The Interview
Interview Questions You Should Expect
Question Areas
About Your Qualifications
- Tell me about yourself.
- How do you think someone who knows
you well would describe you?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Tell me the contribution you can
make to the organization.
- Tell me about a professional
assignment you've handled.
- Tell me about your school
experiences.
- What was your most rewarding
college experience?
- Describe your most meaningful work
experience.
- How do you think someone you have
worked with would describe you?
- Why are you the most qualified for
this position?
- Do you have supervisory
experience?
return to question areas
About Your Ability To Be Effective In
The Work Environment
- Why do you want this job?
- What do you know about this
company?
- What kind of work environment
makes you feel the most comfortable?
- How do you determine whether
or not you want to work for a particular company?
- How are you a team player?
- Do you work well under
pressure?
- How do you handle conflict?
- Name a major problem you
encountered and describe how you dealt with it.
- How competitive are you?
- What do you expect from your
supervisor?
- What qualities should a
successful manager demonstrate?
- Describe the relationship that
should exist between a supervisor and subordinate.
return to question areas
About Your Career Goals
- What are your long term
career goals? How are you preparing to achieve them?
- What career rewards are
most important to you?
- How do you spend your
spare time?
- What are your salary
requirements?
- Are you willing to
relocate?
return to question areas
Welcome To The Real World!
Here are some tough questions employers ask
that are specifically designed to determine your career potential:
- Why did you choose (name
of school)?
- Why did you want to major
in (name of major)?
- What course did you like
to most? The least?
- What things did you learn
in school that you could use on the job?
- Do you think your grades
adequately represent your abilities?
- We have hired people from
your school before, but they have not worked out. What makes
you different?
- What problems did you see
in your school? How would you go about changing it?
- Tell me about your
accomplishments that show you have initiative and a
willingness to work.
return to question areas
Difficult Questions
- Have you ever had a boss
you disliked? Why did you dislike him/her?
- How would someone that
dislikes you describe you?
- Tell me about a group you
participated in that was having problems:
- What was your role?
- How did you handle it?
- What was the outcome?
- What would you have
done differently?
- How could the group
have improved its performance?
- Tell me about a time when
you experienced a failure and how you reacted to it.
- Tell me about a time when
you were under considerable pressure to meet one or more
goals.
- Describe a problematic
situation at work and how you resolved it.
- Give me an example of how
you are a risk taker.
- If you could have any job
in the world, what would it be?
- How are you
motivated?
- Why do you want to work
for us?
- Why should we hire you?
- Give a one sentence
positioning statement of yourself.
- How do you decide what to
do first on a new project?
- How did you handle a
situation where you did not agree with something your boss
asked you to do?
- What did you like about
your last job? Dislike?
- What would you like to be
doing five years from now?
return to question areas
The Stress Interview
- Would you like to have
your boss's job?
- Sell me this computer you
see on my desk.
- Why should I hire you when
I could fill this job within the company?
- Why weren't you working
for so long?
- Describe a situation where
your work was criticized.
- Your resume shows that you
were with your last company for a number of years with
limited increase in rank or salary. What can you tell me
about this?
return to question areas
For Career Changers
- Why do you think you would
like this kind of work?
- How do you expect to
become proficient in those areas you are unfamiliar with?
return to question areas
Tell Us About Yourself
This is one of the most difficult questions to
answer, but yields you the greatest opportunity. Do not give a long
autobiographical lecture; rather, just organize your thoughts around why you are
interested in and qualified for the job.
return to question areas
Do You Have Any Questions For Us?
Always answer yes and be prepared to have some.
Otherwise, you'll appear to be disinterested. It is important to ask questions
that show a response to what you have learned from the employer. Avoid trying to
sound scripted. Here are some examples:
Advancement
- Can you tell me how
success in this position is measured?
- How do you encourage your
employees to keep current with professional developments in
the field?
- Can you describe your
training program for me?
- What is a typical career
path for someone who has been in this position?
- What is the time frame for
advancement?
- What is the retention rate
for people in this position?
- Does the company tend to
promote from within?
return to question areas
Responsibilities
- Tell me about a
typical day on this job.
- What is the most
challenging aspect of this job?
- Who would I work with
most closely?
- How often can I expect
to relocate?
return to question areas
Being On A New Job
- What is the most
challenging aspect to this job for someone who is new to
the company?
- What will the new (job
title) have to accomplish in the next six months?
- What are your
expectations for newly hired employees?
- What qualities do
newly hired employees possess?
- How would you describe
a typical first assignment?
return to question areas
More About The Company
- Why is the position
open?
- What are your major
projects for the coming year?
- What is the structure
of the department where the position is located?
- What is the work
environment like?
- What are the company's
strengths and weaknesses?
return to question areas |
The Interview |
