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Answering Interview Questions
- Abhilash Abraham
(Abhi)
What is an interview?
It’s your opportunity to tell an
employer what you’ve accomplished
in the past and how you’ll help them
in the future
What Are the Most Valued Competencies Hiring Managers look in
suitable candidates?
• Flexibility. The ability to change, sometimes quickly, from one set of job
duties to another, or from one team to another or to working extra or different
hours.
• Adaptability. The ability to tolerate and maximize the potential of large
organizational shifts such as mergers or layoffs. Also, the ability to adjust to
new leadership and management—to change departments, divisions,
locations,
or job titles.
• Problem-solving skills. The ability to self-correct. Having the tendency to
tackle problems independently and with a minimum of supervision. Having the
ability to tolerate frustration and/or failure until the solution to the problem
is found. Maintaining persistence despite ambiguous or incomplete information
and perseverance despite initial failure or frustration.
• Interpersonal communication. The ability to communicate in a way that is
appropriate to company culture as well as individual preferences, with
empathy, clarity, and good listening behaviors. Having the ability to give
feedback and having sensitivity to multicultural preferences in communication
style. Being technologically literate and able to utilize the latest forms of written
and electronic communication.
• Ability and willingness to learn. A willingness to attend professional
development workshops and seminars. The ability to self-correct and alter
one’s own behavior. Having a propensity to pursue outside sources of formal
5 Types of Interview Questions
Straightforward Questions
Questions behind questions
Stress questions
Questions you ask the
employer
Illegal questions
Straightforward Questions
50% of interview questions are
straightforward
Designed to assess whether
you possess the kinds of skills,
and to what degree you are in
command of those skills, that
the job requires
Your skills arsenal + Q
statements
QUESTION:
Why do you think you are a good fit for this position?
or
Why should we hire you?
Very brief synopsis of your background
Research about the company
It’s a “positioning statement” since it positions you for the rest of interview
ANSWER: I believe that my management, budgeting, and purchasing skills
matches exactly with the position and would benefit the company. In my
last company, I initiated a new procedure for purchasing materials that
ended up in a 37 percent decrease in annual materials. That’s what I’d
like to do for your company.
I also believe that my skills would be an ideal match for an organization
like…., which is …….
2) What are some of your strengths?
ANSWER: My strengths are my negotiating, training, and
marketing skills. An example of my training ability is a
project for which I trained a group of 16 new employees
for the help desk, and they were able to function 20
percent faster than their predecessors.
Let’s look at a different question of this type:
QUESTION: What would your last boss say about you?
ANSWER: I believe she would say I’m innovative,
dependable, and professional. An example of my ability
to innovate is that wrote an award-winning software
program for training new employees.
QUESTION: What accomplishments are you most proud
of?
ANSWER: I’m most proud of producing, writing,
and directing my own documentary, of winning
a citywide triathlon, and of producing a show
for CBS television.
When I produced a movie-of the-week for CBS,
I was able to cut 3 days out of the production
schedule, saving the company over $650,000.
Questions behind questions
QUESTION: What do you think you’ll be doing 5 years from now?
or
What is your long term career goals?
Questions behind question
1. Are you going to stay at the company for a
while so that the time it takes to orient and
train you yields a return on our investment,
or are you here just for a short stay?
2. If I hire you, are you going to try to take my
job?
ANSWER A: I’d like to be the vice president of
Human Resources in 5 years.
ANSWER B: I would really like to make just
enough money here to be able to buy a plane
ticket to Hawaii and pay my first and last
month’s rent.
ANSWER C: My goal is to grow and learn
more as a professional in this organization
QUESTION: Why did you apply for this job?
or
What do you know about this company?
The question behind the question is
“Did you just stumble upon our company, or did you put some thought and effort into making a choice to work with us? Have you done your homework?”
ANSWER A: I was just looking through the
newspaper, and I came across this one.
ANSWER B: I have been targeting my job search
toward major companies in the software industry. I
came across yours on the Internet and decided to
research it a bit further. According to your Web site,
you’ve introduced several new product lines in the
past few years. I was impressed by your track record
and wanted to find out more.
ANSWER C: I heard about it from a friend.
QUESTION: Why did you leave
your last job?
The question behind the question is..
The real fear behind this question is
that you may have been fired or that
you are just changing jobs on a whim,
only for the money, or that you are a
“job hopper.”
ANSWER A: I became aware that there were
some excellent new opportunities in the field of
biotechnology. I really wanted to expand my
professional growth by finding out more about
them. This company, judging by your Web site,
seems like it would have some interesting
opportunities.
ANSWER B: I felt pretty bored at my last job, so I
just wanted something more stimulating.
ANSWER C: My last boss and I really didn’t see
eye to eye. He wouldn’t give me a raise no
matter how many times I tried to get one.
Stress Questions
The object of a stress question is
not to gain information from the
content of your answer.
Stress questions are designed to
gain information about how you
behave under stress.
What was your greatest failure?
ANSWER: Perhaps my greatest failure
was not going to college right after
graduating from high school. Anyway, I
waited until I got a few years of work
under my belt and then I got a degree
in physics, with highest honors. I
guess it didn’t turn out so badly.
What is your greatest
weakness?“I am at times late for work and I tend to
work late”
Answer : I’ve been told a few times that
I’m just too much of a perfectionist. Yes,
it’s true. I do make it a practice of
checking my work at least once or twice
to make sure that it’s absolutely
accurate.
Questions to ask the
employer1.) What exactly would my day to day
responsibilities be?
2.) Can you describe a typical week or month
in the job?
3.) What are the key objectives for the job
holder over the next three months?
4) What are the training and development
opportunities?
5) What is the next step in the process?
6) May I have your business card?
Illegal Questions
95% of interviewers will not ask you illegal
questions.
You have a legal right not to discuss the
following issues:
1) Marital status
2) Number of children
3) Arrest record
4) Physical or mental disabilities
5) Race, religion, sexual preference, or
ethnicity
How to handle an illegal
question?ANSWER A: I’m not sure how my
marital status would have any bearing
on my ability to carry out my job
responsibilities.
Could you please clarify that for me?
Or . . .
ANSWER A: Does my race have
something to do with the job
description? I don’t think I understand
the question.
QUESTION: Do you have any physical
condition that would prevent you from
doing this job?
“Do you have a
disability?”