How to Answer typical interview questions...

[ClubberLang]

I'm pretty good in interviews. But i'm never quite sure how to answer the typical question:

"what are some of your biggest weaknesses?"

I refuse to tell them that i'm lazy and unmotivated so what are some of the best stock answers?

[steve.m]

"I'm a cleptomaniac and pyromaniac. So you're getting a two for one deal if you hire me."

Did you try google? tons of info http://www.vault.com/survival/center.jsp?type=3&ch_id=262&article_id=9106882&cat_id=1481&listelement=1

[poedua]

I provided this post to a similar question from an RFDer back in October...hope it helps....


What Motivates You?

You need to give an answer, as always, that benefits your potential employer and links into the key responsibilities of the job. So don’t say “$ 100,000 per year and a Porche Turbo!” Give an answer along the lines of “I’m happiest when I can see a project through from start to finish”, or “I get a real kick out of managing a team that is happy and knows it is successful”.

How Well Do You Take Direction?

Keep in mind the fact that your interviewer may become you’re boss should you get this job, so remember it’s their direction you will be taking. The answer here has to be that you take direction well. You can add credibility to your answer by expanding it and adding something like “I don’t see how a team can function effectively unless it’s members are happy to take directly from their leader”.

How Do You Handle Criticism?

Remember you’re interviewer may be anticipating becoming your boss and will inevitably have to criticise you from time to time. They want to know whether this task would be easy for them of whether you will make it difficult for them.

So perhaps you could answer this question along the lines of “I’m always happy to be given constructive criticism and welcome this. It helps me learn from my mistakes and improve my performance”.

How Do You Get The Best From People?

If you are applying for a management role it is highly likely you’ll be asked this question. The kind of skills that interviewers like to hear about are:

Good communication
Teamwork skills
Recognizing each person as an individual
Setting a sound and good example
Praising good performances.
How Do You Resolve Conflict In Your Team?

This question really does need to be answered honestly. Find an example of conflict that you have had in your own team and use this to demonstrate your abilities at resolving it. The kind of skills you need to demonstrate are as follows:

Fairness
Addressing problems with individuals privately
Making sure you get to the root of the problem
Finding a solution that the persons concerned are willing to adhere to.
Assuming that its true, you would also do well to point out that “I find if a team is run fairly and the team members are well motivated, conflict rarely arises and the team functions as a well oiled engine”.

What Do You Dislike Most At Work?

“Nothing!” The interviewer can hire you safely knowing that you will be well motivated every minute of the working day and every moment of your working time with your employer. So if you get asked this question your answer will be “you can’t think of anything you dislike about work”. The only possible exception is if this job is very different from your last, in which case you might say something like “I really enjoy my work. But occasionally I get a little frustrated in a small company that I don’t get to meet the customers I deal with as often as I’d like. That’s one of the reasons why this job appeals to me so much”.


How Does This Job Fit Into Your Career Plan?

It’s fairly unwise to commit yourself too precisely to a career plan. So you might say something like “Business changes so rapidly nowadays it’s hard to plan precisely. But I know what I want to get ahead in this industry and I think the opportunities to do that in this company are excellent”.

What Appeals To You Least About This Job?

You need to be careful with this one. Naming almost anything will give the interviewer the impression that you are less than 100% enthusiastic about this job. So either tell them that it appeals to you, or if you don’t feel happy with this kind of answer come up with a part of the job which is

A small part of it
Of no major importance
Universally unpopular.
One of the better examples of this is filing or paperwork in a job where the paperwork isn’t a significant part of the job. But you should still express it in positive terms such as “I can’t say I find paperwork terribly inspiring. But it’s important to make sure it gets done. And actually, it can be quite therapeutic.”;

Are You Talking To Other Organisations As Well As Us?

This is a great one. You want to show your prospective employer that you are in demand as it makes you a more attractive prospect. In turn if you are offered the job it can help you drive up the salary you manage to negotiate. At the same time, if you tell them that you’ve had three other offers already, they may be put off you if they still have a long way to go – more interviews for example. So indicate that you are talking to others without suggesting you’re on the verge of taking another job. It’s not a total lie but let them know you’re doing well. A good example would be “I’ve reached the final round of interviews with three other companies.”

What Other Types Of Job Or Organisation Are You Applying To?

You don’t need to divulge exactly how you’ve applied to here. Occasionally you may be asked directly where else you’ve applied to but you can avoid answering by saying that the companies concerned haven’t advertised the positions so you don’t feel it’s right to divulge this information. That lets you off the hook and shows your ability to keep confidence. But the interviewer can get around it with this question – asking not for names of companies but merely types of job and company. The important thing here is to show that you want this job. If it becomes apparent that you’re applying for all sorts of different jobs in different industries, it rather casts doubt on your commitment to this post. So indicate that you’re applying for similar jobs within the same field.

How Long Would It Take You To Make A Useful Contribution To This Company?

You might be thinking that you cant answer this question without more information and you’d be right. So ask for the information you need;

What would my key objectives be for the first six months?
Are there any specific projects you would need me to start working on straight away?
You can use the answers to these enquiries to help you with your answer. But broadly speaking you should indicate that (unless there is an urgent project) you would expect to spend the first week or two settling in and finding your way around. After that you’d expect to be making a useful contribution within the first few weeks and to show significant successes within four to six months.

Describe A Situation Which, In Hindsight, You Could Have Handled Better

The trick here is to be ready with something from a long time ago. Try to prepare an example where it really wasn’t your fault you handled it as you did. For example “With hindsight, I can see that it would have been quicker to evacuate everyone straight down the main staircase rather than use the fire escape, but because the phones were down I had no way of knowing that the main structure was safe”.

What Sort Of Decisions Do You Find Difficult?

“Whether to have prawn or beef sandwiches for lunch!” You’ve never found a decision difficult in your life of course. But the danger with some of these questions is that if you come across as being too implausibly perfect you risk sounding like your arrogant. So you have to admit to some minor failings but make sure they have been overcome or are irrelevant to the job you are applying for – otherwise make them sound human – no ones perfect. So you could say something like “The kind of decisions I dislike most are the ones which others wont like. They aren’t actually difficult but for example I don’t like having to make the decision to sack someone”.

Describe A Situation In Which Your Work Was Criticised

If you pick an instance where the criticism was clearly unfair and you were in the right you risk looking as if you are simply taking the opportunity of airing an old grievance – it will make you look like your someone who bears grudges. So you need to go for the “distant past” option.

Interviewers may well ask you this question – or variation on it – if they want to see how you cope with tough questioning. So make sure you have an answer ready in case you need it. You should answer in a couple of stages;

Briefly describe the task and the criticism you received for it.
Explain how you learnt from it and you haven’t repeated such mistakes since.
Not only does this make you sound human (which we all are including interviewers) and as though you haven’t been criticised for a long time, but it also shows that you can take constructive criticism on board and learn from it.

What Sort Of People Do You Find It Difficult To Work With?

You don’t want to be seen criticising others. Don’t be drawn into telling them about John in personnel who is absolutely useless at getting your expenses cheque back on time – it doesn’t carry any weight. Start by saying that you are an easy going person who finds getting on with people an easy job because of your nature but if you had to pick a type of person that niggles you it’s the one that doesn’t pull his weight or isn’t bothered about the standard of their work because it reflects badly on the rest of the team.

What Salary Are You Expecting?

Try something like “What salary would you be expecting to pay for this position?” or ask what salary range has been given for this position. If the interviewer doesn’t want to divulge this then its not unreasonable for you to decline to answer too.

Should the interviewer quote a salary and ask for your response let them know you were thinking of something a little higher – but remember don’t make it out of their reach. If they suggest a salary range quote them back a salary range which is slightly higher but overlaps.

Good Luck

[Kai Viti]

I'm pretty good in interviews. But i'm never quite sure how to answer the typical question:

"what are some of your biggest weaknesses?"

I refuse to tell them that i'm lazy and unmotivated so what are some of the best stock answers?

Never say anything that's really negative. Put a spin on too much positive, e.g., instead of lazy ... I'm overly perfectionist, so I tend to take more time doing things!

Unmotivated - maybe try I'm overly analytical, so can be caught up in analysis paralysis!

Or to show what a cool, calm & collected interviewee you are: "Biggest weakness? My honesty. I just have to tell you I don't have any." Good way to break the ice at least.

If I ever interview anyone who gives me those answers, I'll know where they came from & not to hire them. :cheesygri

[milk]

I'm pretty good in interviews. But i'm never quite sure how to answer the typical question:

"what are some of your biggest weaknesses?"

I refuse to tell them that i'm lazy and unmotivated so what are some of the best stock answers?

You should tell them, "Not knowing how to answer typical interview questions like this one."

[fishlips20]

Alright.

This is the best site I have found... used it for my MBA interviews and got into all of the schools that I applied to... it was also helpful for the job interview process.

http://www.vault.com/nr/ht_list.jsp?ht_type=10

you're welcome.