Q. Tell me about yourself.
A. This is the most
common interview question and can sometimes be the hardest. Since
it is a broad and general
question the worst thing you can do is give a broad and general
answer.
To make the most of this
question you should use it as a “springboard” to topics that you
want to discuss. This
question allows you to decide what parts of your career experiences
you want to share with
your prospective employer.
Q. What are your major strengths?
A. When you answer this
question you should answer it in terms of “what are the top
two or three skills I
bring to this job?” Thus, your strengths that you are willing to discuss
will usually change from
interview to interview depending on the job and the
organization you are
meeting with.
Q. What are your weaknesses?
A. Many people view this
question as a way for an employer to find out your
shortcomings as an
employee. This is not the case. The real reason why this question is
asked during the
interview process is to determine your level of awareness of your
shortcomings.
When answering this
question it is important for you to avoid weaknesses that may
hinder your job
performance or will disclose personal issues. You should choose a
weakness before an
interview. You should also be able to tell the interviewer steps that
you took to overcome the
weakness.
Q. What prompted your decision to apply for this position?
A. When an interviewer
asks this question they are trying to seek out a number of things.
The interviewer may be
trying to find out what motivates you, the level to which you
desire the job, how much
you know about the job, etc.
If this is a position
that you really desire this is a very easy question to answer. Your goal
in answering this
question should be to link your interest and enthusiasm to the skills and
knowledge that are most
relevant to the position.
Q. Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
A. Though you may not
know where you see yourself 5 minutes from now it is important
for you to be able to
answer this question without hesitation. When an employer asks you
this question they are
trying to get a better grasp on your level of dependability, focus,
and commitment.
Your answer to this
question should be to focus on initially completing the challenge at
hand. After that you can
change focus a bit and discuss your long term career goals. Your
answer to this question
should not include personal or family goals.
Q. What have you gained from your work/school experiences?
A. When answering this
question you should not simply focus on or read directly from
your resume. Rather, pick
one or two work experiences or situations you were involved
in and be able to discuss
in detail: you duties, your activities, successes, lessons learned.
Q. What difficulties have you faced on the job?
A. In this question it is
important to discuss only difficulties that you have faced where
the final outcome has
been successful. When utilizing examples you should try to take a
negative situation and
have it end with a positive solution.
Structured Interviews
A structured interview is
a type of interview that is utilized by many larger organizations.
This interview is
especially popular when there is more than one of the same position
available within the
organization. In a structured interview every applicant for the
position is asked the
same questions as every other applicant applying for the position. A
structured interview may
contain standard interview questions, behavioral interview
questions, or a
combination of the two.
Behavioral Interview Questions
The Behavioral Interview
is rapidly becoming the most popular way to interview in the
Unites States. In this
method of interviewing the interviewer asks few or no “standard
interview questions.” In
this style of interviewing the interviewer will ask you to reflect
upon you previous work
and school experiences, and take him/her through a detailed
account as to how a
particular situation was handled.
The key to the successful
behavioral interview lies in your ability to recount detailed
work situations that are
directly related to the work at hand.
In preparation for a
behavioral interview you should conduct a STAR analysis:
S = Name a SITUATION
facing you or
T= a TASK you had to
complete
A= describe what ACTION
you took
R= tell the RESULTS of
your actions
You should conduct a STAR
Analysis for each of the skills required to perform the
position that you are
applying for.
Samples of a Behavioral
Interview Questions with Answers and explanations
Q. Consider the following situation and describe in detail
how you would respond. Youralarm clock doesn’t go off, you wake up, and you are
going to be two hours late for work.How would you handle that situation?
A. Once I woke up I would
immediately call work, apologize, and let them know what
happened and inform them
that I was going to be late. I would then call a co-worker and
ask them to cover for me
until I arrived. Once I arrived I would apologize again and ask
if I can stay late or come
in early to make up the lost time. Finally, I would buy a new
alarm clock to ensure
that this did not happen again.
E. In this scenario the
applicant would have wowed over the interviewer. The applicant
was considering a
negative situation. However the applicant turned a negative into a
positive. They described
a pro-active plan to ensure that losses in productivity did not
occur, offered to make up
lost time, and made efforts to ensure that the alarm clock
would work the next day.
Q. Tell me about a time you had to meet a deadline. Describe
the deadline. Describe the steps you took in order to achieve the deadline.
Were you successful? Why or why not?
A. A professor assigned a
15 page paper one week before the end of the semester. Being
faced with the challenge
of meeting this deadline I decided that it would be best to first
develop a topic to the
paper, then I outlined the paper using my notes and the assigned
textbook. I then
proceeded to do all of my research for the paper. I then typed the paper,
proofread it, and
submitted it one day before it was due.
E. This is a good answer
to this question. The candidate answered the question in detail
and utilized an example
where the candidate showed he/she was able to meet deadlines.
Illegal Interview Questions
Though most employers do
not intentionally ask illegal questions intentionally, it is
important to not only
know what these questions are but how to handle answering them
should they arise.
The following are sample
illegal interview questions:
Are you a US citizen?
Where were you/your
parents born?
What is your native
language?
How old are you?
What’s your birth date?
What’s your marital
status?
Who do you live with?
Do you plan on starting a
family?
How many kids do you
have?
How tall are you?
How much do you weigh?
Do you have any
disabilities?
How’s your families
health?
Have you ever been
arrested?
Handling these questions
can be difficult. Legally, you are not obligated to answer any of
the questions listed
above. However, if you feel comfortable answering an illegal
interview question,
should it arise, you should not hesitate to answer the question. If you
do feel uncomfortable
answering such a question simply tell the interviewer that you do
not feel comfortable
answering that question.
Ave
Holiday Home
Veerapagupathy,
Chothavilai Beach,
Thengamputhoor,
Kanyakumari.
Ph: 04652-221337, Mob:
8220099080.
Email:aveholidayhome@gmail.com
Website:www.aveholidayhome.com
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