Tell me something about your self.
Go prepared for this question, as this is the most frequently asked question in
the interview. Answer it covering your work experience, educational
qualifications and a little information about your family background. Try to
focus on key areas of your work while talking about your professional
experience. This is an open ended question and can help you in taking the
interview in which ever direction you want it to go. You should know where to
put a full stop to provoke the desired question from the
interviewer.
Why does this role interest you? Or why have you
applied for this job?
Keep the focus of the answer to this question on your skills, experience and
personal qualities. Link the job requirement to your skills rather than talking
about the challenges, career and progression.
Why do you think should we take you for this job?
Don't panic if you are asked this question. Make
sure that you have understood the job profile well before you go for the
interview. Relate your qualifications and work experience with the job
requirements. If there are any new things that you are expected to perform in
the new job, say that you are always open to learn the new things and take up
the new challenges.
What motivates you at work?
You can say that competition and new challenges
motivate you at work.
Why do you want to leave your present job or why
did you leave your last job?
The reasons for switching the job could be numerous.
The best answer to offer for this question is to say, “for better prospects”.
Now they can ask you another question, what do you mean by better prospects? To
this you can say, better prospects in terms of experience, and exposure.
If you have been made redundant, put your words across very carefully. Your
wrong words can give an impression that only you were the one whose position
was made redundant, which hardly might be the case. May be you can say
something like, “Over last 8 months a lot of restructuring was going on in the
company and 40 positions became surplus. One of them was mine but I have learnt
a lot during my tenure at XYZ company and I am sure I can add a lot of value to
a position like the we are discussing about”.
What is your greatest strength?
Interpret this question as, what is your greatest
relevant strength? Or Why should we hire you? Tell them a strength that they
want to buy. For this you will need to properly understand the job profile and
keep your answer ready. For example, if the job needs you to have convincing
answers ready for the any type customer’s questions, you can sell “your
presence of mind” or if you are required to change you sector or industry you
can offer “your adaptability” as an answer. It is important to keep ready at
least 2 examples of the mentioned strength.
What is your greatest weakness?
Interpret this question as, why shouldn’t we hire
you? There 3 ways to tackle this question. Judge the situation and use one of
them.
First way: Use your sense of
humour. If the interview is proceeding in the light way and you have built up a
good rapport with the interviewer, you can get out of it by saying “Icecream”.
Accompany it with a right body language.
Second Way: If you have to answer
this question seriously, give a weakness which doesn’t relate to the job under
discussion. For example, you can say, I have been using a camera since
childhood but I still don’t know how to mend it. If it is spoiled, I will need
to take it to an expert.
Third way: Understand the
requirement of the role under discussion and say that others accuse you of
having that weakness but you think that it is important for your work. For
example, if the job needs a detailed study and leaving a single step might need
you to re-run the whole process say that “My colleagues accuse me of having a
too much eye for detail but I have experienced that to do this work you need to
go into details rather than cutting corners. I have worked with people
following a shorter route and doing the whole exercise again, which I would not
prefer to do.”