Having spent 10 years doing temporary and contract work in
finance and accounting, I have had more than my fair share of selection
interviews. As my experience grew, the responsibility within the jobs grew and
with that, the questions became a little more testing and awkward.
I have compiled a list of the testing questions I have been
asked, I am not going to include the routine
ones that ask about work experience, what I know about the company etc..
In preparation for an interview, everyone has a responsibility to review their
resume and research the company a little. A quick added tip on this, if you
feel their website is not user friendly, uncoordinated etc. bring this to their
attention at the interview with your reasons.
10 Testing
Questions.
- How do you work in pressure or stressful situations?
This is one of those testing
questions where planning and/or seeking advice from others comes into play.
Simply stating you thrive on stress and that it brings the best out of you,
without some concrete examples, is only marginally better than saying that you
throw a hissy fit.
- What has been your greatest professional achievement?
The answer you give here is as much as looking
at your methodology as the result. You need to demonstrate you understand how
you arrived at the result/ solution, the employer doesn’t want to hear you
simply sold 1000m x’s one time or promoted to supervisor without achieving
anything. Find something tangible and show the path to achieve it!
- Describe a situation where you went beyond your role scope to achieve success?
This is a great opportunity to
show your team skills, aptitude and your ability to coordinate and lead. It is
also beneficial to incorporate this into the previous question and actually bye
pass this question. Be careful where you go with this as a few times in my own
example I have been asked how it impacted my core job. In my own example, I
learned to add that the issues took 6 months to resolve because my attention
could not be exclusively with one customer. I was a temporary key account
credit manager at the time.
- Where else have you applied or being considered for?
This isn’t so much an awkward
question, it is more of a be careful question. You can be honest, give company
names and job titles if you wish, but that’s all. These people are
professionals, they know what is in the market place and if you are applying
for positions elsewhere, it could affect your salary offer if the other company
pays lower. Just be clever here.
- What do you believe to be your greatest strengths?
This is your opportunity to sell
yourself, so focus on a couple of the adjectives that you have used in your
resume’s introduction. Don’t hold back, explain with pride and a little
excitement. Just don’t rattle of a list of adjectives as if you have just
memorized them, say it like you mean it.
- What would you say is your greatest weakness?
Coming back with intolerance, time keeping
etc. is not a good idea here. I found that the best received answer was going
back to the outside the role scope answer above and admitting that I can be
over zealous in helping others and put myself under time pressure to reach my
own deadlines.
- Have you had with issues with your previous coworkers and bosses?
This is not an open invitation for a bitching
session and issues should not be repeated here. This is often a slip up for
people that have been playing on the teamwork and loyalty aspect. The best
answer that worked for me was that, yes, I had disagreements, but these were
all sorted out in private and professionally. I try to stay out of office
politics and gossiping as much as possible.
- What salary are you looking for?
Minefield, tread with caution! If you throw a
figure in at this point, you have just put your cards on the table, before you
have been offered the position or a second interview. Play safe here, show you
have done your homework, state that a job like this should be within A and B.
But with my experience, I believe I should be in the upper half of the scale.
- Would you prefer to be liked or feared?
This is really at
supervisor or management levels, it is asking are you a theory X or theory Y
type of manager? This can also be asked the other way round, what type of
manager do you prefer? To show my knowledge, I always answered I believe I am a
theory Z manager, a bit of both. But as a manager, I realize that I am now part
of them (management) and not us ( workforce), yet I can foster good
relationships with everyone in my responsibility.
- Do you have any questions for me?
This is a pretty
standard closing question, but one that trips a lot of people up, according to
the companies that I have worked with. A blank stare followed by” no, think
that’s all” is going to do you no favors. If you have done your homework, a
pertinent question about the job function or alternatively, if not mentioned
previously, how many people will I be working with etc. Just be ready with some
response!
Summary
Be prepared to talk about yourself, your experience, why
you’re looking etc., at many interviews, it will be two or three interviewers.
Make sure that you pay attention to all of them when answering, as often the
H.R. person will just be taking notes and come in with one of the testing
questions above. Be ready to justify and, if needed, give examples of everything
that is stated in your introduction. A common mistake is one of consistency,
you have stated good problem solving skills yet nowhere in the job history did
it refer to the use of those skills. But you have done your research, checked
for consistency and prepared answers for the coming questions, so go in with
confidence and good luck!
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