We meet again in yet another Job Interview Q&A’s post! Read the first part here. Now, let’s move on to the next part of a job interview: your role in this company!
Read the first 5 Questions here!
Job Interview Question #6: What did you like and not like at each of the firms you have worked at?
This should capture weaknesses about your past employers, which are strengths of the prospective employer. It’s a fine line as you don’t want to “put down” the firm you are working with (or past employer) as that can reflect poorly on you. Focus on types of industries, technology, locations, infrastructure as things you didn’t like, versus anything to do with internal politics, volatile boss, no bonuses, low pay, etc.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
This is a trick question yet again!
Prospective employers want to hear what you don’t like about your past firms as they may have the same challenges and thus you won’t be a match.
Do research on the firm and the company through Glassdoor.com and LinkedIn and your network to learn more about culture and environment. This is how you know the type of firm they are and then know how to answer this difficult and tricky question.
Always turn a weakness into a strength!
The Answer
Although I have been with my firm for five years and have worked on numerous departments and areas outside of my scope and duties I do feel that I would thrive and add additional value if I joined a larger and more established firm like (name of the firm you are meeting with).
Job Interview Question #7: What do you really want to do?
Answer this with the current job opening in mind! Be generic – this is not the time to say that you want to one day be the CEO of this company you are applying to – what if you are interviewing with the CEO? S/he may think you are after his/her job! Don’t tell me that one day you really want to open up a nail and hair salon so that’s why you are working now to save money.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
This is not the time to say that you really want to just travel the world and give back to the community – if that’s the case, why are you interviewing for this job! So be careful how to answer this question! Embrace your answer by keeping the job opening in mind!
The Answer
I am looking to be with a firm where I can truly have a full career and can continue to add my expertise and product knowledge, while at the same time, grow and learn and advance within the department and firm for years to come. I love what I do and wish to continue doing it while always adding challenges, robust duties, projects and forward momentum.
Job Interview Question #8: What can you tell me about our firm?
It’s so easy nowadays to research the firm – not doing so is just being lazy. Web site / About Us – Tells you basically everything you need to know.
Print this out and keep it in your folder. Before heading into the interview review the About Us again so you are fresh on their business and services. Google News – do some searches online – maybe there are news articles, press releases, etc., about the firm that may not be on their website. This will no doubt impress.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
If you didn’t do your homework about the firm and this question is asked it shows you are lazy and disinterested.
It’s unimpressive and almost insulting and already tells me so much about you.
No firm will hire you if you don’t take the time to learn about them.
The Answer
On Bloomberg News, it showed that you just purchased a firm in Hong Kong to expand your Asian presence. That must be very exciting for everyone! Can you share anything more about this?
How to introduce yourself in a job interview? Read more here!
Job Interview Question #9: Why are you interested in our job opening?
Focus on how you can add value to the role based on your expertise, product knowledge, experience, licensure, etc. Show how this role will provide you with learning upside and expose you to new products you have not worked with, or dealing with a different market share, and how that in turn will be challenging and thus rewarding for your continued career growth.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
This question is to really understand why you want the job – what you like about it – what sets this job apart from others.
Sometimes firms know they want you, but they are not certain you want them, so this is the time for you to show them why you are interested in this role.
Focus on the skills, responsibilities and also the firm as to why you want the role.
The Answer
This role clearly provides me with additional challenges and learning new products and services while at the same time I can see how my skill set can immediately contribute greatly to your job opening needs where I can hit the ground running.
Job Interview Question #10: What makes you qualified for this job?
Review the job description the night before and highlight some bullet points in your notebook and/or resume so you know exactly why you are qualified for this specific role. Most of the jobs you interview for will be similar in nature to your skillset and experience. Remember to focus on the position you are interviewing and answer your strengths to this role, and not go on a tangent about something completely irrelevant to this job opening.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
1This is not the time to gloat about how team-orientated you are and how you handle pressure and stress! It’s about proving to them you are qualified for the role by clearly outlining how you have it (through storytelling is always best).
Focus on pulling out the skills and requirements they want in their role and show them how you have it by citing actual concrete examples of how you have used the software they need; the services they offer; the product they sell.
The Answer
You stated in your job opening that you need someone who knows PIVOT tables on Excel and also creating Macros. This is something I do on a daily basis at my current company. In fact, just today I created 3 new Macros that eliminated a 10 step process!
Job Interview Question #11: What is your typical day like at your current job?
I can not stress how important it is to highlight responsibilities that will most resemble what the job opening is! You do so much in your current job day in and day out, so be selective in what you highlight and point out what most resembles the job opening. Employers want to see that you can do their job as of day one, so show them that you can.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
Potential employers only get a few hours to decide if you are qualified for their job opening.
Make that decision obvious for them by showing them how perfectly qualified you are through examples and “stories”.
The answer to this question should scream the job opening.
The Answer
My role is quite similar to my current position at hand. I work on multiple projects across numerous departments where we have daily, weekly and monthly reporting deadlines to upper management. I am used to the high stress and navigation to this process and have mastered how to obtain the necessary information from all the department several days ahead of schedule. It is a very rewarding type of role and I am excited to know I can continue to grow and advance in the same line and scope of duties.
Job Interview Question #12: Describe your understanding of this position.
Describe your summary of the job description, and be sure to highlight any important skills that were stressed in their job opening. This is why it’s so important to have a copy of the job description in your notebook and to review it right before you head into the office for the interview – everything is fresh in your mind. This can also be a good time for you to ask them about their perspective of the position.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
This gives the employer a chance to really see if you have a good grasp of the position. It also gives the employer the opportunity to clarify the role further. Don’t worry if you are not clear on the actual role (as long as you are not reciting a job of an accountant when it’s a job of a salesperson you will be fine!).
The Answer
(assuming role is an Ops and Customer Service Manager)
From what I understand this role will oversee the operations and customer service department for the shipping and receiving division of the manufacturing plant located by the port of Long Beach. The role requires supervision and oversight with staff and would require jurisdiction of up to 10 direct reports. There will be duties that embrace team meetings, deadlines and a lot of excel analysis to name a few. Of course, customer service would always be the most sensitive and require the utmost sense of urgency, that goes without saying, as customers have choices and we want to always go above and beyond in our support and follow through with them. That’s what I pulled out from the role, at least as the most relevant for the success of the position. Would you please elaborate further where you feel are additional components that are important for the success of the role?
Job Interview Question #13: How do you handle a difficult situation? Provide an example.
If this question is asked then you better expect that they were will be difficult situations faced in this role for which you are applying – so that is good insider knowledge for you. They need to know that difficult to you is not intimidating or scary, but rather challenging and rewarding.
Job Interview Secrets Revealed
Take this question as an opportunity for you to further evaluate if this company is right for you. If they ask this question that means there are some internal issues going on.
Try to pull more information from them by turning the question around and asking, “can you cite a difficult situation that I may face in this role?” or “what challenges do you foresee in this department that you hope I can assist in overcoming?”
Don’t forget you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.
The Answer
The way I tackle this is to address it and work through the challenge or problem until it’s resolved. I am “solution-oriented”, not “problem-focused” so my personality lends itself to always resolve difficult situations. And most importantly, I try to learn from this to make sure we don’t have a similar situation occur again.
