Where Will My Interview/s Take Place
Online interviews should take place where applicants feel able to perform at their best. This should be somewhere you have reliable access to the required technology and a quiet space, free from distraction. We hope that this will be either in your school or college, or your home or similar environment. As soon as you receive your invitation to interview/s we suggest that you discuss with your school or college where you would like this/these to take place and to make arrangements accordingly. Some applicants may benefit from enhanced school or college support, including those with special requirements as a result of a disability or those who have difficulty accessing the appropriate technology or a stable internet connection. We would be very grateful if schools and colleges could support applicants in these circumstances.
How Would Your Boss Or Coworkers Describe You
This question is pretty much the same as what are your greatest strengths, the only difference is that it should be from the point of view from your boss or coworkers.
Here, you want to focus on your traits and achievements that youve previously been praised for .
There are at least 2 ways to answer this question:
1) Describe a specific situation where you excelled at work
Sample Answer
Theyd say Im super hard working. During my weekend-off, not one, but three of my coworkers got sick, and I had to spot for them.
The weekend was peak season in Nantucket, so the restaurant was getting seriously overwhelmed. All of a sudden, we went from being very prepared for the season, to complete panic.
Had to jump between serving, bussing, and line-cooking, but overall, managed to survive through the weekend successfully.
2) Quote a performance review
If youve previously worked in an office job, youre probably all too familiar with these.
Did your boss give you a glowing performance review? Make sure to mention it here!
Sample answer:
Well, in my last performance review in September, my boss described me as someone who takes initiative.
My position as a PR manager involves constantly keeping track of our clients brand reputation, and if something goes wrong, dealing with it as fast as possible.
In a lot of cases, you need to be very proactive – if you wait for your entire team to have a meeting on how to deal with the issue, it might already be too late.
Tell Me About A Challenge Or Conflict Youve Faced At Work And How You Dealt With It
Youre probably not eager to talk about conflicts youve had at work during a job interview. But if youre asked directly, dont pretend youve never had one. Be honest about a difficult situation youve faced . Most people who ask are only looking for evidence that youre willing to face these kinds of issues head-on and make a sincere attempt at coming to a resolution, former recruiter Richard Moy says. Stay calm and professional as you tell the story , spend more time talking about the resolution than the conflict, and mention what youd do differently next time to show youre open to learning from tough experiences.
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What Are Your Biggest Weaknesses
Every candidate knows how to answer this question: Just pick a theoretical weakness and magically transform that flaw into a strength in disguise!
For example: “My biggest weakness is getting so absorbed in my work that I lose all track of time. Every day I look up and realize everyone has gone home! I know I should be more aware of the clock, but when I love what I’m doing I just can’t think of anything else.”
So your “biggest weakness” is that you’ll put in more hours than everyone else? Great.
A better approach is to choose an actual weakness, but one you’re working to improve. Share what you’re doing to overcome that weakness. No one is perfect, but showing you’re willing to honestly self-assess and then seek ways to improve comes pretty darned close.
What Software Do I Need Do I Need Additional Devices
Everyone will need a computer with a microphone, speakers, and webcam. All interviews will be using Microsoft Teams for video conferencing. You dont need to have a Microsoft account for this, but you will need to use a computer that either has Teams installed or can access Teams on the internet. If you have any problems getting hold of technology, talk to your school and if you still arent able to access it, then contact the college you are being interviews by.
Whether you need additional software or devices will depend on the course you are applying for. Each subject has been placed into a tier, from 1 to 3. Each tier will use technology differently. Please refer to the Technology page to see which tier your subject is in.
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Will I Need To Read Anything Beforehand
You might be asked to read a passage or an article before your interview, which will be sent to you by email. If so, then you should make sure you will have a quiet space to read it on your own before your interview, just like if you were taking an exam. You must not research online any materials shared with you as part of a pre-interview task unless explicitly permitted to do so by the interviewers. Your college will explain this to you beforehand.
What Does Customer Service Mean To You
If youre applying for a public-facing role, an employer may ask this question to determine what aspects of customer service are most important to you. . A good answer will align with the companys values, which you can glean through researching their customer service policy, understanding their products and clientele and reflecting on your own experiences as a customer. Your answer can either come from the perspective of a customer or a customer service provider.
Example answer:In my experience, good customer service involves taking responsibility when something goes wrong and doing what you can to make it right. For example, on a recent flight, I had pre-ordered my meal only to discover they didnt stock enough of my dish. Instead of simply stating the facts, the flight attendant apologized sincerely and offered me a free drink or premium snack. To me, this apology went a long way in smoothing things over. The freebie was a bonus that made me feel valued as a customer and choose the same airline for my next flight.
Read more: Interview Question: What Does Customer Service Mean to You?
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What’s Your Favourite Non
It’s always important to try and understand what kind of person a candidate is, and finding out what they enjoy outside of work is a great way to dig into this.
While it may not impact their work at all, it can help you understand someone’s character. These kind of interview questions help to relax candidates and encourage them to open up and speak about their life.
It’s also pretty interesting to know that you have a budding kitesurfer or a weekend chess aficionado in your team!
Who Was Your Best Boss And Who Was The Worst
What They Want to Know: This question is designed to discover what type of leadership and management style works best for you. Be careful answering, and don’t be too negative. Even if you had a terrible boss, how you speak about them can leave the interviewer wondering how you will speak about other supervisors if you didn’t get along with them.
My best manager had an open-door policy where we were always welcome to speak to her privately about issues. Ive never had a bad manager. Im not as comfortable with those who prefer to micromanage my work, but when this happens I try to gain their trust so that theyll feel more confident about giving me some autonomy.
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Interview Questions About Yourself
When an interviewer ask questions about you they are trying to determine how good a fit your are for the company. Is your personality a match for the company culture? Are your goals and job expectations a match for what your role in the company will be if you’re hired? How will you fit in with the current team?
What Percentage Of Employees Was Brought In By Current Employees
Employees who love their jobs naturally recommend their company to their friends and peers. The same is true for people in leadership positions — people naturally try to bring on board talented people they previously worked with. They’ve built relationships, developed trust, and shown a level of competence that made someone go out of their way to follow them to a new organization.
And all of that speaks incredibly well to the quality of the workplace and the culture.
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The Best Admission Interview Questions For Your Private School
To ensure youre learning as much as possible about a candidate before you make your admission decisions, consider including these K-12 admission interview questions.
1. What are your three favorite things about yourself?
Its essential to give candidates a chance to share things that make them feel good about themselves. Moreover, this question will help you learn a lot about their personality. For example, if a student says they like that theyre a good friend, it indicates theyre social and invested in their relationships.
2. What are three things youd like to improve upon?
Asking this question is useful for gauging a candidates level of self-awareness. While its never easy to admit shortcomings, students who can acknowledge their areas of opportunity are likely to dedicate energy to making necessary improvements.
3. What do you do when youre having a hard time in a subject?
This question will help you assess a prospective students problem-solving skills and dedication to self-improvement.
4. How do you like to spend your free time?
Asking about students interests helps you determine whether your school can meet them, and also gives you an opportunity to discuss extracurriculars. For example, if a student loves to draw and your school has an active art club, this could be a key selling point.
5. What would you like to accomplish during your time in school?
6. What made you choose to apply to this school?
7. What other schools are you considering?
Do You Have Any Questions
This might be one of the most important questions asked during the interview process because it allows you to explore any topics that havent been addressed and shows the interviewer youre serious about the role. Remember that you are interviewing the company too. Take time to ask the interviewer questions about their own experiences with the company, gain tips on how you can succeed if hired and address any lingering questions you have. Some examples include:
- What do you love most about working for this company?
- What would success look like in this role?
- What are some of the challenges people typically face in this position?
- How important is it that you hire someone with XYZ qualities?
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Do you have any hesitations about hiring me?
Read more: Interview Question: Do You Have Any Questions?
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Do You Consider Yourself Successful
This question might make you uncomfortable. But you can think of it as an opportunity to allow the interviewer to get to know you better and to position yourself as an excellent choice for this job. First off, make sure you say yes! Then pick one specific professional achievement youre proud of that can be tied back to the role youre interviewing forone that demonstrates a quality, skill, or experience that would help you excel in this position. Youll want to explain why you consider it a success, talk about the process in addition to the outcome, and highlight your own accomplishment without forgetting your team. Zooming in on one story will help if you feel awkward tooting your own horn!
Rapport Building Interview Questions
Often, were happy because theres a job vacancy, forgetting that someone used to occupy that position. Before you accept any job position, ask about how the job opening came about and what happened to the previous employee in that position. Was the person fired? Did the person quit or get a better job offer? Or is the job a newly created role needed to boost the company in a particular aspect? A good understanding of this would help you know what you are signing up for.
Key performance indicator, or KPIs for short, is simply the expected outcome of your job performance. Understanding the companys job description and how it is measured will help you work effectively to contribute to its success. It is also beneficial to know the KPIs to determine if you can handle the role and everything that comes with it. This question can also give you a clue of the type of people or colleagues youll be with which youll be working.
It is crucial to know about the companys goals for the next few years and how they will affect you and your position. Knowing the goals and plans will also help you plan how youll climb up the ladder as you keep continually contributing to the companys growth.
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What’s The Biggest Decision You’ve Made Over The Past Year Why Was It Such A Big Deal
This shouldn’t be seen as a way of delving into a candidate’s personal life, you don’t want to find out why they’ve just broken up with their partner!
Instead, interview questions like this are designed to show you how the candidate approaches the decision making process. Do they make choices impulsively or do they conduct painstaking research. Did they make a plan, or did they talk it through with friends?
The answers to this question will if they’re style of decision-making and their thought process fits the way you do things at your company.
Determining if a candidate has the relevant skills and experience is only half the battle. You need to make sure that they’re a good cultural fit for your company if you want to make good hiring decisions. Here are a few questions that can help you find this out:
Questions About The Organization
The knowledge that a hiring manager has on a company can determine if they’re the right person to be in a management role. It also depends on how long they’ve been with the company. For example, the hiring manager of a startup might know less than one at a corporation.
- Can you tell me about the founding of the company?
- Where do you see the organization heading in the next 10 years?
- Can you describe the trajectory of the company’s strategy for expansion over the next five years?
- What type of goals is the company trying to accomplish right now?
- What makes you energized about the organization’s future?
- Are you increasing staff in other areas of the company?
- Can you speak more about your product’s growth shortly?
- How would you describe the company’s core values?
- How important is the sales team’s role in helping achieve your goals and continue to scale?
- How has your product’s growth inspired employees within the company?
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Why Do You Want This Job
What They Want to Know: Why did you apply for this position? What do you find most interesting about the job and the organization? With this question, the employer wants to know why you think this job is a match for your career objectives. Take the time to describe how your qualifications are a match for the job. The more you can show you’re qualified, the easier it will be to get hired.
From the time my appendix burst as a kid and I spent a week in the hospital, Ive wanted to be a nurse preferably here at James Memorial. Although I went away for nursing school, Im eager to move back home and care for our local community now that Ive become a licensed RN.
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Why Do You Want To Work At This Company
Beware of generic answers! If what you say can apply to a whole slew of other companies, or if your response makes you sound like every other candidate, youre missing an opportunity to stand out. Zhang recommends one of four strategies: Do your research and point to something that makes the company unique that really appeals to you talk about how youve watched the company grow and change since you first heard of it focus on the organizations opportunities for future growth and how you can contribute to it or share whats gotten you excited from your interactions with employees so far. Whichever route you choose, make sure to be specific. And if you cant figure out why youd want to work at the company youre interviewing with by the time youre well into the hiring process? It might be a red flag telling you that this position is not the right fit.
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