There are many important elements to getting ready for a job interview, but one of the most vital is to prepare responses to the many interview questions that will be asked of you. Taking the time to review the types of interview questions that are typically asked and are easily found on the internet will help you overcome the interview questions by allowing you to formulate answers that pertain to your job skills, qualifications and experience. Knowing the answers to these interview questions will help you appear more confident and you will impress the interviewer with your knowledge their requirements and the interview questions that you ask during the job interview.
Before entering into an interview situation you need to be prepared for the questions that will be asked of you. These interview questions come in basically two forms: 1) the personal type of interview questions pertaining to your reasons for wanting the job and 2) what is known as 'behavioral' interview questions which test your reaction to certain work scenarios. Both of these types of interview questions must be taken very seriously and given well thought-out answers.
With your resume in hand the interviewer will ask you for additional information about you, your past employment and your qualifications. These are the personal interview questions that you need to be ready for in order to give concise and succinct answers. When asked, "tell me about yourself" the interviewer doesn't want to know about your relationships and interests. These interview questions are used to find out about who you are as an employee and what skills and qualifications you bring to the table. At an interview questions such as these are key and must be thought out in advance. Ideally, you want to give an answer in three to five minutes, beginning with an overview of your highest qualification then running through the jobs you've held so far in your career. It is important with interview questions like these to follow the structure of your resume giving examples of skills and achievements you've picked up along the way.
Another of the personal interview questions that you will be asked is what are your strengths and weaknesses. In an interview questions such as this are used to check your proficiency on the job, so pick your top three strengths in advance and be able to give examples of where they are used. Make sure to use keywords to describe your strengths such as 'organized', 'great communication skills', 'good delegator' and if possible use the same strengths as requested in the job ad because answering interview questions with the keywords that the interviewer is looking for makes you more relevant to the position.
No matter how you try, you will not get away from the interview questions of 'What are your weaknesses' so it is important when answering interview questions to be aware of your weak areas. Learn to convey these qualities with a story that explains how you overcame them ? this shows self-awareness and the ability to overcome obstacles and in any interview questions such as this, answered well, will be impressive.
The behavioral type of interview questions are used as a tool to discover how your past performance in a previous job may contribute to your future performance in the role you are being interviewed for. The employer has decided what skills are needed in the person they hire and will ask interview questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how you would behave, they will ask how you did behave. Behavioral based interview questions usually take the form of explaining a situation or an experience where you overcame an obstacle and how you achieved a positive outcome. These types of interview questions are challenging in that they require you to really know yourself and to be able to illustrate examples of where your talents made a difference. interview questions about that particular circumstance will be asked so be prepared to elaborate. For instance, the interviewer may ask you to "tell me exactly how you accomplished that" or "what was the basis for your decision" in order to delve deeper into the story in an effort to separate fact from fiction.
Other basic interview questions will be asked of you such as "why do you want this job?" This is one of the basic interview questions asked in order to test that the candidate has thought about the company, the brand and the position on offer. On occasion, interview questions such as "what do your colleagues think of you?" may be asked, and if it is, come back with a reasonable answer because references will be taken and these colleagues will be asked the same interview questions about you.
Remember that the interview is a two-way process. The company interviewing you will use interview questions to find out whether you are suitable to the position and you will want to ask interview questions to find out if the company and position are right for you. You should therefore ensure that you have enough information to make up your mind whether you want the job. You may wish to ask interview questions such as "what will my responsibilities be?", "where will I fit into the organizational structure?" etc. should be asked by you. Know what you are getting into beforehand so that you can be the right person for the job. When these interview questions are handled well, there is an almost guarantee that the interviewee has got the job.
The Career Council is the #1 person-to-person solution for Job Interview Coaching. We offer the answers to your interview questions, share with you the "Secrets of Successful Interviewing" and teach you the "30 Second Sell". Face-to-face or via Skype we will give you the skills training needed to transform you into a Key Candidate. Check out how we can help you at www.careercouncil.ca
|
