Questions to expect at an interview

Basic questions you should prepare to answer:

· Describe yourself / Tell me about yourself
· I have many candidates lined up for this position. Why should I give you the job? After being
with the same company for so long, aren’t you concerned it will be very hard for you to change
your ways to fit into our culture?
· You’ve changed jobs quite frequently, How do we know you won’t repeat the pattern and leave
us too if we employ you?
· Have you ever supervised or managed people in any of your previous positions? How long have
you been looking for a job?
· Why haven’t you received any offers so far?
· What are your 3 greatest strengths in the workplace? What are your 3 biggest weaknesses in
the workplace? What could you do to control these weaknesses?
· Tell me about your worst failure and how you dealt with it?
· What skills do you feel you need to develop to advance your career?
· What feedback have you been given about your performance that required some correction or
improvement?
· Tell me about the worst and best boss you’ve ever had and why they were the best and worst.
· Looking back on the experience now, do you think there was anything you could have done to
improve your relationship with that one bad boss.
· Are you an organised person? And why do you believe that? Do you manage your time well?
· How do you go about making important decisions?
· Do you work well under pressure?
· Do you anticipate problems well or merely react to them? Can you give me an example?
· Would you describe yourself as a risk taker or someone who plays it safe? Do you prefer
working in a team or by yourself? Why?
· Are you good with people? Why do you say that? How do you get along with your managers?
· How do you get along with your co-workers?
· How do you get along with people you have supervised?
· If you could start your career all over again, would you have chosen this career?
. What are your achievements?
· Do you initiate any new procedures, systems or policies? Have you ever recruited or employed
someone?
· Have you ever fired anyone? Why?
· What does the word “success” mean to you? What does the word “failure” mean to you?
· Where do you see yourself in five years time? What are your most important long term goals?
· How would you describe your management style?
· Give me an example of when you had a conflict situation and how you handled it.
· How do you behave when you’re having a problem with co-workers?
· If you could change one thing about your personality what would it be? What do you like to do
when you are not working?
· Describe your best friend and what they do for a living.
· In what ways are you similar or dissimilar to your best friend?
· Say your manager left a project in your in-box and left town for a week. You cannot reach her
and don’t fully understand the project, what o you do?
· Your manager makes a request that goes against your value, what do you do?
. What’s the last book you read?
· Do you rate family as important?
· When do you plan on having babies? Getting married? What sort of package are you looking at?
· How do you like to be managed?
· Can you give me an example of where you’ve had to deal with a customer/client that has made
a difficult or unrealistic demand?
· What is your ideal job?
· Can you share your mistakes with others?
· If you had one wish what would if be?

By Preparing yourself for these questions you won't be cought "on the spot" with nothing to say. So before you go for an interview think of answers for all the above questions so you can be prepared to answer them professionally.