If You Started A Company Today What Would Its Top Values Be
This question is meant to test a candidate’s emotional intelligence. A good answer articulates values, and the values are a good fit for their role and for the company’s mission.
Red flags: They have a hard time nailing down any values, values are negative or completely opposed to the company’s mission.
How Do You Handle Stress
How you handle stressful situations is an indicator of your ability to solve problems. Employers want to hire candidates who react to stress constructively, so its important that your answer to this question demonstrates personal growth.
Spend some time thinking about your response to stressful situations and provide an example that communicates your abilities around perseverance, resilience and stress management.
Example answer:Im able to stay calm when I focus on the bigger picture and break down my projects into smaller tasks. I always start by asking myself, What is the ultimate goal Im trying to achieve? From there, I make a list of immediate and long-term action items with achievable but ambitious deadlines. Even if the big project is due tomorrow, I ask myself, Whats something I can tackle in the next 30 minutes? Before I know it, Ive made significant progress and that impossible project doesnt seem so impossible.
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How Do You Set Goals Outline The Process
Most of your best employees will be highly goal-oriented and results driven, hardly surprising then that hiring managers want more of the same!
This interview question is great at ensuring that candidates are going to match up to the goals that you set them, and should show you whether they have sufficient initiative to set their own targets.
The best candidates will articulate their exact goal setting process. This should involve: how they select goals, how they split these lofty goals up into smaller tasks, how they plan to tackle these tasks, and ultimately how they measure success.
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What Do You Know About Our Companys Product/services
The purpose of these types of HR questions is clear: the HR professional wants to ensure that the candidate has researched the company and understands what theyre applying to. Candidates dont need to show deep knowledge of the company and its products, but they should certainly know everything that can be discovered via a simple online search of course, if they have already used the companys products/services or they know someone who works there, thats a plus.
Sample answer:
I know that your company manufactures machinery and factory equipment. Actually, I used your brand when I was working at Acme SA a couple of years ago. I was really impressed with how high-quality and durable that equipment was. I also saw your company has recently opened a new manufacturing branch, a good sign for your companys success.
What Motivates You At Work
Number 13 of our guide to the most common job interview questions and how to answer them ‘what motivates you at work?’ This will often catch graduates off-guard so it’s important to make sure you are fully prepared to answer it.
Want to boost your employability and increase your chances of job interview success? Find out the best way to answer this interview question, example answers as well as what to avoid when answering…
How to answer what motivates you at work?
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What Is The One Professional And/or Technical Skill You Would Most Like To Develop
Why employers ask this: This is about determining whether youre interested in learning and growing which can be a great quality in an employee. Employers want to find out if you have an appetite for self-development and improvement, Shepard says.
How to respond well: An answer that shows a desire to improve behaviour and continuously learn and grow is important, he says. Always offer a reason for why you want to develop a particular skill. For example, you might say youre interested in developing your photoshop skills in order to enhance your marketing ability.
What Other Companies Are You Interviewing With
Companies might ask you who else youre interviewing with for a few reasons. Maybe they want to see how serious you are about this role and team or theyre trying to find out who theyre competing with to hire you. On one hand, you want to express your enthusiasm for this job, but at the same time, you dont want to give the company any more leverage than it already has by telling them theres no one else in the running. Depending on where you are in your search, you can talk about applying to or interviewing for a few roles that have XYZ in commonthen mention how and why this role seems like a particularly good fit.
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Common Job Interview Questions And How To Answer Them
Interviews can be high stress, anxiety-driving situations, especially if its your first interview. A little practice and preparation always pays off. While we cant know exactly what an employer will ask, here are 10 common interview questions along with advice on how to answer them. The questions include:
- Could you tell me something about yourself and describe your background in brief?: Interviewers like to hear stories about candidates. Make sure your story has a great beginning, a riveting middle, and an end that makes the interviewer root for you to win the job.
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?: Share an instance when you remained calm despite the turmoil. If its a skill youre developing, acknowledge it and include the steps youre taking to respond better to pressure in the future.
- What are your salary expectations?: Before you walk in for your first interview, you should already know what the salary is for the position youre applying to. Check out websites such as Glassdoor, Fishbowl, or Vault.com for salary information. You could also ask people in the field by reaching out to your community on LinkedIn.
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Below is a list of 10 common job interview questions, along with answering techniques that will help you dazzle your prospects, and hopefully, secure the role you want.
If You Woke Up And Had 2000 Unread Emails And Could Only Answer 300 Of Them How Would You Choose Which Ones To Answer
We’ve all been faced with the seemingly unconquerable inbox, but even for high flyers 2,000 unread emails is significant. Despite the subject matter though, this question isn’t about email.
The point of this question is to demonstrate how candidates approach work and how they prioritise tasks. You want to understand their process for attacking a project that, on the face of it, seems difficult to deal with.
How would they divide the task up into smaller, more manageable sub-tasks? How would they prioritise which emails to answer? How would they decide which ones to answer? What is important is their reasoning and thought process, not what they say.
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What Is Your Salary Range Expectation
Interviewers ask this question to make sure your expectations are in line with the amount theyve budgeted for the role. If you give a salary range exceedingly lower or higher than the market value of the position, it gives the impression that you dont know your worth. Here are three ways to approach this response:
Provide a range
Research the typical compensation range for the role on Indeed Salaries and make the low end of your range your lowest acceptable salary. For example, if you require at least $50,000 annually, you might offer the interviewer a range of $50,000-$60,000 per year. Let the hiring manager know if youre flexible.
Example answer:My salary expectation is between $XX,XXX and $XX,XXX, which is the average salary for a candidate with my level of experience in this city. However, I am flexible and willing to discuss.
Include negotiation options
There may be other benefits, perks or forms of compensation you find just as valuable as your salary.
Example answer:I am seeking a position that pays between $75,000 and $80,000 annually, but I am open to negotiate salary depending on benefits, bonuses, equity, stock options and other opportunities.
Deflect the question
If youre early in the hiring process and still learning the specifics of the job duties and expectations, you may want to deflect the question for later in the conversation.
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Best Interview Questions To Ask Candidates In 2021
You found our list of the best interview questions to ask candidates.
Interview questions are questions that employers ask to determine the best fit for a position among a pool of candidates. Because interviewers have a limited amount of time to evaluate candidates, recruiters select questions that elicit informative and comprehensive answers. Examples of the most common interview questions include tell me about yourself, and what is your greatest accomplishment? but interviewers occasionally pose more strategic or unique questions to test applicants critical thinking skills and creativity.
These questions can also serve as icebreaker questions or team building questions.
This article contains:
So, here is the list!
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Top Ten Most Common Asked Interview Questions With Example Answers
The key to passing interviews is delivering killer interview answers below you will find 10 most common asked interview questions, an explanation on how to answer them and an example interview answer. All you need to do is make the interview answer relevant to your own experience
Do you consider yourself a successful person?
Yes, is the answer you should always give and then follow this up with the reason why. Explain when you have achieved something you felt was “big” or goals you have set, completed or currently moving towards.
“Yes, I would say I am successful. Once I am given a task to do, I always put a hundred percent into achieving it. Soon after giving birth to my baby boy, I attend an AAT night course and had to study while bringing up my son. This was a large amount of work, but as I am good at managing my time, I was able to pass my course with flying colours.”
Are you applying for any other jobs?
Of course you are, every interviewer knows you are looking for work and its very unlikely that you only have one interview lined up. Explain why you are looking for other work and follow this up by telling the interviewer how much you want to work for their company Employers like to offer jobs to people who will accept them and/or not leave after a couple of weeks for a better job offer. Why? Recruitment can cost companies around 33% of their profits!
What are you looking for in a job?
Why do you want this position?
Why should we hire you?
Why Do Employers Ask Tough Interview Questions
Employers ask tough interview questions for several different reasons. One reason employers ask difficult questions is to seek out important information about you. For example, employers might ask you to tell them about yourself. While it is difficult to provide a brief, eloquent summary of yourself, it is helpful context for employers to understand.
Another reason employers ask difficult interview questions is to learn about your thought processes. For example, they might ask you an unexpected and abstract question like, If you were a tree, what type of tree would you be? The employer is not looking for a specific answer here but rather asking to see if you can think quickly and support your answer with some logic or explanation.
Lastly, employers might ask tough interview questions to gauge your experience level and comfort with difficult tasks. This is more common in technical roles like computer programming or accounting. These questions should be answered to the best of your ability. Check with friends or colleagues in your industry for examples of test questions theyve received.
Related:
What are you passionate about?
Why are you leaving your current job?
What are your greatest strengths?
What are your greatest weaknesses?
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What Were Your Responsibilities When You Worked At
A good candidate is able to talk in detail about their responsibilities. These should match up to what is expected for the job and even exceed it. The responsibilities should also match what they’ll need to perform the job they’re applying for.
Red flags: Candidates who are vague about what their responsibilities were, who didn’t have the responsibilities that normally come with the job, or didn’t have ones relevant to the job they’re applying for.
What Achievement Are You Most Proud Of Common Interview Questions
For this question, try and think of a work-related achievement that displays your best qualities, as well as skills that are going to be most valuable in the job for which youre being interviewed. For example, if your job will require a lot of teamwork, then you should try to think of an achievement where teamwork was one of the leading components to success.
Example: In my previous role, we had a large project that had multiple different elements. This meant that there would be people fulfilling tasks of lots of different kinds. I was placed in charge of this team, and acted as a liaison between all of the different smaller teams. The project was a resounding success and made the company a lot of money.
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What Are Your Weaknesses
Sharing your weaknesses shows that you are self-aware. Be honest about how you have worked through challenging experiences. If possible, include how you’ve improved on these over time.
Example:Earlier in my career, I was so enthusiastic about my work that I would say yes’ when I should have been saying no.’ Being overwhelmed, the stress affected my production quality. I started using workload management tools to tailor more realistic goals.’
Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years
If asked this question, be honest and specific about your future goals, but consider this: A hiring manager wants to know a) if you’ve set realistic expectations for your career, b) if you have ambition , and c) if the position aligns with your goals and growth. Your best bet is to think realistically about where this position could take you and answer along those lines. And if the position isnt necessarily a one-way ticket to your aspirations? Its OK to say that youre not quite sure what the future holds, but that you see this experience playing an important role in helping you make that decision.
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Tell Me About A Time When You Went Above And Beyond What Was Necessary As Part Of Your Job Common Interview Questions
This is a fairly straightforward question that allows you to really sell yourself as a candidate. Just think of a work scenario where a combination of your talents, plus extra hard work and initiative, led to a successful outcome.
Example: In my previous position, a deadline was approaching fast and there was still a lot to do. Some of my team-mates had been absent due to sickness so they hadnt been able to complete their work. I asked my manager if it was possible to take over their assignments to get everything finished on time. My manager agreed to this and I completed the remaining work that my colleagues had left. This meant that we were able to meet the deadline.
What Are Your Hobbies And Interests
Continuing our series of common interview questions and answers, next we look at ‘what are your hobbies’ example answers. When put on the spot, selecting your hobbies and interests that are simultaneously work-appropriate and not too vague can present a real challenge – especially under time pressure.
We dive into why employers ask the question, the difference between hobbies and interests, loads of example answers and what to avoid when answering!
How to answer what are your hobbies and interests
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What Were Your Starting And Final Levels Of Compensation
What They Want to Know: Hiring managers will want to learn how much you earned to see if you’re a competitive candidate for the company from a salary perspective. Be honest when discussing how much you were paid because employers can ask about salary when checking your background.
However, also be aware that in some locations employers are prohibited from asking about your prior wages. Some employers have also implemented policies that restrict questions about salary from being asked.
When I started my entry-level job as an accountant, my annual salary was approximately $42K I then became a CPA and currently take home around $80K.
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What Do You Like Least About Your Job
Tread carefully here! The last thing you want to do is let your answer devolve into a rant about how terrible your current company is or how much you hate your boss or that one coworker. The easiest way to handle this question with poise is to focus on an opportunity the role youre interviewing for offers that your current job doesnt. You can keep the conversation positive and emphasize why youre so excited about the job.
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Q: What Have Your Achievements Been To Date
A: Select one or two achievements that are work-related and fairly recent. Identify the skills you used in the achievement and quantify the benefit it had to the company. For example, ‘my greatest achievement has been to design and implement a new sales ledger system, bringing it in ahead of time and improving our debtors’ position significantly, saving the company £50,000 a month in interest’. Show how you can bring what youve learned to the role.
