Guest Author - Gwendolyn Thompson
Going to a job interview is always stressful but being prepared for the interview can reduce the stress and build confidence. You can achieve this by following this interview question and answer guide and by planning ahead and researching the position as well as the company.
Generally an interviewer will make a decision in the first ten minutes of the interview if you will be the person for the job. You will likely be asked behavioral based questions about your past experiences that may indicate how you will handle tasks and problems in the future.
Review your work experiences and prepare yourself with examples from your past that will answer questions related to problem solving, fixing a mistake or dealing with unpleasant coworkers. Prepare to work these points into your interview through practice and role playing.
Begin to prepare for the interview by creating a question and answer guide to use in role playing with other family members or friends or both. The more you practice the more comfortable and confident you will be when you are in front of an interviewer.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Introduce yourself by offering a few sentences that best describe who you are while touching on your greatest strength. Set the stage by being specific in your strengths and offering further discussion on how you can benefit their company.
Why should we hire you?
Briefly review your education expanding on your achievements, knowledge and skills. Use
success stories to make the interviewer see that you will be an asset to their company.
What are your weaknesses and strengths?
Discuss how you have improved your skills in response to a particular situation and how you did it.
Let the interviewer know how your weakness became your strength over time. Discuss how this
strength had a positive impact in a previous employment.
How do you deal with stress?
Let the interviewer know how you respond to problem solving using a positive attitude to come up
a solution and give a brief example.
Why did you leave your last job?
Give an honest answer and disclose any legal issues or problems as the company will probably
request an evaluation from your previous employer. Never speak negatively about prior employers.
Why do you want to work for our company?
Discuss your goals and interest in the company and your passion for the type of business they offer
while bringing up past experiences that qualify you for this type of work.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Express your long term goals touching on financial and professional growth and how you can
do that with their company.
Spend sometime preparing for your interview by creating your own interview question and answer guide using the above questions to prepare your answers. Include information of previous accomplishments and conflict resolutions. Try not to give to much information during the interview.
