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Here are some Common Interview Questions
Tell me about yourself
With this question, they don't want to know your life story or that you live with your parents, 2 dogs and a cat...
They want you to summarise yourself succinctly. So put together brief details of your education and career history, together with some key achievements and perhaps an indication of where you want to be. You should also be able to link this to the role you're applying for by finding a common thread or relevance.
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
Sometimes you'll be asked about your strengths; sometimes about your weaknesses. We all have weaknesses so, whatever you do, don't say you don't have any. That would just be naive. So identify your weaknesses (not all of them) and tell them what you're doing to address them. You might be undergoing further training or reading books.
Tip: if you haven't already identified your weaknesses and started to address them, do so now... yes, today.
Why are you interested in this job? Why do you want this job?
You should have already established this before you applied to the role. What attracted you? Is it your belief in the company's products/services? Its reputation? Its recognition for providing quality training? Its ethos and social responsibility? It could be that you already know several people who work there and they've given positive feedback.
It's important when answering this question that you've researched the company thoroughly through reading its website, press announcements, social media pages, etc. You can then answer honestly and bring your own skills into your answer as offering a good match for the company. But remember, it's about what you can do for the company - and only to a lesser extent what they can do for you.
Tell me about a time when you... (led a team, dealt with a difficult customer, exceeded expectations...)
This question is very common at interview and also in online job applications. Virgin uses this type of question online.
The employer wants you to demonstrate how you deal with certain situations.
Don't rush into the answer. Take your time and answer coherently describing the situation (where/when), the problem, what you did and what the final outcome was. Your experience may have resulted in an improvement to procedures to prevent the problem recurring.
You can start thinking about this now - today. Prepare several situations you can call upon. If you don't have any work experience, you can apply this question to school or university studies, or to extracurricular activities.
Why do you think we should hire/employ you?
They're asking you to tell them why you're the best person for the job. You can't just tell them that you're better than the other candidates (you don't actually know that). Nor can you get away with telling them it's the best decision they'll ever make.
You need to demonstrate that you have the relevant skills, knowledge, experience, work ethic, initiative, personality and attitude, and that you'll be able to add value to the business through your commitment and contribution.
With this question, they don't want to know your life story or that you live with your parents, 2 dogs and a cat...
They want you to summarise yourself succinctly. So put together brief details of your education and career history, together with some key achievements and perhaps an indication of where you want to be. You should also be able to link this to the role you're applying for by finding a common thread or relevance.
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
Sometimes you'll be asked about your strengths; sometimes about your weaknesses. We all have weaknesses so, whatever you do, don't say you don't have any. That would just be naive. So identify your weaknesses (not all of them) and tell them what you're doing to address them. You might be undergoing further training or reading books.
Tip: if you haven't already identified your weaknesses and started to address them, do so now... yes, today.
Why are you interested in this job? Why do you want this job?
You should have already established this before you applied to the role. What attracted you? Is it your belief in the company's products/services? Its reputation? Its recognition for providing quality training? Its ethos and social responsibility? It could be that you already know several people who work there and they've given positive feedback.
It's important when answering this question that you've researched the company thoroughly through reading its website, press announcements, social media pages, etc. You can then answer honestly and bring your own skills into your answer as offering a good match for the company. But remember, it's about what you can do for the company - and only to a lesser extent what they can do for you.
Tell me about a time when you... (led a team, dealt with a difficult customer, exceeded expectations...)
This question is very common at interview and also in online job applications. Virgin uses this type of question online.
The employer wants you to demonstrate how you deal with certain situations.
Don't rush into the answer. Take your time and answer coherently describing the situation (where/when), the problem, what you did and what the final outcome was. Your experience may have resulted in an improvement to procedures to prevent the problem recurring.
You can start thinking about this now - today. Prepare several situations you can call upon. If you don't have any work experience, you can apply this question to school or university studies, or to extracurricular activities.
Why do you think we should hire/employ you?
They're asking you to tell them why you're the best person for the job. You can't just tell them that you're better than the other candidates (you don't actually know that). Nor can you get away with telling them it's the best decision they'll ever make.
You need to demonstrate that you have the relevant skills, knowledge, experience, work ethic, initiative, personality and attitude, and that you'll be able to add value to the business through your commitment and contribution.
Rehearse your answers and visualise yourself in an interview situation
Now you need to rehearse your interview technique
You could either enlist the help of a friend - ideally someone who has business or interviewing experience, or you could use a dictaphone (or mobile phone recording device) to practice your answers. Practice different different scenarious and vocabulary until you find phrases that you're comfortable with. You should be able to deliver each answer in around 3 minutes maximum. You don't want to bore your interviewer to death!
Visualisation is a useful tool when preparing for interviews
In your mind, go over the Q&As repeatedly. Visualise yourself delivering your responses to one, two or three panelists*, until you feel completely confident in your delivery. Don't forget to relax and smile. You don't want to come across as robotic.
* If you are being interviewed by several people, ensure you make eye contact with all of them and don't just focus on one.
You could either enlist the help of a friend - ideally someone who has business or interviewing experience, or you could use a dictaphone (or mobile phone recording device) to practice your answers. Practice different different scenarious and vocabulary until you find phrases that you're comfortable with. You should be able to deliver each answer in around 3 minutes maximum. You don't want to bore your interviewer to death!
Visualisation is a useful tool when preparing for interviews
In your mind, go over the Q&As repeatedly. Visualise yourself delivering your responses to one, two or three panelists*, until you feel completely confident in your delivery. Don't forget to relax and smile. You don't want to come across as robotic.
* If you are being interviewed by several people, ensure you make eye contact with all of them and don't just focus on one.