Interview practice
Following are frequently asked questions during interviews. The first 10 are the most common. Read through them and mentally prepare a brief answer for each.
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why did you leave your last position?
- What are your goals?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What do you know about this company?
- Why do you feel qualified for this job?
- What is your most significant achievement?
- How would your boss describe your job performance?
- Why should we hire you?
- What are your salary expectations?
- Describe your ideal job.
- How long will you stay with us?
- Why haven’t you found a new position before now?
- How would you evaluate your present/last company?
- What do you think of your previous/current boss?
- Describe a few situations in which your work was criticised.
- If you had your choice of jobs and companies, where would you go?
- Describe what you feel to be an ideal working environment and an ideal boss?
- What was the toughest decision you had to make last year and what made it so difficult?
Questions to Ask
“Do you have any questions?” is asked at the end of nearly every interview.
What should you ask? If you surmise the interview is over and it is just a rhetorical question, ask a quick one. If you have more than you are prepared to ask: express that you have additional questions, but out of respect for the interviewer’s schedule, you’ll save them until your next meeting.
Some suggested questions you might ask during the interview about the position and the organisation:
- A detailed description of the position
- Reason the position is available
- Culture of company
- Anticipated induction and training program
- What style of person has done well
- Advanced training programs available for those who demonstrate outstanding ability
- Earnings of those successful people in their third to fifth year
- Company growth plans
- Best-selling products or services
Behavioural Based Questions
In addition to the traditional style of questions, organisations are now asking behavioural - based questions that focus on your past experiences. These questions require you to provide examples of your behaviour that demonstrates that you possess the desired skills or attributes for the particular job. Using specific dates, times, places and numbers will lend credibility to your responses.
The employer’s requirements and the attributes that they are seeking are usually outlined in the job description and selection criteria. The following are some examples of typical selection criteria and the relevant questions that may be asked:
Stress
Describe a recent situation where you were in a stressful situation. What actions did you take and what was the outcome?
Conflict Resolution
Describe a situation where you had a difference of opinion with a work colleague. How did you resolve the problem?
Oral Communication
Describe a situation you have been in recently where you had problems communicating with someone. How did you resolve the situation?
Time Management
Tell me about a situation where you had a number of tasks that needed to be completed. How did you deal with this situation?
Problem Solving
Can you provide me with a recent example where you had a problem that you could not resolve? What actions did you take?
Leadership
Think about a recent situation where you were the leader of a team. What key attributes do you possess that helped the project become successful and which attributes do you believe need improvement? Can you please provide some examples to demonstrate these attributes?
In addition to these behavioural based questions, the employer may also ask you to describe what you would do in a given scenario. These scenarios are usually based on some aspect of the job and test if you can demonstrate the desired behaviour. It is therefore important that you review the job description prior to the interview and have an idea of the tasks involved.
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