Practice before you dive into an interview.
It is very important to understand that companies, employers and recruitment personnel are not all the same. There is also no set law for the kinds of valid questions that can be asked during an interview. You may therefore expect different sets of questions every time you are called for an interview in various companies.
This does not mean though that job interviews are like beauty contest question and answer portions where you will be unable to prepare answers. There are some similar questions that may be asked by interviewers. Some of these questions and statements to prepare answers for include the ff.:
- What do you know about the company?
- Tell us a little about yourself.
- Why did you apply in this company?
- Why should the company hire you?
- What is your greatest strength as a person?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What can you contribute to the company if you get hired?
- Describe a difficult situation in your life or past job which you encountered recently. How did you solve or overcome the situation?
- How much will you be willing to accept as compensation?
- Why did you leave your previous job?
- How soon can you start working?
- Which particular area in your field are you good at?
- Give a brief overview of your work experiences.
- What do you think is your edge over other applicants?
- What personal qualities make you fit for the job?
- What national or world event has made an impact in your life?
- What are your long term plans?
- If you are hired, what specific tasks and responsibilities do you expect to perform?
- What are your expectations from the company and your job?
- Do you have pending applications in other companies? What is the status of these applications?
- What made you choose your field of study/ current field?
- Tell us about your family.
- Do you have any questions?
These are only some of the basic questions which you MIGHT be asked during a job interview. Always remember that interviewers do not all think alike. There may be a couple of unexpected questions. The best way to prepare is to sharpen your communication and thinking skills. Ask a friend to pretend to be an interviewer and practice answering questions.
This posts is helpful but can be improved by providing the appropriate answers for the usual questions aked during interview.
Thank you for your comment Mela. I could have provided the answers but I purposefully did not because I think that would be too much like spoon feeding. I believe that job seekers should formulate their own answers based on their unique experiences and characters. In a way, this is also my way of making a principled stand in behalf of employers. They should be able to find candidates for a position based on the true merits of a person and not based on how well they memorized answers
Indeed Ms. Ninah.
As you have stated above, interviewers do not think alike, as an HR before, all the answers may be provided but it is the way you answer the question being asked. Your personality just shows that you are not confident about yourself Ms. Mela. You should develop your self-confidence.
hi ms. ninah
should i tell the interviewee if i have pending applications in other companies? is it proper or not? should i tell him/her or just pretend that the only company i applied is theirs? tnx…
sorry i mean interviewer
hi joyce. some will advise you not to say anything about other pending applications to make a potential employer believe that you are readily available. i believe however, that in this case, honestly is still best. besides, most employers know that applicants really have multiple pending applications. to highlight your eagerness for the job you are applying for you can add a “but” to your admission of having applied to more than one company. you can say that yes you have applied to other companies but that you prefer to be employed in (insert company’s name) because you believe that blah, blah, blah…
this is my personal, independent opinion as a former HR practitioner. as i said, other experts may have different opinions
a lot of good points
precisely…
Thnks….
Right! The tips above is really helpful specially for those first time to work.so blessed!