What Are Three Positive Things Your Last Boss Would Say About You
It’s time to pull out your old performance appraisals and boss’s quotes to answer the question, “What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?”. This is a great way to brag about yourself through someone else’s words: “My boss has told me that I am the best designer he has ever had. He knows he can rely on me, and he likes my sense of humor.”
Describe Your Dream Job
Three words describe how you should answer this question: relevance, relevance, relevance.
But that doesn’t mean you have to make up an answer. You can learn something from every job. You can develop skills in every job. Work backward: Identify things about the job you’re interviewing for that will help you if you do land your dream job someday, and then describe how those things apply to what you hope to someday do.
And don’t be afraid to admit that you might someday move on, whether to join another company or — better — to start your own business. Employers no longer expect “forever” employees.
What Would Be Your Ideal Work Environment
This question reveals honesty and whether the candidate would be a good fit for your company. If the candidate describes a work environment that is completely different from your office environment, ask them how they plan to adjust to a different type of work environment.
Red flags: The candidate provides a generic answer or describes a type of work environment that is completely different from your own.
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At Times You Will Be Asked To Do Many Things At Once How Do You Prioritise Your Tasks
Why employers ask this: This question aims to reveal your time management and decision-making skills, Shepard says. Employers want to understand how you prioritise things and the way you engage with people during that process.
How to respond well: Be prepared to give an example of how you prioritised things in a previous role, Shepard says. Can you talk about how you schedule your day to ensure the most important things get done? Or a time where you were able to handle an urgent priority by reorganising other tasks? Its also worth considering how you communicate with others about deadlines or how you keep track of your workload via to-do lists or other organisational tools.
What Critical Feedback Do You Most Often Receive
This question is similar to What are your greatest weaknesses? Employers ask this question to see if you have a sense of self-awareness and that youre actively working on self-improvement. To answer this question, think of a genuine piece of criticism youve been given, or a weakness youre aware of. Provide a brief explanation of the critique and how youre working on improving it.
Example:In the past, Ive been told that I tend to talk over others in meetings. While I do get excited about the projects Im working on and love collaborating with others, I deeply understand the value of active listening and using the diversity of ideas in the room. Ive made it a point to listen actively by taking notes and make myself the last one to contribute while others are sharing.
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How Do You Prepare For A Video Job Interview
The more time you spend preparing for a job interview, the better your chances of landing the job are.
The interviewing process can be difficult, especially with the current state of the job market. One hiring shift that has blown up over recent years is video interviewingwith no slow down in sight.
Why Did You Decide To Go Into It
What theyâre really asking: Why are you here?
While technical skills can get you far, there’s a lot in IT work that can be learned on the job. Because of this, employers might look for somebody who has other qualities that can be linked to success, like passion and curiosity. This question can also be a way for employers to get to know you and your story.
Reflect on what aspect of IT you like. Is it solving problems for people, working with computers, learning new things, or something else? Showing your motivations for being in IT can give hiring managers a better idea of who you are, and your enthusiasm for the job and field.
Other forms this question might take:
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Tell me about yourself.
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Why are you interested in this job?
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Tell Me Something About Yourself
How hard can it be to talk about yourself? We do it on a daily basis without much thought to it.
However, recruitment managers are not looking for your whole life story, your third-grade achievements, or what you had for dinner last night. Instead, they are looking for a pitch.
This is usually the first question asked in an interview, so it acts as your introduction. Make sure your answer is relevant to the position you are applying for. What you should be aiming for here is to present yourself as the ideal candidate for the job.
A good rule of thumb is to structure your talking points as follows:
- Briefly introduce yourself: Whats your name? How long have you been working as ?
- What do you love about your job?
- What are your top 2-3 achievements that are relevant to the job youre applying for?
Now, lets go through some examples:
Possible Answers for “Tell me About Yourself”:
- Sample Answer 1:
Hey! So, my name is John Doe and Ive worked as a business analyst for 5+ years in Company X and Company Y.
I have some background in data analysis, having studied Information Systems at University.
Throughout my career, Ive done some pretty impressive stuff .
For example, at Company X, I led a project for migrating all operations data to a new data warehousing system to cut down on costs. The new solution was a much better fit for our business, which eventually led to savings of up to $200,000 annually.
- Sample Answer 2:
Are You Open To Working Nights And Mornings
Employers use this question to see if you’re available to work at odd hours and if you’re comfortable with doing so. Your answer should be brief and highlight your openness to completing morning and night shifts. If you have examples from your previous jobs, you can include them to support your answer.
Example:”Yes, I am comfortable working nights and mornings. At my previous job, I worked a rotational shift where I worked the night shift for one week, followed by the morning shift the next, and so on.”
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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 Are Your Leadership Experiences
Even if youre not directly interviewing for a management role, you may face some leadership interview questions.
Employers like a candidate who can take initiative and lead projects and tasks even if its not their main role to lead. Plus, that shows youve got room to grow and can be promoted in the future.
So before any interview, think about one or two recent leadership experiences, ideally from work situations. Did you lead any meetings or projects? Did you train or mentor anyone? Did you spearhead a new initiative at work?
If you have no examples from work, then look to university experience, sports, or other clubs/activities where you led a project, task, meeting, or event.
Note that you may also be asked, what is your leadership style? but this is typically reserved for positions where youll be leading as a core part of your role.
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How Do You Prioritise Your Work
The employer wants to know whether you’re organised, can meet deadlines and are able to handle multiple projects at the same time. The best way to answer this question is to provide examples of times when you’ve juggled a number of different tasks and still delivered them to a high quality and on time. These examples can come from previous jobs, university study or your extra-curricular activities. Give some detail about what methods you use to keep track of your progress and productivity.
What Are Your Strengths
Pick three or four attributes desired by the employer in the person specification, such as teamwork, leadership, initiative and lateral thinking. Whichever strengths you pick, you must be able to evidence them with examples.
Similar questions include:
- How would a friend describe you?
- How would you describe your personality?
- What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
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Do You Have Any Questions For Me
What They Want to Know: The last question at a job interview is usually one about what you want to know about the job and the company. Be ready with a list of questions to ask. You may seem disinterested if there isn’t anything you want to learn more about.
Do you have a formal schedule and mechanism for performance reviews? How soon after hiring would I receive my first review?
What Is Shift Work
Shift work applies to any work schedule where the total number of hours that need work coverage are divided into shifts and covered by available staff. For some industries, shift work can include overnight, early morning or late night hours. In some instances, availability for particular shifts can be crucial for employers to maintain business operations throughout the day and night. Here are some additional about shift work:
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How Do You Handle Stress And Pressure
What They Want to Know: What you do when work gets stressful? Do you stay calm under pressure? Or do you have a difficult time in stressful situations? If you’re interviewing for a high-pressure position, the interviewer will want to know that you can deal with the stress.
Im pretty good at recognizing when Im beginning to feel stressed. When this happens, I take five minutes to focus on my breathing. I also practice guided meditation in the morning before work for 30 minutes and exercise for an hour in the evening. This keeps me on an even keel.
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Whats Something Positive Your Boss Would Say About You
This is one of those behavioral interview questions which can be tricky to understand exactly what they’re looking for.
Just saying that your boss approves of your work isn’t enough. The interviewer is looking to see what kind of relationships youve built with the management team, and get an impression about how you may fit in with their team.
How to Answer:
This is a great time to brag about yourself with someone else’s words. Start with My boss has told me that… so that it’s clear you understand the question.
Stay humble and refrain from sounding arrogant.
Example Answers:
My boss has mentioned that my attention to detail and thoroughness cant be matched.
She said the last campaign we ran together produced amazing results because of my effort and ability to thoroughly run it from start to finish…
My boss mentioned that she’s gotten a lot of compliments about my customer service from customers.
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What Would Your First 30 60 Or 90 Days Look Like In This Role
Your potential future boss wants to know that youve done your research, given some thought to how youd get started, and would be able to take initiative if hired. So think about what information and aspects of the company and team youd need to familiarize yourself with and which colleagues youd want to sit down and talk to. You can also suggest one possible starter project to show youd be ready to hit the ground running and contribute early on. This wont necessarily be the thing you do first if you do get the job, but a good answer shows that youre thoughtful and that you care.
What Is Your Leadership Style
This is a tough question to answer without dipping into platitudes. Try sharing leadership examples instead. Say, “The best way for me to answer that is to give you a few examples of leadership challenges I’ve faced,” and then share situations where you dealt with a problem, motivated a team, worked through a crisis. Explain what you did and that will give the interviewer a great sense of how you lead.
And, of course, it lets you highlight a few of your successes.
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Take Your Time And Ask For Clarification If Needed
This is one of the most under-utilized ways to answer interview questions
And its dead simple:
Take a breath, relax and really think before answering. You cant take something back after you say it, so dont rush yourself.
And if youre not sure you understood the question, ask for clarification.
You can say things like:
- Are you hoping for a specific example? I just want to make sure I understand the question.
- Do you only want to hear about my hands-on experience? Ive done this directly, but Ive also led small project teams for this.
And you can ask for feedback at the end of your answers too, for example:
- Did that answer your question, or did you want more detail?
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 Should We Give You This Job
This isnt the most common interview question, but it is still probable that youre asked this question in a job interview. They might also ask you: What are your main skills and strengths or Why do you think youre the best candidate for the role?
It might seem intimidating or you might even feel uncomfortable boasting about yourself, but if you are given the opportunity, go for it!
Your answer should focus on what you offer the company and not the other way round. The company wants to make sure that you are the right person for their firm.
When a company hires a good person, they are making it harder for their competitors to compete with them. Basically, you want to try to answer this question by letting the interviewer know what you can do that other candidates cant. Companies hire people to solve problems so let the interviewer know what problems youve solved and how your employers benefited as a result.
Focus on specific tasks in the job description that are critical to the position and tell the interviewer why you are the person to handle them.
Back your answers up with examples. Anyone can say that they have good organizational skills for example, but if you say something specific e.g. I have excellent organizational skills and in the past 12 months I have personally organized and supervised 6 corporate events with up to 300 participants on each one, you are definitely going to make a better impression than someone giving a generic answer.
How Do You Evaluate Success
What They Want to Know: Your answer to this question will give the interviewer a sense of your work ethic, your career goals, and your life goals. Tailor your response to fit what you expect to achieve if you were to be hired by this employer.
When I wake up each morning enthusiastic about going to work, then lock the clinic at night knowing that weve made a difference in peoples lives, I figure the day has been a success.
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What’s Your Understanding Of The Role And Why Are You Interested
Why employers ask this: This question helps recruiters gain a genuine understanding of which aspects of the role you are most interested in, in order to assess if youre well suited to the role, McInerney says.
How to respond well: Hiring managers and recruiters want to hear how you interpret the role in your own words, rather than just repeating the job ad, McInerney says. The best answers are those that clearly demonstrate which aspects of the role you will be able to do well and how this will add value to the organisation and help achieve organisational goals.
Tell Me About A Time You Overcame An Obstacle
Employers ask this question to understand how you deal with difficulties. You can use the STAR method when answering behavioral interview questions like this. Provide a brief summary of the situation, your role in the situation, the action you put into place to resolve the issue, and how the issue was resolved as a result.
Example:I worked as a retail manager at a department store during prom season. A customer purchased a dress online and had it delivered to the store where it was accidentally purchased by another customer. Before calling the original buyer, I located the same dress at another location nearby. I ordered it to be pressed and delivered to her home the morning of prom with a gift card to thank her for her understanding. The customer immediately wrote us a five-star review on several review sites.
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