Job interview

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  • General interview questions:
  1. What are your strengths?
  2. What are your weaknesses?
  3. Why are you interested in working for [insert company name here]?
  4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
  5. Why do you want to leave your current company?
  6. Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
  7. What can you offer us that someone else can not?
  8. What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
  9. Are you willing to relocate?
  10. Are you willing to travel?
  11. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
  12. Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
  13. What is your dream job?
  14. How did you hear about this position?
  15. What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?
  16. Discuss your resume.
  17. Discuss your educational background.
  18. Describe yourself.
  19. Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
  20. Why should we hire you?
  21. Why are you looking for a new job?
  22. Would you work holidays/weekends?
  23. How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
  24. What are your salary requirements?
  25. Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
  26. Who are our competitors?
  27. What was your biggest failure?
  28. What motivates you?
  29. What’s your availability?
  30. Who’s your mentor?
  31. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
  32. How do you handle pressure?
  33. What is the name of our CEO?
  34. What are your career goals?
  35. What gets you up in the morning?
  36. What would your direct reports say about you?
  37. What were your bosses’ strengths/weaknesses?
  38. If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?
  39. Are you a leader or a follower?
  40. What was the last book you’ve read for fun?
  41. What are your co-worker pet peeves?
  42. What are your hobbies?
  43. What is your favorite website?
  44. What makes you uncomfortable?
  45. What are some of your leadership experiences?
  46. How would you fire someone?
  47. What do you like the most and least about working in this industry?
  48. Would you work 40+ hours a week?
  49. What questions haven’t I asked you?
  50. What questions do you have for me?
  • Weird job interview questions:
    • If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?
    • If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
    • If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
    • If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
    • If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?
    • If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?
    • If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?
    • If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be and why?
    • If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?
    • If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?
    • If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?
    • If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you want?
    • If you were a car, what type would you be?
    • In the news story of your life, what would the headline say?
  •  The strangest job interview questions
    • "If you were to get rid of one state in the U.S., which would it be and why?" - Asked at Forrester Research,  research associate candidate.
    • "How many cows are in Canada?" - Asked at Google, local data quality evaluator candidate.
    • "How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?" - Asked at JetBlue, pricing/revenue management analyst candidate.
    • "A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?" - Asked at Clark Construction Group, office engineer candidate.
    • "What songs best describes your work ethic?" - Asked at Dell, consumer sales candidate.
    • "[Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?" - Asked at Amazon, product development candidate.
    • "What do you think about when you are alone in your car?" - Asked at Gallup, associate analyst candidate.
    • "How would you rate your memory?" - Asked at Marriott, front desk associate candidate.
    • "Name 3 previous Nobel Prize winners." - Asked at BenefitsCONNECT, office manager candidate.
    • "Can you say: 'Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper' and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?" - Asked at MasterCard, call center candidate.
    • "If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us?" - Asked at Trader Joe's, crew candidate. 
    • "How would people communicate in a perfect world?" - Asked at Novell, software engineer candidate.
    • "How do you make a tuna sandwich?" - Asked at Astron Consulting, office manager candidate.
    • "My wife and I are going on vacation -- where would you recommend?" - Asked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, advisory associate candidate.
    • "You are a head chef at a restaurant and your team has been selected to be on [the TV show] 'Iron Chef'. How do you prepare your team for the competition, and how do you leverage the competition for your restaurant?" - Asked at Accenture, business analyst candidate.
    • "Estimate how many windows are in New York." - Asked at Bain & Co., associate consultant candidate.
    • "What's your favorite song? Perform it for us now." - Asked at LivingSocial, Adventures City manager candidate.
    • "Calculate the angle of two clock pointers when the time is 11:50." - Asked at Bank of America, software developer candidate. 
    • "Have you ever stolen a pen from work?" - Asked at Jiffy Software, software architect candidate.
    • "Pick two celebrities to be your parents." - Asked at Urban Outfitters, sales associate candidate.
    • "What kitchen utensil would you be?" - Asked at Bandwidth.com, marketer candidate.
    • "If you had turned you cell phone to silent and it rang really loudly despite it being on silent, what would you tell me?" - Asked at Kimberly-Clark, biomedical engineer candidate.
    • "On a scale from 1 to 10, rate me as an interviewer." - Asked at Kraft Foods, general laborer candidate.
    • "If you could be anyone else, who would it be?" - Asked at Salesforce.com, sales representative candidate.
    • "How would you direct someone else on how to cook an omelet?" - Asked at PETCO, analyst candidate.

Job interviews: There are two primary types of interviews used by companies: screening interviews, and selection interviews. Every company's hiring process is different. Some companies may require only two interviews while others may require three or more. It is also not uncommon to see a company conduct testing (personality, skills based, aptitude, etc.) as an intermediate step in the hiring process.Here is an over view of the major types of interviews and tips on how to handle them:

a., Screeining interviews: Your first interview with a company will often be a screening interview. The purpose of the screening place in person or on the telephone. Screening Interview keys to success:

  • Research the company. Read the job summary carefully. Understand the position and know the key attributes a company is seeking.
  • Using your research and the job summary as a guide, tailor your answers to emphasize the required key attributes.
  • Know your audience. You need to know the background of your interviewer. Is the interviewer from Human Resources or Operations? Are they former military?
  • Selection interviews: are typically conducted onsite at the hiring company. The purpose of a selection interview is to determine whether a candidate will be selected for the position he or she is interviewing for. A selection interview is typically more rigorous than a screening interview.

b., Selection interviews can come in several forms

  • Round-Robin Interview: A round-robin interview is the interview technique most commonly used by our client companies. You will interview with multiple interviewers in succession. The key to a round-robin interview is giving good consistent answers.
  • Panel Interview: A panel interview is an interview that consists of two or more interviewers. Typically, the interviewers will both ask questions. The purpose of a panel interview is to gain multiple perspectives on a prospective candidate. The key to a panel interview is to keep all interviewers involved. Make eye contact with all interviewers even when answering a question for a specific individual.
  • One-on-One Interview: A one-on-one interview is an interview with a single interviewer. The key to a one-on-one interview is to build rapport with the interviewer. Smile. Be friendly. Try to match your interviewer's energy level. Typically, you will have a short period of time to make an impact. Know the position and the key attributes the company is seeking, and emphasize those things.
  • Stress Interview: A stress interview is designed to test your responses in a stressful environment. The interviewer may try to intimidate you, and the purpose is to weed out candidates who don't deal well with adversity. The interviewer will make deliberate attempts to see how you handle yourself using methods such as sarcasm, argumentative style questions, or long awkward silences. The key to a stress interview is to recognize that you are in a stress interview. Don't take it personally. Stay calm, focused, and don't allow yourself to be rushed. Ask for clarification if you need it. Know how to push back. Ask an interviewer for a couple of problems they are currently facing, and propose solutions.

12 Stress Interview Questions:

  1. How do you feel this interview is going?
  2. How would you handle undeserved criticism from a superior?
  3. How many other jobs are you applying for?
  4. What would you do if you saw a colleague stealing supplies or equipment?
  5. What did you do when you had a boss you didn’t get along with?
  6. What would you do if a colleague took credit for your idea, and got a promotion?
  7. Was the stress of your previous job too much for you?
  8. What would you do if a colleague admitted to lying on their resume to get the job?
  9. What would you do if a customer verbally insulted you in front of co-workers?
  10. What would you change about the design of a baseball hat?
  11. Why were you fired from your previous job?
  12. How successful do you think you've been so far?

Image result for task icon Exercise 1: Job interview keywords

Image result for task icon Exercise 2: Job interview on the phone

 Image result for task icon  Exercise 3: Strengths and weaknesses

Image result for task icon Exercise 4: Job interview questions 

 Image result for task icon Exercise 5: Job interview quiz 

 

Image result for task icon Exercise 6: Choose the suitable candidate for the position!

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 Video 1: The origin of job interviews

Watch the video and discuss its message for the 21st century!

 Video 2: The Interviewer

 Video 3: The Method

What do you think about the Grönhold Method?

Madrid. Thousands of people are demonstrating at a protest rally against the International Monetary Fund. Amidst this tense atmosphere, interviews are being held in the skyscraper of a supranational financial corporation for a high managerial position. Seven candidates are going through the selection process which involves the application of the so-called Gronholm method of elimination, based on psychological tests, which German army officers had to go through after the 1st World War. Now the method has been adopted by big business. After conquering a senseless bureaucratic labyrinth, the candidates must then undergo a test whose principle is founded on a cunning drama of mutual suspicion, character-bashing, the forming of alliances, humiliating manipulation, and buck-passing, with the comforting reassurance that “no-one is forcing you to do this”. Some of the candidates would rather be outside in the street with the demonstrators, but haven’t the nerve to admit it.

 Video 4: The Pursuit of Happiness

  1. What are some of the challenges Chris Gardner faced when trying to sell his bone density scanners?
  2. Chris faced many challenges during the movie, yet he still achieved many of his goals. Describe a minimum of three decisions he made or behaviors/personality traits that he demonstrated that helped him reach his goals. Use specific examples from the movie to support the decisions you think were.
  3. During the interview at Dean Witter, Martin Froh asked Chris “What would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on and I hired him! What would you say?” What was Chris’s response?
  4. If you were in Chris’s position would you have attended the interview covered in paint? Why or why not? What did this show about Chris’s drive?
  5. At the end of the film we learn that Chris became a multimillion and successful stockbroker. In your opinion what made Chris the happiest?