Job Interview: Frequently Asked Questions
1 November 2012
Read by 2531 persons
The invitation to a job interview is your only chance to score points with a potential employer. Therefore, it is important to prepare well for the recruiter's questions.
Besides the overall impression and of course your qualifications, the questions asked during the job interview are decisive - or rather your answers. Your potential employer asks these questions because they want to learn as much as possible about you: your personality, your character, your habits and preferences, your motivation, your weaknesses and strengths, etc. Each question-answer block is a fragment that integrates into the overall mosaic.
Regardless of the recruiters' inventiveness, there are a series of questions that no candidate seems to escape. Here is a selection of the most frequently asked questions in job interviews, along with valuable recommendations for answering them.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Tell me (tell us) a little about yourself.
If the recruiter starts the interview by announcing that they will ask you a few "questions" and then says to you "Tell me about yourself...", don't retort: "Actually, this isn't a question." You would have already lost the game!
The subtleties of a "clever clogs" should be avoided during a job interview - and other occasions as well.
This invitation to "talk about yourself" should not encourage you to tell a long story from the day of your birth until the day of the interview. It's not about presenting your biography in its entirety. Your interviewer wants to know if you are able to select key points and know which ones seem important to you.
Don't be surprised if they interrupt you. It's perfectly normal for them to insist by asking "why?" or "can you explain this to me?", their objective in doing so being to see if you master the subject and if you are able to remain calm without being disturbed.
How to prepare before the interview:
A few days before your interview date, note down some key points of your biography, also choosing elements that might be of interest to your employer.
Write down a reference and a verb next to each point on your final list.
Finally, practice - aloud or ideally with a friend who will play the role of the recruiter - the answer to the invitation to "talk a little about yourself."
2. Why did you apply to our company?
The objective of this question is above all to verify if the candidate has done their homework. Indeed, if you have previously looked into the company's history, its policy, its orientations and its vision (by studying its website, an institutional brochure and other publications), you will be able to link this to the key points of your qualifications and strengths.
Example: a company with a history of more than a hundred years, focusing on sustainable innovation, is the ideal employer for you if you are a research engineer who identifies with sustainable development. Needless to say, the vacant position seems interesting to you: it's obvious since you applied!
How to prepare before the interview:
Carefully read everything you can find about the company and note down the key elements characterizing it.
Then list the points characterizing yourself (strengths, accomplishments, etc.) that go well with these.
Make the connection and develop a draft answer (however, without writing ready-made sentences!).
Note: this question can be formulated in different ways, for example: Why does our company seem interesting to you in your case? Why, in your opinion, would our company be the ideal employer for you?
3. For what reason do you wish to leave your current employer?
The objective of this question is to find out if you have perseverance or if you give up quickly and prefer to look for a new job as soon as difficulties and unpleasant conditions arise. Furthermore, conflicts that occurred in your previous job could be at the origin of your ambitions for change. If this is the case, don't mention them.
Explain that you have set yourself new professional objectives and that you are looking for new challenges. In this context, highlight certain elements that are part of the tasks mentioned in the job offer.
How to prepare before the interview:
Systematically analyze the job offer and select two or three key points.
Formulate concrete objectives corresponding to these key points.
4. What do you know about our company?
This question also serves to verify if you have intensively researched your potential employer.
How to prepare before the interview:
Gather all available information about the company beforehand.
Structure the data collected: sector/industry, company history (key points), philosophy, range of products and/or services, economic indicators, etc.
Highlight important points with a highlighter to emphasize them.
Before the interview date and if possible on the morning of the appointment, follow the press which may possibly refer to this company.
5. What objectives do you hope to have achieved in three (five, ten) years?
This question allows the recruiter to know to what extent you think about your future, if you have developed future perspectives and if you have concrete professional projects.
However, it is wise to emphasize that your projects overlap with the company's needs while specifying that you are flexible and "open" to any interesting development.
How to prepare before the interview:
Define your plan over a 3, 5 and 10-year horizon in the form of a linear representation.
Remember the key points.
Make the connection with concrete points derived from the job description.
6. Why do you think you are the ideal person for this job?
By asking you this question, the recruiter wants to see how you react. Now it's about staying calm. Mention your qualifications, the essential aspects of your profile and make the link with the different elements of the job description.
Take the opportunity to emphasize that you can identify with the company's corporate culture.
How to prepare before the interview:
Systematically analyze the job offer in question and note down the different points of the required profile in the form of a table on the left-hand side of a sheet.
Check for each point what you have to offer.
Write down the result of your comparison in the right-hand column of your table.
Your chances of obtaining the coveted position will be all the greater the more numerous the correspondences between the required profile and the points of your own profile. Present this result as precisely and factually as possible.
7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Don't display an overly self-assured behavior and above all don't declare "I never make mistakes" or "I am the best candidate you can find in this field". This kind of attitude is not at all "pleasant", to say the least.
Faced with this question, it is above all a matter of showing that you certainly know your strengths, but that you are able to react with circumspection and a certain reserve, without false modesty, or even humility.
Don't hesitate, in this context, to mention that you know how to cope with stress, that you are reliable and that you are willingly prepared to learn in a new field for you.
As for weaknesses, be careful as well: too much sincerity could harm you. Avoid answers like "I'm impatient" or "I tend to be perfectionist"; recruiters have heard them a thousand times.
How to prepare before the interview:
List a number of weaknesses consistent with your profile and that can be corrected, for example, through training.
Examples: insufficient knowledge of a computer application or a foreign language.
Regarding so-called "soft skills", the famous "know-how", relativize what you say by adding "occasionally, I tend to..." or "sometimes I..."
8. What bothers you most about others and how do you react?
It's not about defining yourself as the specialist in a better world. And don't answer this question by talking about yourself (e.g.: "I hate being interrupted"). Avoid any subject that could be "embarrassing" (people sweating a lot, having bad breath...) as well as critical political or social news topics: you could risk venturing into sensitive territory.
It's more a matter of citing an interesting, important, but sufficiently innocuous point. To do so, choose phrases such as "I sometimes have difficulty accepting that..." - and not "I hate that..., I detest that...", these are words that are too strong.
How to prepare before the interview:
Note down 2 to 3 points, such as intolerance, a lack of commitment...
Prepare to explain why the point you have mentioned bothers you.
Formulate a statement expressing how you cope with this situation.
9. How much would you like to earn?
This question may be asked during the first or second interview. Be prepared from the first appointment!
Always mention a range, for example between xx and yy Swiss francs, and not a precise amount. Nevertheless, you will have to be able to justify what you expect, for example by referring to your qualifications. However, show that you are willing to negotiate. In case you were offered a very low salary at the beginning, you may have the possibility of making a greater progression at the end of the trial period or renegotiating the question.
How to prepare before the interview:
Find out about the salary level in your sector/industry.
Also take into account the size of the company in question: is it an SME or a large group applying a tariff agreement?
10. How do you spend your free time?
The question seems quite innocuous, but you will have to be careful when answering it.
Don't think that it is enough to declare "Nothing, I'm a workaholic" to satisfy your interlocutor. Think again! On the contrary, you will achieve exactly the opposite.
In general, it is enough to mention one or two points. Indeed, it is not a question of giving a presentation on your activities during your leisure time. Never forget that recruiters systematically interpret everything that is told to them and draw conclusions. If you mention, for example, "Solitary bicycle excursions", the recruiter will probably think that you don't like contact. If on the other hand you practice a sport like volleyball, this will evoke your team spirit.
Here too, don't forget that it's no use inventing: stick to the truth.
How to prepare before the interview:
Note down your hobbies and leisure activities.
Think about the interpretation the recruiter could make for each point. If you are not sure about this or that point, you will certainly find useful information on the Internet.
Select the most innocuous leisure activity.
The ideal is obviously also an activity in volunteering.
General Advice
Fundamentally, it is not wise to learn the answers to the expected questions by heart: your interlocutor would immediately notice this, which would encourage them to immediately eliminate you from the selection procedure. A much more effective method of scoring points, besides good preparation, is a friendly, self-assured and authentic attitude.
No matter how innocuous the questions asked, never forget that if your interlocutors are well trained (whether they are recruiters from the human resources department or the person you meet in your potential future department), they are not only interested in the content of your answers. They will also take note of the form of your answers, your reaction to this or that question, external signs such as your gaze, facial expressions, gestures and posture, and they will record any hesitation and even the "unsaid".
Giselle Chaumien-Wetterauer.
Monster.ch
Posted on November 1, 2012.
Besides the overall impression and of course your qualifications, the questions asked during the job interview are decisive - or rather your answers. Your potential employer asks these questions because they want to learn as much as possible about you: your personality, your character, your habits and preferences, your motivation, your weaknesses and strengths, etc. Each question-answer block is a fragment that integrates into the overall mosaic.
Regardless of the recruiters' inventiveness, there are a series of questions that no candidate seems to escape. Here is a selection of the most frequently asked questions in job interviews, along with valuable recommendations for answering them.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Tell me (tell us) a little about yourself.
If the recruiter starts the interview by announcing that they will ask you a few "questions" and then says to you "Tell me about yourself...", don't retort: "Actually, this isn't a question." You would have already lost the game!
The subtleties of a "clever clogs" should be avoided during a job interview - and other occasions as well.
This invitation to "talk about yourself" should not encourage you to tell a long story from the day of your birth until the day of the interview. It's not about presenting your biography in its entirety. Your interviewer wants to know if you are able to select key points and know which ones seem important to you.
Don't be surprised if they interrupt you. It's perfectly normal for them to insist by asking "why?" or "can you explain this to me?", their objective in doing so being to see if you master the subject and if you are able to remain calm without being disturbed.
How to prepare before the interview:
A few days before your interview date, note down some key points of your biography, also choosing elements that might be of interest to your employer.
Write down a reference and a verb next to each point on your final list.
Finally, practice - aloud or ideally with a friend who will play the role of the recruiter - the answer to the invitation to "talk a little about yourself."
2. Why did you apply to our company?
The objective of this question is above all to verify if the candidate has done their homework. Indeed, if you have previously looked into the company's history, its policy, its orientations and its vision (by studying its website, an institutional brochure and other publications), you will be able to link this to the key points of your qualifications and strengths.
Example: a company with a history of more than a hundred years, focusing on sustainable innovation, is the ideal employer for you if you are a research engineer who identifies with sustainable development. Needless to say, the vacant position seems interesting to you: it's obvious since you applied!
How to prepare before the interview:
Carefully read everything you can find about the company and note down the key elements characterizing it.
Then list the points characterizing yourself (strengths, accomplishments, etc.) that go well with these.
Make the connection and develop a draft answer (however, without writing ready-made sentences!).
Note: this question can be formulated in different ways, for example: Why does our company seem interesting to you in your case? Why, in your opinion, would our company be the ideal employer for you?
3. For what reason do you wish to leave your current employer?
The objective of this question is to find out if you have perseverance or if you give up quickly and prefer to look for a new job as soon as difficulties and unpleasant conditions arise. Furthermore, conflicts that occurred in your previous job could be at the origin of your ambitions for change. If this is the case, don't mention them.
Explain that you have set yourself new professional objectives and that you are looking for new challenges. In this context, highlight certain elements that are part of the tasks mentioned in the job offer.
How to prepare before the interview:
Systematically analyze the job offer and select two or three key points.
Formulate concrete objectives corresponding to these key points.
4. What do you know about our company?
This question also serves to verify if you have intensively researched your potential employer.
How to prepare before the interview:
Gather all available information about the company beforehand.
Structure the data collected: sector/industry, company history (key points), philosophy, range of products and/or services, economic indicators, etc.
Highlight important points with a highlighter to emphasize them.
Before the interview date and if possible on the morning of the appointment, follow the press which may possibly refer to this company.
5. What objectives do you hope to have achieved in three (five, ten) years?
This question allows the recruiter to know to what extent you think about your future, if you have developed future perspectives and if you have concrete professional projects.
However, it is wise to emphasize that your projects overlap with the company's needs while specifying that you are flexible and "open" to any interesting development.
How to prepare before the interview:
Define your plan over a 3, 5 and 10-year horizon in the form of a linear representation.
Remember the key points.
Make the connection with concrete points derived from the job description.
6. Why do you think you are the ideal person for this job?
By asking you this question, the recruiter wants to see how you react. Now it's about staying calm. Mention your qualifications, the essential aspects of your profile and make the link with the different elements of the job description.
Take the opportunity to emphasize that you can identify with the company's corporate culture.
How to prepare before the interview:
Systematically analyze the job offer in question and note down the different points of the required profile in the form of a table on the left-hand side of a sheet.
Check for each point what you have to offer.
Write down the result of your comparison in the right-hand column of your table.
Your chances of obtaining the coveted position will be all the greater the more numerous the correspondences between the required profile and the points of your own profile. Present this result as precisely and factually as possible.
7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Don't display an overly self-assured behavior and above all don't declare "I never make mistakes" or "I am the best candidate you can find in this field". This kind of attitude is not at all "pleasant", to say the least.
Faced with this question, it is above all a matter of showing that you certainly know your strengths, but that you are able to react with circumspection and a certain reserve, without false modesty, or even humility.
Don't hesitate, in this context, to mention that you know how to cope with stress, that you are reliable and that you are willingly prepared to learn in a new field for you.
As for weaknesses, be careful as well: too much sincerity could harm you. Avoid answers like "I'm impatient" or "I tend to be perfectionist"; recruiters have heard them a thousand times.
How to prepare before the interview:
List a number of weaknesses consistent with your profile and that can be corrected, for example, through training.
Examples: insufficient knowledge of a computer application or a foreign language.
Regarding so-called "soft skills", the famous "know-how", relativize what you say by adding "occasionally, I tend to..." or "sometimes I..."
8. What bothers you most about others and how do you react?
It's not about defining yourself as the specialist in a better world. And don't answer this question by talking about yourself (e.g.: "I hate being interrupted"). Avoid any subject that could be "embarrassing" (people sweating a lot, having bad breath...) as well as critical political or social news topics: you could risk venturing into sensitive territory.
It's more a matter of citing an interesting, important, but sufficiently innocuous point. To do so, choose phrases such as "I sometimes have difficulty accepting that..." - and not "I hate that..., I detest that...", these are words that are too strong.
How to prepare before the interview:
Note down 2 to 3 points, such as intolerance, a lack of commitment...
Prepare to explain why the point you have mentioned bothers you.
Formulate a statement expressing how you cope with this situation.
9. How much would you like to earn?
This question may be asked during the first or second interview. Be prepared from the first appointment!
Always mention a range, for example between xx and yy Swiss francs, and not a precise amount. Nevertheless, you will have to be able to justify what you expect, for example by referring to your qualifications. However, show that you are willing to negotiate. In case you were offered a very low salary at the beginning, you may have the possibility of making a greater progression at the end of the trial period or renegotiating the question.
How to prepare before the interview:
Find out about the salary level in your sector/industry.
Also take into account the size of the company in question: is it an SME or a large group applying a tariff agreement?
10. How do you spend your free time?
The question seems quite innocuous, but you will have to be careful when answering it.
Don't think that it is enough to declare "Nothing, I'm a workaholic" to satisfy your interlocutor. Think again! On the contrary, you will achieve exactly the opposite.
In general, it is enough to mention one or two points. Indeed, it is not a question of giving a presentation on your activities during your leisure time. Never forget that recruiters systematically interpret everything that is told to them and draw conclusions. If you mention, for example, "Solitary bicycle excursions", the recruiter will probably think that you don't like contact. If on the other hand you practice a sport like volleyball, this will evoke your team spirit.
Here too, don't forget that it's no use inventing: stick to the truth.
How to prepare before the interview:
Note down your hobbies and leisure activities.
Think about the interpretation the recruiter could make for each point. If you are not sure about this or that point, you will certainly find useful information on the Internet.
Select the most innocuous leisure activity.
The ideal is obviously also an activity in volunteering.
General Advice
Fundamentally, it is not wise to learn the answers to the expected questions by heart: your interlocutor would immediately notice this, which would encourage them to immediately eliminate you from the selection procedure. A much more effective method of scoring points, besides good preparation, is a friendly, self-assured and authentic attitude.
No matter how innocuous the questions asked, never forget that if your interlocutors are well trained (whether they are recruiters from the human resources department or the person you meet in your potential future department), they are not only interested in the content of your answers. They will also take note of the form of your answers, your reaction to this or that question, external signs such as your gaze, facial expressions, gestures and posture, and they will record any hesitation and even the "unsaid".
Giselle Chaumien-Wetterauer.
Monster.ch
Posted on November 1, 2012.
