Interview questions

Interview questions

We know all interview questions are tough but these are the real hard ones! Generally these questions aren’t asked to make your life difficult or to make you squirm they are simply asked so that the interviewer can find out what he wants to know in the best possible way. As far as the interviewer is concerned this isn’t a competition, you are both on the same side so there is no point in trying to get the better of you or knock you down a peg or two. Tough questions are only tough because you aren’t sure how to answer them – if you were then they wouldn’t be tough would they?

Whether or not the interviewers questions are intended to be tough you should always follow these rules:

• Stay calm.
• Don’t get defensive.
• Pause for a short moment before you answer if you feel better doing this.

So here we go! These questions cover questions about yourself, your career, the job you’re applying for, your salary and a few unexpected ones thrown it for good measure!

What Motivates You?

You need to give an answer, as always, that benefits your potential employer and links into the key responsibilities of the job. So don’t say “￡ 100,000 per year and a Bentley Turbo!” Give an answer along the lines of “I’m happiest when I can see a project through from start to finish”, or “I get a real kick out of managing a team that is happy and knows it is successful”.

How Well Do You Take Direction?

Keep in mind the fact that your interviewer may become you’re boss should you get this job, so remember it’s their direction you will be taking. The answer here has to be that you take direction well. You can add credibility to your answer by expanding it and adding something like “I don’t see how a team can function effectively unless it’s members are happy to take directly from their leader”.

How Do You Handle Criticism?

Remember you’re interviewer may be anticipating becoming your boss and will inevitably have to criticize you from time to time. They want to know whether this task would be easy for them of whether you will make it difficult for them.

So perhaps you could answer this question along the lines of “I’m always happy to be given constructive criticism and welcome this. It helps me learn from my mistakes and improve my performance”.

Do You Enjoy Doing Routine Tasks?

It’s unlikely that you will be asked this question unless the job entails carrying out routine tasks, however bearing in mind that most jobs have an element of “tedious” work then this may come up. Your answer could be “Yes, I get satisfaction from all aspects of my job and enjoy carrying out all of my duties successfully”.

 

What Is Your Management Style?

Make sure your answer to this is relevant and don’t try and give a text book answer. You can make your point in a couple of sentences such as “I prefer a carrot rather than a stick approach and I have an open door policy. I believe you have to be firm with your team but you also have to treat them with a fair approach”.

Are You A Good Manager?

What a silly question – of course you are, your you! Seriously the answer to this has to be “Yes”. This question follows on from the above question and if you haven’t already been asked about your management style you can add this to you’re answer. So you’re answer could be “Yes I am. I prefer a carrot rather than a stick approach and I am a great believer in being firm with my team but at the same time being fair”.

Are You A Natural Leader?

You are only likely to be asked this if the job you are applying for involves some for of management or leadership. The answer to this must be positive and it doesn’t have to relate purely to work. You might be the leader of a scout group or chairman of a golf club – make sure you give an example of your leadership qualities. If you were a leader at school (such as a Prefect) and continued to lead groups since leaving this suggests that you have truly natural leadership abilities and that people follow you through choice.

How Do You Work In A Team?

This is another question you need to answer honestly, but pick a relevant way to express your teamwork style. Give a fairly brief answer, such as “I enjoy being part of a team, and I like the flexibility that it demands. I get a real kick out of collective success”. Follow your remarks up with an example of what you mean. If teamwork is going to be an important part of the job you are applying for you should certainly expect this question to come up so make sure you have your answer ready.

How Do You Approach A Typical Project?

If you are applying for a project based job, such as a project manager, you will definitely be asked this question. You don’t need to give a long winded answer but what you should do is demonstrate that you would take into account the main components of effective project planning such as:

• Plan the schedule backwards from completion/delivery date.
• Work out what you need to get the job done effectively and on time
• Budget cost, time and resources.
• Allow a contingency.

How Do You Operate Under Stress?

Again, this is a question you will only be asked if it is relevant to the job. A good full answer will serve you better on this one rather than a brief one. So tell your interviewer that you work well under pressure and if you really do enjoy it tell them. It’s always good to give an example of a situation that you have handled where there has been a large amount of pressure. It might be prudent to add that you operate good time management and organisational skills which help you deal with pressurized situations and minimize stress levels.

How Creative Are You?

If you are applying for a job which has a creative role you are likely to be asked this question. Be ready with your answers. Give examples of how you use any creative techniques you may have which will show that you take your creativity seriously.

How Do You Get The Best From People?

If you are applying for a management role it is highly likely you’ll be asked this question. The kind of skills that interviewers like to hear about is:

• Good communication
• Teamwork skills
• Recognizing each person as an individual
• Setting a sound and good example
• Praising good performances.

How Do You Resolve Conflict In Your Team?

This question really does need to be answered honestly. Find an example of conflict that you have had in your own team and use this to demonstrate your abilities at resolving it. The kind of skills you need to demonstrate are as follows:

• Fairness
• Addressing problems with individuals privately
• Making sure you get to the root of the problem
• Finding a solution that the persons concerned are willing to adhere to.

Assuming that its true, you would also do well to point out that “I find if a team is run fairly and the team members are well motivated, conflict rarely arises and the team functions as a well oiled engine”.

What would you’re Boss Say About You?

Your interviewer may well be your future boss so you need to answer this question with diplomacy. They want to know that you’re an effective worker, but they don’t want you to step on their toes. So describe yourself as any boss would want to see you. For example “My boss would describe me as a hard working, conscientious, loyal and easy to motivate employee. He’d say that I work exceptionally well on my own initiative and I’m a supportive member of the team”. Don’t use the term “I think my boss would say..” as it gives an element of doubt, be positive and certain with the answer that you give.

If you’re interviewer is likely to approach your present boss at some stage for a reference make sure that you’re answer tallies with what you’re boss is likely to say about you when your interviewer puts this particular answer to the test.

What Do You Dislike Most At Work?

“Nothing!” The interviewer can hire you safely knowing that you will be well motivated every minute of the working day and every moment of your working time with your employer. So if you get asked this question your answer will be “you can’t think of anything you dislike about work”. The only possible exception is if this job is very different from your last, in which case you might say something like “I really enjoy my work. But occasionally I get a little frustrated in a small company that I don’t get to meet the customers I deal with as often as I’d like. That’s one of the reasons why this job appeals to me so much”.

What Do You Dislike Most At Work?

The answer here is to avoid the implication that you were getting stale and should have moved earlier. Any answer which contradicts this unspoken worry on the interviewer’s part is fine. For example, “I’ve been there for several years, but in a variety of different roles”, or “The job was growing constantly, so I felt as though I was undergoing frequent changes without actually changing employer”.

Why Have You Been With Your Employer For Such A Short Time?

Your interviewer doesn’t want to take on someone who is going to leave in six months’ time. So show them that you don’t really flit between jobs whatever your CV may show. Perhaps you could answer with “I’d like to settle in one company for several years, but I’ve found that up until now that I’ve had to move in order to widen my experience and avoid getting stale in the job”

You Look Like a Job Jumper To Me

This is much worse than the previous question. If it is not only your current or most recent employer that you’ve spent a short time with, but previous employers too, your interviewer will quite understandably be concerned that you’ll leave them within a few months too. Nowadays people typically change jobs roughly every two to five years but any more frequently than this looks worrying to a potential employer and some industries expect their employees to stay with them longer than this.

If your CV gives the impression that you barely sit down at your desk before you’re off again, you can expect this question. So how do you reassure the interviewer that this time you’d be here to stay. The last thing you want to do is to launch into a lengthy, defensive justification for each job move in turn. Far better to give a catch – all reason for moving so frequently.

So maybe you should adopt this kind of approach “I’d like to find a company I can settle down in and really make a mark. Until now I’ve found that I’ve had to change jobs in order to keep finding challenge in my work”. Then you can briefly explain just one of your career moves and why it made so much sense. Finish by saying “What I’m looking for is a company dynamic enough for me to find fresh challenges without having to move to another organization”.

Why Haven’t You Found A New Job Yet?

The implication behind this question is that you can’t be much good if no one wants to give you a job. So you need to indicate that it has been your choice to spend some time job – hunting. You need to give a reply along the lines of “It’s important that I only accept a job that seems really right for me, and where I can see that I can make a contribution to the company”.

If you have turned down any offers, say so: “I have had job offers, but I didn’t feel the positions were right for me, and that I was right for the companies concerned”.

What Were Your Most Significant Achievements In Your Current Job?

It’s unlikely that this job will require exactly the same achievements as the last – although it’s great if you can find a clear parallel. So what the interviewer really wants to know about is the qualities you must have exhibited in order to score the achievement. Be ready with something which is;

• Recent (or the implication is you’ve achieved little of note since)
• Difficult to achieve
• As relevant as possible to the job you’re applying for.

If You Could Start Again, What Career Decisions Would You Make Differently?

You’re on a hiding to nothing if you start trying to think of hypothetical improvements to your past career. Anything you say will suggest that you’re not happy with the way things are – and why would anyone want to hire someone who doesn’t really want to be where they are?

So the only reasonable answer is that you wouldn’t change anything; you’re happy with things as they are now. You might add something like “I’m not the kind of person to look back with regrets. I like to invest my energy in looking forward”.

Do You Consider Your Career So Far Has Been A Success?

It’s clearly better to be a success than a failure, so unless you’ve spent long periods out of work and been stuck in dead – end – jobs, the answer to this question is “Yes”. To expand on this answer (as you always should on a one word answer), you can go on to define success in your own terms. This is particularly sensible if your career on paper may look less than outstanding, even if it’s respectable.

Perhaps you haven’t moved up the career as fast as you might. So you might say, “What matters to me – more than money or status – is to have a job which is interesting and challenging and I’ve been lucky in that respect. So my career so far has been very successful.”

And what if your career has had it’s low points and perhaps not bought you as far as it might? There’s no point in pretending your CV glitters when it clearly doesn’t – so show you are positive and looking ahead: “I’ve had one or two career problems in the past, but those are firmly behind me. From now on I intend to build on the good breaks I’ve had and enjoy a very successful career”.

When Would You Expect Promotion?

You shouldn’t give a firm timescale on this. The answer is, you should expect promotion when you deserve it. “I would hope to be promoted once I have demonstrated my value to the company and shown that I am worth it.”

And show how this job suits your long term aims: “That’s why I want to join a company that is growing so that promotion opportunities will be there when I’m ready to move up”, or “That’s why I want to join a company that is growing so that the promotion opportunities will be there when I’m ready to move up”, or “That’s why I want to join a large organisation so there are plenty of opportunities when I’ve gained the skills and experience”.

How Can You Attend This Interview While You’re Employed Elsewhere?

The hidden pitfall here is that you must avoid coming across as being dishonest in any way. So if you told your boss you had to stay home for the Sky Satellite man to call, or that you had a dentists appointment, keep quite about it. Otherwise you’re interviewer knows that if they offer you the job they’ll be wondering what’s going on every time you ask for time off to go to the dentists.

Ideally, your boss knows you’re looking for work and is aware you’re at an interview. However, in the real world this generally isn’t the case. Assuming your boss actually has no idea where you are the only valid justification for taking time off here is that you took a days holiday and you took it in order to attend this interview.

How Does This Job Fit Into Your Career Plan?

It’s fairly unwise to commit yourself too precisely to a career plan. So you might say something like “Business changes so rapidly nowadays it’s hard to plan precisely. But I know what I want to get ahead in this industry and I think the opportunities to do that in this company are excellent”.

What Appeals To You Least About This Job?

You need to be careful with this one. Naming almost anything will give the interviewer the impression that you are less than 100% enthusiastic about this job. So either tell them that it appeals to you, or if you don’t feel happy with this kind of answer come up with a part of the job which is;

• A small part of it
• Of no major importance
• Universally unpopular.

One of the better examples of this is filing or paperwork in a job where the paperwork isn’t a significant part of the job. But you should still express it in positive terms such as “I can’t say I find paperwork terribly inspiring. But it’s important to make sure it gets done. And actually, it can be quite therapeutic.”

Are You Talking To Other Organisations As Well As Us?

This is a great one. You want to show your prospective employer that you are in demand as it makes you a more attractive prospect. In turn if you are offered the job it can help you drive up the salary you manage to negotiate. At the same time, if you tell them that you’ve had three other offers already, they may be put off you if they still have a long way to go – more interviews for example. So indicate that you are talking to others without suggesting you’re on the verge of taking another job. It’s not a total lie but let them know you’re doing well. A good example would be “I’ve reached the final round of interviews with three other companies.”

What Other Types Of Job Or Organization Are You Applying To?

You don’t need to divulge exactly how you’ve applied to here. Occasionally you may be asked directly where else you’ve applied to but you can avoid answering by saying that the companies concerned haven’t advertised the positions so you don’t feel it’s right to divulge this information. That lets you off the hook and shows your ability to keep confidence. But the interviewer can get around it with this question – asking not for names of companies but merely types of job and company. The important thing here is to show that you want this job. If it becomes apparent that you’re applying for all sorts of different jobs in different industries, it rather casts doubt on your commitment to this post. So indicate that you’re applying for similar jobs within the same field.

How Long Would It Take You To Make A Useful Contribution To This Company?

You might be thinking that you cant answer this question without more information and you’d be right. So ask for the information you need;

• What would my key objectives be for the first six months?
• Are there any specific projects you would need me to start working on straight away?

You can use the answers to these enquiries to help you with your answer. But broadly speaking you should indicate that (unless there is an urgent project) you would expect to spend the first week or two settling in and finding your way around. After that you’d expect to be making a useful contribution within the first few weeks and to show significant successes within four to six months.

You May Be Overqualified For This Job

The worry the interviewer is revealing here is that if they offer you the job you will quickly become bored and leave. You may have reservations on this front yourself, but at this stage you should still be giving it your best to get this job. If you’re going to turn it down do so when its offered – you should never write it off halfway through the interview.

So for the moment you’re going to give the best answer you can. Say that strong, dynamic companies can always use whatever talents they have to hand. You want to stay with the company for a while and if your experience and skills are strong enough you’re sure they will find a way to keep you challenged and making a full contribution.

What Do You Think Are The Key Trends In This Industry?

This question won’t be difficult to answer as long as you’ve done your homework and research – which is the point of the question and an area that the interviewer wants to establish. This question is really and advanced version of “What do you know about our company?”. So the important thing here is to make sure you do your homework properly and identify the key industry trends, ready to impress the interviewer.

Even if you’re applying for a job in the industry you already work in you should still prepare and answer to this question. It wont necessarily come to you, clearly and instinctively, in the heat of the moment.

Describe a Situation Which, In Hindsight, You Could Have Handled Better

The trick here is to be ready with something from a long time ago. Try to prepare an example where it really wasn’t your fault you handled it as you did. For example “With hindsight, I can see that it would have been quicker to evacuate everyone straight down the main staircase rather than use the fire escape, but because the phones were down I had no way of knowing that the main structure was safe”.

What Sort Of Decisions Do You Find Difficult?

“Whether to have prawn or beef sandwiches for lunch!” You’ve never found a decision difficult in your life of course. But the danger with some of these questions is that if you come across as being too implausibly perfect you risk sounding like your arrogant. So you have to admit to some minor failings but make sure they have been overcome or are irrelevant to the job you are applying for – otherwise make them sound human – no ones perfect. So you could say something like “The kind of decisions I dislike most are the ones which others won’t like. They aren’t actually difficult but for example I don’t like having to make the decision to sack someone”.

Describe a Situation In Which Your Work Was Criticised

If you pick an instance where the criticism was clearly unfair and you were in the right you risk looking as if you are simply taking the opportunity of airing an old grievance – it will make you look like your someone who bears grudges. So you need to go for the “distant past” option.

Interviewers may well ask you this question – or variation on it – if they want to see how you cope with tough questioning. So make sure you have an answer ready in case you need it. You should answer in a couple of stages;

• Briefly describe the task and the criticism you received for it.
• Explain how you learnt from it and you haven’t repeated such mistakes since.

Not only does this make you sound human (which we all are including interviewers) and as though you haven’t been criticised for a long time, but it also shows that you can take constructive criticism on board and learn from it.

What Is Your Present Boss’s Greatest Weakness?

“Where would you like me to start” is the true and honest answer but not the right one! This question really invites you to drop yourself in it. So don’t fall for it, no matter how long the list of faults – remember “LOYALTY”, your prospective interviewer could soon be your new boss and he wants to think that you will always speak nicely about him.

You could answer this question along the lines of “To be honest, I’m lucky to have a very supportive boss who is good at his job and very easy to get on with”. Its always good at this stage to look thoughtful and then finish with something like “no…..I cant think of anything, if I could it would be something minor and not worth mentioning”.

How Do You Evaluate Your Present Company?

They are a great company that have taught you a lot and offered you plenty of opportunity and provided you with excellent training to enable you to do the job to the best of your ability. You have just outgrown them (hence why you are looking to leave). This is the correct statement to use regardless of what you and your colleagues really think.

What Sort Of People Do You Find It Difficult To Work With?

You don’t want to be seen criticising others. Don’t be drawn into telling them about John in personnel who is absolutely useless at getting your expenses cheque back on time – it doesn’t carry any weight. Start by saying that you are an easy going person who finds getting on with people an easy job because of your nature but if you had to pick a type of person that niggles you it’s the one that doesn’t pull his weight or isn’t bothered about the standard of their work because it reflects badly on the rest of the team.

What Is Your Present Salary?

It’s a bit of a cheeky question this one and you want to give a non committal answer. If you go straight in with “I earn ￡ 23,000.00 plus expenses plus a BMW 318I and free weekend tickets to the Manchester United games” should you be offered the job they will offer you as close to this as your present package. So it’s a good idea to say something along the lines of “Well I think salaries can be a little misleading, it’s the whole remuneration package that really counts and of

course that’s harder to quantify”. Then ask if you can return the question later once you get to a point where you need to talk about it in more detail (when they offer you the job).

What Salary Are You Expecting?

Again another cheeky one which, ideally, you don’t want to be too committal over. If you commit to a salary at this stage you wont be able to negotiate later on and if you ask for too much you’ll scare them off. So here it would be good to answer this question with another question so try something like “What salary would you be expecting to pay for this position?” or ask what salary range has been given for this position. If the interviewer doesn’t want to divulge this then it’s not unreasonable for you to decline to answer too.

Should the interviewer quote a salary and ask for your response let them know you were thinking of something a little higher – but remember don’t make it out of their reach. If they suggest a salary range quote them back a salary range which is slightly higher but overlaps. For example if they say ￡ 25 – 30,000 you might say you were thinking more in the region of ￡ 28 - 33,000, you’ve edged them up but not put them off – a bit like dangling a carrot.

How much do you think you’re Worth?

Salary questions usually speak good news. After all, why bother start discussing salaries if they weren’t even considering offering you the job? This question is really the above question re – worded. It should be answered in the same way as the above question – once you’ve played the previous game of making them go first it’s just a case of justifying what you’re asking for.

The chances are that you will already have a good idea of what the going rate for the job is in the industry, so ask for a little more and explain that you’ve studied salary surveys and so on. Since your experience is above average for the job you believe that your worth above average pay. As a point of interest generally the interviewer will state that the amount you have asked for is too much – generally speaking its just a tactic don’t let them knock your confidence.

Sell Me This Pen

Interesting question this and some employers will ask you to do this even if you aren’t applying for a sales job. The reason behind this is to see if you focus on the benefits of the object rather than its features. For example its features would be – it’s a Bic biro with a roller ball and plastic coating, its benefits would be – it’s a Bic biro and the roller ball is really smooth and gives excellent presentation, it is leak proof and slim and sits discretely in your pocket. This is all about the bigger picture. If you outline the benefits it will impress them! Of course it doesn’t have to be a pen it can be a notebook, paperweight or anything else on the interviewer’s desk.

Tell Me a Story

This is a bit of a trick question. The idea is to see if you can demonstrate whether you have a sufficiently logical mental approach to ask for the question to be more specific before you answer it. So the logical response is to ask the interviewer “What type of story do you want?” Usually they ask for a story about you and will more than likely specify whether they want a work related or personal story. Its then up to you to come up with a tale that shows you in a good light.