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Job Interview Questions, Answers, and Interview Strategies to Help You Prepare for your Next Job Interview
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Featured article featuring job interview tips, tactics, and interview question samples: Job interview questions...
Don't be caught off guard
by predictable ones !
by Joel N. SussmanJob Interview Questions Should Rarely Catch You By Surprise
Imagine being prepared for just about every possible job interview question an interviewer could throw at you! Not only would you be more relaxed and confident in the job interview, but you'd be ready with dynamic and well thought-out answers to those job interview questions.The following article includes most of the job interview questions you're likely to encounter in a job interview situation. In addition to job interview questions and answers, it also offers some suggestions on how to project a winning attitude, put effective job interview interview strategies into action, and increase your chances of turning job interviews into job offers.
Interview Questions and Beyond...
Most of the time you only get one chance to make a positive impression in job interviews, and some people would argue that the first five minutes are what matters most. With that in mind, it's best to leave nothing to chance, including small but important details like arriving at job interviews a few minutes early, making sure your job interview suit is clean and pressed, and having a couple extra copies of your resume with you, in case the job interviewer can't find his or her copy, or (and this is a good thing to mentally prepare for) if you're going to be interviewed by a committee or a series of job interviewers.
87 Intelligent and Strategic Answers
to Behavioral Job Interview Questions
(click here)
Successful job interviews are like a good theatrical performance. If you convincingly act confident, enthusiastic, and prepared for those tricky job interview questions, there's a good chance you'll be called back for an encore!
Practicing Job Interview Questions, Answers, and Scenarios is Half the Battle
The job candidate that gets chosen isn't necessarily the one who's the most experienced or capable; it's often the job seeker who has cultivated the ability to relax at job interviews — to "just be themselves" — to answer job interview questions in a deliberate way, and to come across in job interviews as if they really believe in themselves. With persistence and determination, almost anyone can acquire the skill to answer job interview questions with confidence and composure.
A 'Sink or Swim' Job Interview Question May Relate to Your Past Accomplishments
A highly recommended way to increase your level of comfort and confidence in the job interview is by taking the time, a day or two before the interview, to mentally review your accomplishments and the high points of your resume. You should be able to rattle off your qualifications, your academic credentials, and specific examples of how you effectively handled job challenges, and do so as effortlessly as if you were reciting your own name, address, and phone number. An inability to come up with specific examples of past job achievements has resulted in many a job applicant not making it to the final cut.
Reconnect with friends!
Know your answers to probable interview
questions before you walk through the door!
Preparation Tip for Job Interview Questions: Don't Sell Yourself Short or Forget 'Key Selling Points'
Update your resume before the job interview, looking for ways to put the most positive spin on your career history, responsibilities, and accomplishments. It's always best to be totally honest, but, on the other hand, don't shortchange yourself by understating or minimizing your career or educational accomplishments. Failing to give yourself all the credit you deserve is one way to sabotage your chances of being hired.
For example: if you initiated and coordinated a successful project, don't leave those details out of your resume and job interview. If you helped save your last employer $100,000, don't hide that fact. If you developed a new, more efficient training technique that was implemented at your last job, don't neglect to talk about that in the job interview and include it in your resume. Make a list of and review all these career achievements, so they won't slip your mind when you need them most. Forgetting to mention any or all of those types of professional accomplishments could make the difference between being offered the job or getting passed over for it.
More Job Interview Strategies
In the job interview, one key tactic for projecting a powerful, competent, and experienced image is by using action words to describe yourself and the work you've done. You can incorporate this strategy into your answers to job interview questions.
That technique for answering job interview questions also helps create a dynamic resume. Examples: "I coordinated ... managed ... initiated ... supervised ... produced ... built ... solved ... recruited ... started... formed a new department ... provided leadership for ...etc."
A time-tested strategy for feeling and acting prepared for an upcoming job interview is to rehearse answers to typical job interview questions that will probably be posed in one form or another. A fatal error that many job applicants make is to try to "wing it" when they respond to job interview questions.
If you mentally review your positive attributes, your accomplishments, and your strengths, before you shake hands with the job interviewer for the first time, you will appear more focused, organized, and articulate at the job interview than if you attempted to fly by the seat of your pants! (Don't try that at home!) Bottom line: you need to know your answers to probable job interview questions before you walk through the door!
WARNING!
Don't go to that next job interview
until you've looked "Inside the Mind of an Interviewer"!Assuming you're qualified for the job -- and if you cleared the first hurdle (namely, being invited to the job interview in the first place), chances are you are qualified -- then the image you project, and how you present yourself, will make or break you! So smile, make lots of eye contact with the job interviewer, have a firm handshake, act enthusiastic about the job and the company, research the company on the Internet, and, perhaps most importantly, rehearse the answers to these frequently asked job interview questions:
Job Interview Questions You're Likely to Encounter
- Tell me about yourself. (To avoid rambling or becoming flustered, plan your answer.)
- What do you know about our company/organization? (This is a commonly-asked first or second question, so don't let this one be your Achille's heel! If they have a web site, your research will be easy!)
- What are your strengths? (Make an exhaustive list, familiarize yourself with the list, and then narrow it down to the most important items for the interview.)
- What are your weaknesses?(What you say here can and will be used against you! Whatever you say, make sure your stated weakness doesn't relate even remotely to the requirements of the job to which you're applying.)
- How would your current (or last) boss describe you?*
- What were your boss's responsibilities? (Interviewers sometimes ask this job interview question to prevent you from having the chance to claim that you did your boss's job. Be ready for it!)
- What's your opinion of them? What type of relationship did you have with your last boss.(Never criticize your past or present boss in a job interview. It just makes you look bad -- not them.)
- How would your co-workers or subordinates describe you professionally?* (Remember, now is not the time for modesty! Brag a little bit.)
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Why do you want to leave your present employer?
- Why should we hire you over the other finalists?
- What qualities or talents would you bring to the job?*
- Tell me about your accomplishments.
- What is your most important contribution to your last (or current) employer?
- How do you perform under deadline pressure? Give me an example.
- How do you react to criticism? (Leave your ego at the door when you answer questions like this.)
- Describe a conflict or disagreement at work in which you were involved. How was it resolved?
- What are two of the biggest problems you've encountered at your job and how did you overcome them?
- Think of a major crisis you've faced at work and explain how you handled it.
- Give me an example of a risk that you took at your job (past or present) and how it turned out.
- Describe your managerial style.
- Have you ever hired employees; and, if so, have they lived up to your expectations?
- What type of performance problems have you encountered in people who report to you, and how did you motivate them to improve?
- Describe a typical day at your present (or last) job.
- What are the last three books you've read?
- What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
- For aspiring pharmaceutical sales reps, only:
60 realistic interview questions and answers with specific pharmaceutical sales job interview questions and intelligent questions to ask the interviewerAnd finally, an interview question which is almost always asked, but is rarely responded to effectively is, "Do you have any questions?"! Most interviewers are not asking that final question just to be polite or because it's a smooth segue to the end of the interview. More often than not, they're expecting you to show at least some knowledge of the company or some genuine interest in the company's future.
What's the 'Bottom Line' in Preparing for Job Interview Questions?
Your underlying message in all your job interview answers should be that you're hard working, dedicated, results-oriented, dependable, organized, passionate about making a difference, cooperative, easy to get along with, a creative problem-solver, an excellent communicator, an effective project manager, a good delegator, and that you believe in doing things right the first time...or assigning tasks and projects to other people and following through to make sure it was done properly and on schedule! (Phew!)
If you give some serious thought to the above job interview questions and strategies for giving effective job interview answers, and rehearse them out loud, you'll sound prepared, self-assured, and capable in the job interview. Those are among the key qualities that make a job applicant stand out among the competition and create a dynamic impression.
Always concentrate on putting your best foot forward, give yourself the benefit of the doubt, and above all: avoid sounding or appearing tentative in your attitudes, job interview answers, or behavior. (If you even imply that you don't believe yourself, you can be sure that a job interviewer won't!).
Remind yourself that you're not going to job interviews to win any humility contests! If you don't sing your own praises at the job interview, chances are, there will be no encore performance!
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Bonus Article for Job Hunters:Inside the Mind of an Interviewer
Visit www.job-interview-questions.com to get professional answers to all those difficult job interview questions together with interactive mock interviews and IQ tests. To download your copy click here!
Before you jump into the interview, it is crucial that we first take a step backward and try to see the interview purely from the interviewer's point of view. What is he looking for? What does he want? What qualities, skills and experience is he looking for? If you can discover what he really wants - and match those requirements one-by-one you'll be amazed at how smooth and successful the interview can be.
KEY REQUIREMENTS:
Ability.
Lets not kid ourselves. You can know all the tricks of the trade, be an expert in every aspect of interview psychology and even have the prettiest, hand-printed CVs - it really won't make the slightest difference unless you have the actual skills and ability to do the job advertised.
This is any interviewer's first objective: to ascertain if you have the ability to successfully carry out the functions you will be given if you get the job.
But during the interview it is not only essential that you inform the interviewer of your qualifications to do the job but that you can prove it to him there and then.
It is one thing being able to actually do the job - but quite another thing being able to convince the interviewer of this reality in a positive and enthusiastic manner during the brief span of an interview.
In fact this ability is the key difference that separates the winners from the losers.
Let's take an example.
Mr. Joe Ordinary is going for an interview for the position of computer programmer. The company, in question is looking for a hardworking computer programmer who will help them develop a new software program.
The interviewer asks Mr. Ordinary, "Can you do the job?"
Joe Ordinary smiles: "Yes I can…….. It should be good……very interesting….looking forward to it……"
Now notice the difference when Mr. Joe Winner is asked the same question. He knows he must not only tell his interviewer that he can do the job but prove it in such a way that the interviewer will not believe him but be excited by his potential. But how?
The secret is, in fact very simple: for every skill you list always recall an incident in which you successfully used that skill. Paint a picture in words for the interviewers so that they can actually see you using this skill in their mind's eye.
Before we get back to our computer programmer let me give you this example:
Anne Malone desperately wanted the job of manager at her local florist shop. During the interview the owner said she was looking for someone who was hardworking and very ambitious to look after and build up the business.
Most applicants would have said, "Yes, I'm determined and will definitely strive to increase your turnover and profits. Yes I can do it…..definitely"
Anne, however not only made a similar statement but she backed it up with a real-life practical example. She brought her statement to life.
She recalled her part-time summer job in a florist shop when she was a student. She noticed when she started the job that the shop looked 'run-down - that it lacked 'sparkle' and a sense of 'freshness'
So she told the interviewer how she went to the shop's owner and how she managed to get her to agree that when she worked in the shop over the weekend she would get an extra commission for all the extra customers she could attract to the shop.
So the following weekend Anne used her own money and managed to persuade her family and friends to help her re-paint and re-fashion the shop and deliver a single fresh free flower to every house in the surrounding area. And the shop's sales blossomed.
Can you now see the difference between just saying to an interviewer " I can do the job" to actually bringing such a statement to life.
And that's how Mr. Joe Winner answers his questions. When he is asked can he do the job -he not only confirms his ability but he backs it up with personal examples of how, for example he programmed similar software for other High-Tec companies. In fact for every skill he lists he backs it up with personal examples. He paints vivid word pictures.
Yes, this seem simple. Yet in the thousands and thousands of interviews I have sat through the vast majority of people will simply answer such questions with a bland .."Yes, I'm confident I can do the job… and leave it at that hoping the interviewer will be happy with that. He may be happy but will he be impressed? After the interview will you stand out from the other candidates?
Remember: every time you detail a specific skill that you can contribute to the business don't just make a bland statement, "I can do this and I can do that" - always back it up with personal real-life examples. Paint a picture of yourself putting these skills into practical and profitable use so that the interviewer can see this picture in his/her mind.
And, of course, always bring with you any documentation (neatly assembled in a smart folder) that will add weight and substance to your claims. Extra references, awards or prizes, for example you may have won or articles and reports that you may have written that stand out.
Proving that you can do the job is the essential first step of the interview and the interviewer's first and main concern. Before he proceeds to the next stage of the interview he will want to be sure in his own mind you are capable of doing the job. It is your job to convince him.
Suitability.
The interview proceeds. The tone has changed. It has become more open, more relaxed. The original awkwardness you felt is beginning to dissipate. The interviewer is now happy that you at least have the necessary ability to carry out the basic requirements of the job. Now he'll want to know more about you. After all, he and his fellow colleagues may be spending a lot of their lives working with you.
So he will now try to find out if you are personally suitable for the job. He'll start to focus on trying to ascertain what type of person you are. To do this, most interviewers will try to see how you measure up under the following headings.
Desire / energy: Do you seem energetic? A person who gets up and does things with enthusiasm. Do you seem the type of person who wants to get ahead -who'll make a real difference?
Confidence / determination: Do you seem a relaxed, friendly yet confident person? Someone who'll be able to get on with others? Also someone who'll stick to a task until it is done.
Independent. What the interviewer is looking for here is someone who can be a team player and follow the directions of his supervisor but yet still have the maturity to be able to work unsupervised and direct and motivate herself. The employer is looking to see if you have this balance.
Motivation: Are you the type of person who wants to do well. To get ahead. To impress with your professionalism. To innovate. To build.
Power of communication: Have you the ability to mix and get on with people by communicating clearly and effectively. Will you be able to take extra responsibility in the future and be able to lead and motivate people through effective communication skills?
Likeability: Do you seem a friendly, OK person. This does not mean that you have to be perfect or the most popular person around. They just want to know if you are a friendly and easy person to get along with. Someone who will add to their existing team and not disrupt it.
HOW PROFESSIONAL ARE YOU?
A new stage now starts to emerge. The interviewer has now got to know you even more now. There is a definite softening in the atmosphere. An embryonic personal relationship seems to be developing between you and your fellow interviewers and you notice most of your pre-interview tension seems to have gone. You begin to allow yourself to relax a bit more.
The interviewer, too seems 'more human'. At this stage he is convinced you have the skills to do the job, he likes you - he feels you are personally suitable and he finds it easy to communicate with you.
In his own mind he is now beginning to see you not as an interviewee but as a potential employee. For the interviewer this is an important turning point. And he'll now want to take an even closer look at you from a professional business point of view.
He'll want to make sure that you'll be an asset to the firm, that you'll act in a professional manner and be loyal, reliable and trustworthy and be committed to the company.
The interviewer will want to make sure that you'll be loyal,
reliable and trustworthy and be committed to the company.As you speak and answer his questions he'll be trying to evaluate you under the following main headings.
Reliability: Do you seem honest, reliable. Someone who will do an honest day's work? Someone who is straightforward and has enough respect and pride in themselves to always want to do a good job.
Honesty: Do you seem an honest, trustworthy person? Someone whom they can have full confidence in? Someone they could leave the keys to lock up at the end of the day?
Dedication? Do you seem hardworking and dedicated? Someone who starts a project and finishes it? A starter and a finisher? Someone who does not look for excuses to cover up failings and moans about everything?
Communication: As discussed earlier under personal suitability are you the type of person who can get on with and communicate with all levels of the company from the tea lady to the M.D.?
Commitment: The interviewer is trying to judge if you got the job would you commit yourself fully to it? For example, what would you say if you were going for the job as a middle- manager and the interviewer asked you: "As an employee would you clean the floors?" What the interviewer really wants to find out here is how committed you would be to the team - how willing you would be to roll up your sleeves and do whatever is necessary to help your team get the job done.
Don't only answer yes, but make sure you also give a personal example of a similar situation where you helped out to back up your answer.
THE LAST CHECK?
Let's see how the interviewer's thought processes are operating now. He's happy you can do the job and that you are personally suitable. He's also confident that you'll get on with most of the staff and that you have all the necessary professional commercial qualities that he requires from his employees. You almost have the job. The interviewer is now beginning to visualize you as a future colleague. Someone who he will be working with and someone he will possibly be responsible for managing.
Manageability.
All during the interview this question will be at the back of the interviewer's mind. How manageable will you be? The last thing a manager wants is an employee who he thinks might cause trouble in the future and cause him sleepless nights!
And so a lot of his questions will be aimed at helping him come to a considered judgment on your ability not only to work alone unsupervised but also on your ability to work with others. He will also want to judge your ability to take direction and criticism not only when it is honestly given but also when you may be treated unfairly.
The interviewer/manager knows that a lot of the time, in the real business world things go wrong, people make mistakes, deadlines and commitments are broken and tempers are ignited. The interviewer wants to consider how you might react to such circumstances?
So be aware of these questions when they arise and the real motivation behind them. Also when you sense such questions are being asked treat it as a positive sign that the interviewer is seriously considering you for the position.
LAST THOUGHTS!
What we have presented here is only a very general outline of the interviewer's possible thought processes as the interview progresses. Each interview is unique and it's structure and tempo will change and adopt to accommodate the different personalities involved.
However it is very helpful to be aware of the key stages of your interview and to have a deepening understanding of what your interviewer is really looking for when he asks you certain questions.
Visit www.job-interview-questions.com to get professional answers to all those difficult job interview questions together with interactive mock interviews and IQ tests. To download your copy click here!
Thank you for visiting the Job Interview Strategy Center. We hope you've picked up some helpful job interview tips that will help you win the job of your dreams (or some reasonable facsimile). You might want to consider bookmarking this page to have quick access to common interview questions, tips on interview preparation, and books-- both downloadable and hard copies -- on how to answer tough interview questions, strengthen your job interview skills, and make a lasting and favorable impression on the job interviewer at your next career interview appointment. Feel free to drop us a line if you'd like a few more job interview tips or helpful ideas on interview techniques (from the perspective of the job applicant.)
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