Interview advice
Discussion
Hi.
I am looking to improve my interview techniques and was wondering if anyone would mind trying to answer some of these questions so I can get an idea of what to say if asked during an interview. I know they are quite individualistic but if you could answer them anyway so I get a general idea of what is commonly accepted as a good response.
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Can you please give me an example of a time when you have achived something you were really proud of? How did that achievement make you feel?
Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team.
Describe a situation when you had to problem solve and what was the end result?
How do you feel about being required to work on your own?
Please tell me a little about your self.
How would a good friend describe you?
Why would you like to work in (Whatever industry or sector you generally have interviews in)?
What do you consider your strengths
What do you consider your weaknesses
What would you like to see your self doing in 5 years
Pretty basic interview questions but what would you put? I am looking for basic working and layout I can adapt my own answers to.
I am looking to improve my interview techniques and was wondering if anyone would mind trying to answer some of these questions so I can get an idea of what to say if asked during an interview. I know they are quite individualistic but if you could answer them anyway so I get a general idea of what is commonly accepted as a good response.
---
Can you please give me an example of a time when you have achived something you were really proud of? How did that achievement make you feel?
Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team.
Describe a situation when you had to problem solve and what was the end result?
How do you feel about being required to work on your own?
Please tell me a little about your self.
How would a good friend describe you?
Why would you like to work in (Whatever industry or sector you generally have interviews in)?
What do you consider your strengths
What do you consider your weaknesses
What would you like to see your self doing in 5 years
Pretty basic interview questions but what would you put? I am looking for basic working and layout I can adapt my own answers to.
edc said:
Be careful of the use of "we did" as the interviewer wants to know of the "I did".
Unless they are looking for how well you work in a team, or leading a team.As said above, using the STAR method is the most tried and tested. My personal advice is to prepare, prepare, prepare... Also consider some examples from your personal life, rather than making it all work-focussed.
Giving a top performance at interview is a skill just like any other that must be learned, practiced and revised if you want to be the best at it. Answer techniques are really important, as are dress, body language, eye contact, how you introduce yourself, studying the company profile and recceing the location. A typical client can be coached in all of these in half a day if that helps with some context, with the bulk of that time spent on answering techniques for competency and behavioural based questions. If you've not been coached on this before, all my clients claim it's a revelation once they have. Good luck!
Having been interviewing this week I can say that rule one of what you don't do is slag off your previous employer. It really doesn't come over well. In fact don't slag off anyone, you want to portray that you got on well with all your previous employers and left on amicable terms.
Dress smartly and conservatively, not overly fashionably, you want to be remembered for who you are not what you wore.
If someone asks you what your weaknesses are (yes, I know, stock question) do come out with something that is a weakness. Don't say things like 'I prefer to get things finished even if it means staying late to do it'.
Have some questions to ask, not lots, but when asked if there is anything do come up with something. Remember that it is important for you to be able to judge whether you want to work there.
Don't tell me that you are going for another interview for a job that is paying quite a bit more.
Be on time, that means if the interview is at 10.00am walk into reception at 9.55. Don't be late but equally don't be early, I'm not ready for you at 9.45.
Answer the person who asked the question. OK look at the others, but don't address all your answers at someone else because you think they are the decision maker.
To follow on from that you don't know who is important in the room. The older man might not be the person who will decide, it might be the younger woman. I sometimes sit on interviews with department managers but I don't choose who they recruit, I have power of veto but I've never used it.
Remember that they will probably google you, look you up in Facebook etc., do that yourself and try and clear up any references that may be, err, sub-optimal.
Dress smartly and conservatively, not overly fashionably, you want to be remembered for who you are not what you wore.
If someone asks you what your weaknesses are (yes, I know, stock question) do come out with something that is a weakness. Don't say things like 'I prefer to get things finished even if it means staying late to do it'.
Have some questions to ask, not lots, but when asked if there is anything do come up with something. Remember that it is important for you to be able to judge whether you want to work there.
Don't tell me that you are going for another interview for a job that is paying quite a bit more.
Be on time, that means if the interview is at 10.00am walk into reception at 9.55. Don't be late but equally don't be early, I'm not ready for you at 9.45.
Answer the person who asked the question. OK look at the others, but don't address all your answers at someone else because you think they are the decision maker.
To follow on from that you don't know who is important in the room. The older man might not be the person who will decide, it might be the younger woman. I sometimes sit on interviews with department managers but I don't choose who they recruit, I have power of veto but I've never used it.
Remember that they will probably google you, look you up in Facebook etc., do that yourself and try and clear up any references that may be, err, sub-optimal.
simon1987 said:
Hi.
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Can you please give me an example of a time when you have achived something you were really proud of? How did that achievement make you feel?
In my previous role, a situation arose where we need to look at how best to improve the efficency of the team over the next 12 months. I was tasked to look at time management and analyse which activities took the most of amount of time, and could we change or automate any of those activities.
My action was to speak with the people performing those tasks and look at industry best practice, from the data I gathered I discovered that by changing the way in which XXX was done we could reduce the amount of time.
I felt particularly proud of the subsequent cost savings and most importantly the time saved as it was the first time I had to manage a project where the answer wasn't known and we didn't have a definite objective in mind - other than to "improve"
Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team.
Describe a situation when you had to problem solve and what was the end result?
How do you feel about being required to work on your own?
Please tell me a little about your self.
How would a good friend describe you?
I think they would say I was hard working, ambitious and someone with a passion for what I do. They might also say I was quite competitive.
Why would you like to work in (Whatever industry or sector you generally have interviews in)?
WAY TOO BROAD.... you need o think about the industry and what it is known for
IT./Teleco - I like innovation and industries that move quickly and adapt to new technology.
Property - I really enjoy the commercial challenge of negotiation.
Retail - I couldn't work in an industry where you can't see fast results, I enjoy the pace and dynamic constant change to adapt to market trends
etc
What do you consider your strengths
Communication, understand concepts or strategy and thinking about how to apply what I know to the current problem or situation. The ability to step back from a situation and consider a wide range of solutions before making a decision.
What do you consider your weaknesses
Laugh and say - speak to my parole officer (no don't do this)
Laugh a little and say - this is always a hard one to answer - but I think my development challenges are to develop my influencing skills and management ability ?
What would you like to see your self doing in 5 years
Don't say doing your wife [/family guy]
I'd like to think I would have developed my skills and experience to a point where I was considered ready to take on more responsibility. Ideally I want to prepare myself so I am ready to either really specialise in this industry, or have a broad commercial experience that I can use to develop my own enterprise.
Pretty basic interview questions but what would you put? I am looking for basic working and layout I can adapt my own answers to.
---
Can you please give me an example of a time when you have achived something you were really proud of? How did that achievement make you feel?
In my previous role, a situation arose where we need to look at how best to improve the efficency of the team over the next 12 months. I was tasked to look at time management and analyse which activities took the most of amount of time, and could we change or automate any of those activities.
My action was to speak with the people performing those tasks and look at industry best practice, from the data I gathered I discovered that by changing the way in which XXX was done we could reduce the amount of time.
I felt particularly proud of the subsequent cost savings and most importantly the time saved as it was the first time I had to manage a project where the answer wasn't known and we didn't have a definite objective in mind - other than to "improve"
Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team.
Describe a situation when you had to problem solve and what was the end result?
How do you feel about being required to work on your own?
Please tell me a little about your self.
How would a good friend describe you?
I think they would say I was hard working, ambitious and someone with a passion for what I do. They might also say I was quite competitive.
Why would you like to work in (Whatever industry or sector you generally have interviews in)?
WAY TOO BROAD.... you need o think about the industry and what it is known for
IT./Teleco - I like innovation and industries that move quickly and adapt to new technology.
Property - I really enjoy the commercial challenge of negotiation.
Retail - I couldn't work in an industry where you can't see fast results, I enjoy the pace and dynamic constant change to adapt to market trends
etc
What do you consider your strengths
Communication, understand concepts or strategy and thinking about how to apply what I know to the current problem or situation. The ability to step back from a situation and consider a wide range of solutions before making a decision.
What do you consider your weaknesses
Laugh and say - speak to my parole officer (no don't do this)
Laugh a little and say - this is always a hard one to answer - but I think my development challenges are to develop my influencing skills and management ability ?
What would you like to see your self doing in 5 years
Don't say doing your wife [/family guy]
I'd like to think I would have developed my skills and experience to a point where I was considered ready to take on more responsibility. Ideally I want to prepare myself so I am ready to either really specialise in this industry, or have a broad commercial experience that I can use to develop my own enterprise.
Pretty basic interview questions but what would you put? I am looking for basic working and layout I can adapt my own answers to.
The specifics of the answers are less important than the context...
simon1987 said:
Can you please give me an example of a time when you have achived something you were really proud of? How did that achievement make you feel?
Going back to university to complete my Masters. Being a bit more mature I felt I got a lot more out of it than my undergraduate degree. I feel that I am much more prepared for a career in...simon1987 said:
Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team.
One of the most memorable times I have worked as part of a team was when I was an X at X. My role was to XXX. The leader of this team is XX who praised my input and is actually one of my references. There were a few problems during the project, including XXX, but we pulled together and solved it by doing X and delivered on time, on budget/to the customers specification.simon1987 said:
Describe a situation when you had to problem solve and what was the end result?
When I was an X at X there was an issue with X. I was tasked to find a solution which I did by doing X, X and X. The end result was that the problem was solved and everybody was happy. It was a great feeling to be able to contribute in this way and I learned X.simon1987 said:
How do you feel about being required to work on your own?
I'm very capable of getting my head down and getting on with my work. When I was X at X I was often given work which left me working on my own with little supervision. I enjoyed doing this type of work. I would switch off my email system/go to a private office and power through the work uninterrupted. The feeling of accomplishment when finishing off work such as that was great.simon1987 said:
Please tell me a little about your self.
I'm a 28 year old business graduate with experience in X, X and X. I studied at X and X. I'm looking for a position where I can do X, X and X.simon1987 said:
How would a good friend describe you?
Reliable, dependable, hard working. There was this one time when my friend X wanted me to do X and I did it which enabled us to do X.simon1987 said:
Why would you like to work in (Whatever industry or sector you generally have interviews in)?
I've been interested in this industry since I did/saw/read this about this. My subsequent experience with X and X proved to me that this industry is right for me. I think I would do well in this industry because of X, X and X.simon1987 said:
What do you consider your strengths
My strongest points are [choose 2 or 3 critical areas from the job spec]. You can see this from my experience etc.simon1987 said:
What do you consider your weaknesses
I'm not great at X however I have been working hard on it/doing a training course/making it a priority to improve. I was pleased last month when I did [weakness] and it turned out well - the result was [positive result!].simon1987 said:
What would you like to see your self doing in 5 years
Over the next 5 years I am looking to learn about the industry, gain some qualifications, build experience and if the opportunity presents itself move upwards within the organisation.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff