Important interviw questions

[Rena]

1. Tell me about yourself.


Keep your answer short and focused on your professional life. This is
not the time to bring up relationships, childhood experiences, family
etc. A brief history of education, career and special interests is
what is called for here. End it with why you are interested in this
particular job.


2. Why are you applying for this particular job?


Show interest and demonstrate that you have researched the job and
know what you are getting into. Bring up evidence from past work/
studies that supports your interest in this role and any skills you
have acquired in preparation for the role. You can say something
like 'I would like to work for a leader in innovative network and
telecommunications solutions and my college degree in computational
mathematics has given me a solid background for this role. Mention
the value-added you can bring to the job.


3. What do you know about our company?


Indicate what you have learnt from your research activities - from
their annual reports,newspapers, word of mouth, other employees etc.
Use this to flatter them and show that you have done your homework.


4. What makes you qualified for this particular job?


Again, explain that you are very interested in the job and
demonstrate what it is about your past experiences, education and
qualifications that makes you ideal for the job. Show enthusiasm and
support your answers with evidence wherever you can (eg. my summer
internship at Citibank gave me broad exposure to the area of equity
analysis and I think I can apply many of the tools I learnt there in
this job). Elaborate on all the past experiences and skill sets that
make you suitable for the job.In cases where your past experience is
not directly relevant, you can still find elements of it that can be
useful. Play up teamskills, computer skills, leadership roles,
specific courses and independent research activities that can be
useful to the job at hand to show your initiative even where you
don't have directly relevant job experience.


5. What can you do for us that someone else can't?


Demonstrate key strengths, skills and personal characteristics.

[imported_admin]

[img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img] Good Job Rena

[Rena]

Hi


Thanks admin for ur support.

[Spoorthi]

[img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img][img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img][img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img][img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img]VERY GOOD JOB

[MALT]

Exquisite explanation. I too have a few tips to add.


How to conclude your introduction?


The introduction can be concluded with a few strong points of ours along with a note of our sincere gratitude for the opportunity provided would be really pleasing. Besides, this would also make us feel cozy about the miscellaneous queries that arise out of our introduction.


P Malathy, Lecturer, SNS Tech, Coimbatore.

[Rena]

Hi,


6. Why should we hire you?

See 3. Because you have all the experience/ traits/ credentials
demonstrated in 3 and in addition to being qualified, you are
enthusiastic, intelligent, hardworking, flexible and willing to
learn. Also mention any key relationships you may have that may
assist you in the job.

7. What do you look for in a job?

Be honest. Also mention keywords such as challenging, steep learning
curve, good work culture, demanding, rewarding, opportunities for
advancement and growth, team environment, opportunity to build and
maintain client relationships etc.

8. Why are you looking to make a career change?

Mention your interests and make sure you bring up all skills/
experience however insignificant that can support your move in this
new direction. It is quite common in this day and age to make a
career switch. You need however to show that you have very carefully
thought about the change, have a strong interest in the new career
and can use some of your previous skills/ education/ relationships to
make that move.


9. Why did you leave your last job?

Do NOT use this as an opportunity to badmouth past employers or peers
or talk about a failure of any sort. Any of these answers are
acceptable: you were looking for a new challenge, your learning curve
had flattened out in the previous job and you were looking for a new
learning opportunity, the company or department were restructuring,
you were ready to start something new after achieving your career
goals at the previous company etc.


10. Why do you want to work for us (as opposed to the competitor
companies)?

Demonstrate that you know something about the company, that you
believe they are leaders/ innovators in what they do, or you think
their work culture is exactly what you are looking for, or you like
their product(s) or you have friends who work there and have always
been attracted to the company etc. Flatter the company and show you
know something about it.

[winner]

hi rena


it is very useful..But for the 1st qn each one are giving me different answer.Can anyone say me whether we have to mention about our parents and our family.

[Rena]

HI winner,


I am also confused.Bcoz some r saying that it should be mentioned.so,we can wait for a reply from our members.

[Rena]

Hi,


11. How long will it take you to start making a meaningful
contribution?

Show that you are enthusiastic and willing to learn and will put in
all the hours and effort necessary to learn the ropes and start
making an immediate contribution. Indicate that your past
experiences/ skills/ credentials will enable you to make an immediate
contribution at some level while you quickly learn all new aspects of
the job. An Interviewer wants someone who is willing and able to
learn and will make a return on his investment sooner rather than
later.


12. What are your strengths?

See 14 below. In addition, keywords such as good teamplayer, work
very well under pressure, very creative, very strong quantitative or
computer skills, and very strong client relationship skills may be
appropriate depending on your chosen field.


13. What are your weaknesses?

Do NOT mention key weaknesses here. This is not the place to say you
are bad at meeting deadlines or you never mastered highschool
mathematics etc. Turn this question around to your benefit. For
example, you are 'overambitious' or 'extremely attentive to detail'
or 'like to take on too many projects'. Make it sound positive.

14. What are your career goals?

Show you have thought forward and are committed to your career.

15. How would you describe yourself?

Any of these are good examples of attributes employers are looking
for: intelligent, hardworking, quick to learn, enthusiastic, honest,
efficient, productive, ambitious, successful, compassionate (in the
medical fields).

[Rena]

HI,


Y no responses?Is this information usefulor anything lacking?

[Spoorthi]

its very useful rena

[Rena]

Hi friends,


Sorry for late post.





16. How would your colleagues describe you?

Do not bring up anything negative here.

17. How would your boss describe you?

They will check references anyways so bring up the most positive
attribute you can think of about yourself eg hardworking, honest etc.
and leave it to your Boss to say anything to the contrary.

18. What did you most like/ dislike about your past job?

Do not use this to badmouth past jobs/ employers. Keep it light and
in your favour eg I outgrew the job, there wasn't a clear career
progression, I wasn't learning anything new etc. Ideally, you will
have loved your last job and would like to achieve the same kind of
success and job satisfaction in a more challenging area as you have
now 'outgrown' that job and are ready for 'new challenges'.

19. Describe a situation in your past where you showed initiative?

You could describe any new methods you came up with to do your job or
to save money for the company or to turn around a bad situation. It
can be something as simple as changing a filing system, or
establishing a relationship with a vendor that saved your department
a lot of money. If you are in sales, you may want to talk about how
you brought in that big account. Creatives may talk about how they
came up with that cutthroat image or design that brought in the
business.


20. What were your main responsibilities in your last job?

Have these ready and list them all. Dwell on the ones that are most
relevant to the new job. This answer should be smooth and practiced.

[BINNY]

[img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img]

[Rena]

HI,


21. What do you consider your greatest accomplishments?

Many of us have one or two milestones in our career that we are very
proud of eg. that early promotion, that 'huge' deal we brought in,
the design we came up with, the costs we saved, the revenues we
increased, the people we trained, a new invention or process we came
up with etc.

Examples of accomplishments may be: 'Reduced costs by X%; or renamed
and repositioned a product at the end of its lifecycle, or organized
and led a team to do do XYZ, or achieved sales increase of


X% etc. If you are a fresh college graduate, talk about
extracurricular activities, leadership roles and grades.


22. Describe your management style (if relevant)

No answer

23. Do you work better in teams or independently?

Show that you are a proactive teamplayer and like to bounce ideas off
others and get input; however you are very capable of working
independently (give examples).


24. How do you work under pressure?

Well. Give evidence.

25. What other jobs have you applied for?

Don't mention jobs in different career directions (eg advertising and
investment banking). Do however bring up any other offers or
Interviews from competing firms.

[faraz]

[img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img]Excellent Rena,very useful updated tips for freshers who are job hunters liek me!!!keep it up!!!!!!!![img]smileys/smiley32.gif[/img]I really appreciate your effort!![img]smileys/smiley17.gif[/img]