a teammate who thinks he/she is always right or knows better? Sample Answer: If it does not interfere with any of my work, I try to leave it alone. If it interferes with my work I will talk and reason with the person. If that does not work I will talk to my superior. 6. If there are 4 people in your team and you think your are doing half of the work what will you do? Sample Answer: It depends on circumstance. If I feel that my boss thinks I am the only person who can do the job, I will do it. Normally if I can finish the work within the allocated time, I will not complain. Otherwise I will just let my boss know about it and if she still insists on my doing it, I will do it. 7. If there are 4 people in your team and you think your supervisor assigning you only 1/8 of work, what will you do? Sample Answer: If I feel that my boss did not give me the work because he does not have enough confidence on me, I will talk to him and do something to improve his confidence. In all other cases, once I finish my current work I will let my boss know that I can take a new assignment. While waiting for new work, l will spend the free time to learn new skills that may help me in my work. 8. You have a deadline and no time and one of your teammate needs some help, What will you do? Sample Answer: If the solution is easy one and not time consuming I will help my teammate. Otherwise I will tell him to wait until I finish my project and then I will help him. 9. We don't know everything; that is why we have supervisor, teammate, manuals and books? Under what circumstance will you take help and from what source? Sample Answer: If there is not much time and I need little help I will ask my supervisor and teammates if they are not busy. In all other circumstances, I will get help from the manual. 10. Do you like to work in a team? Why? Suggestion: Tell your preference. Make sure your desire does not conflict with the interest of the company. 11. Do you like to work alone? Why? Suggestion: Same as last question. Sample Answer: I have experience in working both alone and in a team. I can work in both situations. However, I can concentrate and work better, if I work alone. 12. Suppose you are working in a team and a project is given to your team. All the team members want to solve that project in a certain way and you know a better way to solve the problem. How will you convince them? Suggestion: Answer can include, discussing your plan with them, illustrating with some example, etc.
Questions About Previous Work
1. How did you do in your last performance evaluation? Suggestion: Be positive and honest. 2. Why did you quit your last job? Suggestion: Be positive and honest. Sample Answer: There were no regular work hours in my previous work. I was always on call and it was taking a toll on my family life. I was not told about irregular hours when I took the job. I don't mind working irregular hours sometimes; however, I don't want to do it every week. I talked to my superior to solve this problem and no hope of change was given to me. So I started looking for new job. 3. How do you describe your previous boss? Suggestion: Be as positive and as nice as you can. 4. What did you liked in your previous boss? Suggestion: Be positive and honest. Sample Answer: My boss was a nice person. She always listened to our opinion. She made us feel part of the team and kept us informed. She often came and asked about the work progress and if we needed any help. She always helped us. 5. What you didn't like in your previous boss? Suggestion: Be nice, say something common or obvious and true. Sample Answer: It was very hard to get hold of him when we needed him. He seemed to be always busy and had no time for us. However, it may not have been his fault he had too much responsibility. 6. What did you like about your previous work environment? Suggestion: Answer may include: your coworkers were friendly, you can experiment with new technologies, etc. 7. What didn't you like about your previous work environment? Suggestion: Be nice, say something common and true. 8. In a given day, how many hours did you work, how many hours did you spend in learning at your previous job? Suggestion: Be practical. When a new project is given or new technology is introduced employee spend more time in learning than working and it changes in the latter stage. Show that you were utilizing your time properly. 9. Why do you want to leave your present job? Suggestion: Give real reason and refine it. Do not give the impression that you do it for fun. 10. How do you feel about leaving all of your benefits such as stock options? Suggestion: You are not happy about it, but you had your reasons. 11. How would you evaluate your present firm? Suggestion: Give your opinion. Avoid talking negative. Questions About Managing 1.
What is your management style?
Suggestion: Your management style can be open door or conservative. Tell them about your relations and dealings with your superior and subordinates. Give example. 2. Do you think you are a good manager? Why? Suggestion: Your answer should be task and achievement oriented. Explain management skill with an example. Some of the skills can be: inter-personal skill, planning, organizing, etc. 3. What do you look for when you want hire someone? Suggestion: Answer can be: skill, experience, adaptability, team player, etc. 4. Did you have to fire anyone? Why? Suggestion: If you did it, explain it in a positive way. Never say you enjoyed it. 5. What do you find the most difficult task as a manager? Suggestion: Pick your subject: planning, budget, deadline, hiring, firing, etc. 6. What do your subordinates may think of you? Suggestion: Be positive and honest. If you need to talk about something negative, choose a less damaging situation. 7. What are your weaknesses as a manager? Suggestion: Be honest and choose a less damaging situation. 8. What is the highest number of people you supervised? Suggestion: Give the number. 9. How do you resolve conflict between team members? Suggestion: Listen to each one privately. Try to reason and come up with a solution. 10. What was the most challenging project you had? Suggestion: Give an example from your experience. 11. What was the most difficult decision you had to make as manager? Suggestion: Give an example from your experience. 12. How do you motivate people to do something? Suggestion: You can motivate people by getting their opinion, giving credit, praising, keeping them happy. Pick your answer. Tough or Negative Questions 1. Why you were fired from your last job? Suggestion: If you were fired wrongfully, say it nicely. Do not show any grudge against your old employer. If you were fired because of your fault, say it in a less damaging way. Sample Answer: I cut prices on our product to make a customer happy without asking my superior. The company lost money and I was fired because of that. I agree it was my fault I should have asked my superior. Now I learned my lesson and it will never happen again.
2. It is been six years since you started your bachelor degree; why are you not finished yet? Suggestion: Be as positive as possible. Explain your reason. Following should not be the answer: you are having too much fun and do not have time, you do not think a degree is important, etc. 3. If you joined our company, another employer offer you more money, will you leave us? Suggestion: If you say yes, probably you will not get this job. If you want you can tell them the salary that will make you happy and keep you with this company. Sample Answer: If I accept the job that means I also like the salary I do not think I will leave. 4. What are the things in a job that make you more productive? Less productive? Suggestion: Remember, no work environment is 100% perfect and to everyone's liking. However, we adapt and make best of what we have. So your answer should be practical. 5. Why have you been unemployed for the last 2 years? Suggestion: You must have a sound reason for not working so long or having a big gap in your work history. Some of the good reason can be: ·
Taking care of a sick family member.
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Raising children.
· Looking for a right job where you can really contribute (it will not work if the period is too long). ·
Trying to be self-employed.
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Study or training.
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Learning new skills.
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Exploring or traveling (For a short gap only).
6. At your last employment you were working at the same position for five years without any promotion. Is there any reason for it? Suggestion: Avoid saying something negative. Tell the truth in a positive way. Sample Answer: There was not much growth in our department. None of the people working in my department had been promoted. That is one of the reason I applied to your company. 7. How long will you stay with us? Suggestion: Longer is better. As long as you and your employer are happy, you are contributing and achieving. 8. What salary are you looking for? Suggestion: Don't be too specific, you may give a range. Better, ask if the company has a salary scale and base your answer on that. Remember salary is related to market value. Guess yours worth before you come. An interviewer is not ignorant.
9. What kind of salary do you think you are worth? Suggestion: Find your market value and give a range. Sample Answer: I checked a few sites on the Internet and found that the salary for a web developer range from 45K to 60K per annum, depending on the responsibilities and duties involved. I am not entirely set on a number and am willing to negotiate. How many players play in soccer game? Suggestion: This or similar question has nothing to do with your career. So right or wrong answers do not matter. Interviewers want to see if you can think about a non-related subject. Sample Answer: I am not sure, but my guess will be at least 2 player in each side, one in the goal and one to play. I will put the number between 7 to 12 in each team. Am I close enough