General Questions
1. Tell us about yourself?
Keep your answer very simple and brief. Don't prolong by telling your family history and schooling. Be brief and focus more on your skills initiatives and adaptability.
2. Why should we hire you?
Because I have all the attributes that this role requires. Knowledge, experience, skills and abilities. You need to be confident while replying and no vague answers.
3. Why are you looking for a change? or Why do you want to leave your company?
Be positive while answering. You want to work with a company where you can make a long term career. Where you can use your skills and learn new skills. Be honest if there was any retrenchment in the previous company e.g. Our Department was consolidated or eliminated.
4. What are your strengths?
Your strengths should relate to the company and job opening. I have a proven track record as an achiever.Positive attitude, good sense of humour, good communication skills, dedicated, team player, willingness to walk the extramile to achieve excellence etc. Your answer should highlight the qualities that will help you succeed in this particular job. (Back up each point with something specific). Give examples and quantify how your strengths benefited your previous employers. You should also demonstrate reliability, and the ability to stick with a difficult task yet change courses rapidly when required.
2. Why should we hire you?
Because I have all the attributes that this role requires. Knowledge, experience, skills and abilities. You need to be confident while replying and no vague answers.
3. Why are you looking for a change? or Why do you want to leave your company?
Be positive while answering. You want to work with a company where you can make a long term career. Where you can use your skills and learn new skills. Be honest if there was any retrenchment in the previous company e.g. Our Department was consolidated or eliminated.
4. What are your strengths?
Your strengths should relate to the company and job opening. I have a proven track record as an achiever.Positive attitude, good sense of humour, good communication skills, dedicated, team player, willingness to walk the extramile to achieve excellence etc. Your answer should highlight the qualities that will help you succeed in this particular job. (Back up each point with something specific). Give examples and quantify how your strengths benefited your previous employers. You should also demonstrate reliability, and the ability to stick with a difficult task yet change courses rapidly when required.
5. What are your weaknesses?
Never say you do not have any weak points. Try not to reveal your personal characteristics. I often get impatient with others sloppy work.
The best “weaknesses” are disguised
as strengths, such as “I dislike not being challenged at work”. Another
good approach is to mention a weakness that is irrelevant for the job
or one that can be overcome with training. Try to keep these to one
weakness, explaining why you think it is a weakness and what you are
doing to overcome the problem – a well thought out strategy you have
developed to deal with the issue will turn this potentially tricky question into a positive.
One common variation on this question is to ask about any problems or
failures you’ve encountered in previous positions. In describing
problems, pick ones you’ve solved and describe how you overcame it. Show
yourself to be a good team player by crediting co-workers for all their
contributions. To distance yourself from failure, pick one that
occurred earlier in your career when you were still learning. Don’t
blame others – simply explain how you analysed your mistake and learned
from it.
6. What challenges did you face in your previous jobs?
Getting things planned and done on time within the budget. Quote any example that you have experienced.
7. How will you motivate your team?
Bottom line is do it show it and inspire. Involve all the members in the ongoing development and progress of the company. Communicate and interact with the team members. They want regular updates on their personal performance. Keep them updated.Celebrate individual and team performance. Catch people doing something right and focus on recognising excellent performance.Set challenging goals. Team will work hard to accomplish them. Believe in your people. Majority of them want to perform.Motivate employes for the next level. Consistent and transparent with the team. Let the members know why doing an assigned task is important to you the Organisation and them.Set the example for others to follow.
8. “What’s the worst problem you’ve ever faced?”
Here the interviewer is offering you the two ways to trip yourself up:
- First of all, the question doesn’t confine itself to the workplace, so there is temptation to reveal a personal problem. Don’t! Restrict yourself to employment matters only.
- Second, you are being asked to reveal a weakness or error again. You must have a good response ready for this question, one which shows how well you reacted when everything depended on it.
Always show a problem you have solved and concentrate your answer on the solution not the problem.
9. “How would you describe a typical day in your current job?”
You are eager to look good but don’t make the common mistake of
exaggerating your current position. Mentioning some of the routine tasks
in your day adds realism to your description and show that you don’t
neglect important details such as paperwork. Put yourself in the
interviewer’s place as your answer. When you’ve been doing a job for
years it becomes second nature to you, and you must be aware of all the
tasks you undertake. You should spend a few days making notes of your
activities at work to regain an outsider’s perspective. Try to show that
you make good use of your time, that you plan before you begin your
work and that you review your achievements at the end of it
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