Tips for Job Seekers on Interview Questions. Find out the most common interview questions and answers here.
Interview Questions - Tips for Job Seekers
Attending job interviews can be intimidating! Being prepared will help you through the experience by increasing confidence, ensuring that you are presenting yourself appropriately and may ultimately bring success in securing the position. The process of interview preparation gives you the opportunity to mentally orient yourself as suitable for a job so that at interview you are already seeing yourself in the role.
Researching for Interview Questions
An important part of interview preparation is to find out as much as possible about the organisation and the position. Find the company’s website and spend time learning about the organisation. What does the company do? What is its structure? Are there any issues to be aware of? Being able to demonstrate your knowledge will show the interviewers that you have some understanding of the company’s role and position in the market, who its competitors are and any challenges it might be facing.
Having a good understanding of the role in question is just as important. This will help you identify your own suitability for the job vacancy and demonstrate this during the interview.
Self-Awareness and Interview Preparation
Being aware of your strengths and challenges in an interview situation will help you put your best foot forward on the day. If you are typically a nervous wreck in job interviews, consider how you can support yourself through the process. Instead of rushing to an interview, plan some time to sit somewhere quietly beforehand to help you get grounded and focus. If nerves aren’t much of a problem but you find it hard to remember examples of your work when asked, focus on these in your interview preparation.
Practice, practice, practice! Ask a friend or colleague to help you practice your job interview technique and give you helpful comments. Make sure you choose someone who knows your work and will give honest and constructive feedback.
Finally, if you are attending an interview at a company at which you already work, be careful not to undersell yourself. Never assume that the interviewers already know all about you; it can be helpful to try to forget you know them and answer interview questions accordingly.
Common Interview Questions and Answers
Typically there are 3 types of job interview questions. General exploratory questions are often used at the start of an interview, aimed at relaxing you and getting to know you a little. Designed to focus on how you function in a role, behavioural interview questions are generally probing and focus on your past approaches and look for how you might fit the company. The third type are situational interview questions. These are typically designed around real or hypothetical situations applicable to the job vacancy. Following are the 5 most common interview questions and answers to help you in your interview preparation.
Tell us about yourself
Often the first question asked, this is a great opportunity to make a positive first impression. Make sure you mention your expertise and strengths, how your career has developed and where you want to head now - relating this to the job vacancy of course. Be brief and concise; don’t get carried away and give them your life story.
Why have you applied for this job?
Talk about why the company interests you - perhaps you’re passionate about the services it provides - and how the role matches your professional interests and experience. Values are a big thing with organisations these days so make sure you’ve checked for a values statement on their website and can talk about how they fit with your own.
What is your understanding of the company?
Remember your interview question research? Use it to talk about what the company does, why it exists and where it sits in the market. Maybe the company is facing some challenges or might even be in the media; this interview question is a chance to demonstrate your knowledge.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Your interview preparation will have given you an understanding of what the company is seeking, so make sure you are ready to match your skills and knowledge to their needs. As far as weaknesses go, it is perfectly ok to talk about these, as long as you don’t mention anything listed in the selection criteria. A good way of describing a weakness is to talk about what you have done to manage it e.g. you have had to learn when to step back from your tendency to be a perfectionist.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Most people dislike this interview question because often the real answer is ‘I don’t know’. One way of dealing with it is to talk about how you would like to be experiencing the workplace, i.e. feeling valued, making a real contribution, developing and using your skills and knowledge.
And Finally…
Always when answering interview questions, keep in mind that you need to promote yourself for the position. Make sure that you tie each of your answers back to your skills and motivation and demonstrate how you are the right fit for the organisation.
Good luck!
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