MOST COMMONLY AND FREQUENTLY ASKED

QUESTIONS FOR THE JOB INTERVIEW

By: VINCENT RAJ

. Tell me about yourself How would your professors and previous employers

describe you ? Which College did you attend and why did you choose

that college? What did you like the most about your college and the

least? Do you think you made the right career choice? Are you employed and if so why are you thinking of

leaving your current job? What didn't you like about the previous jobs you have

held? Why are you applying for a job outside your major and

area of specialization? What courses in the college did you like the most? And

the least and why?

Why are you interested in this job or why do you like to work for our organization?

What unique abilities, qualifications and experience do you have for this job?

What are your greatest strengths and achievements?

What are your greatest weaknesses? Did you ever change your major in the

college? if so why ? How would you describe yourself? Tell me something about yourself that I

won't find on your resume. What do you know about our company?

What do you know about our products or services? How did your previous work experience prepare

you for this position? Which aspect of your education has prepared you

most for this position? Which of your college years was the toughest?

Why? Why did you choose to find your particular college? How does your college education or work

experience relate to this job? What types of extracurricular activities did you

participate in while you were in school and college?

Do you think your GPA in the university examinations accurately reflects your ability? Why or why not?

Who has financed your college education? Are you planning to go for further studies? Why should we hire you or in what specific

ways will our company benefit from hiring you?

What are your long - run career plans and objectives?

What do you expect to be doing in 5 years and 10 years from now?

What types of work do you enjoy doing most? Least?

. Why did you choose your particular field of work? Do you have any experience in working with teams or social

organizations? What do you think about the present position of this industry? Or

what three trends do you observe in the future for our industry? What accomplishment has given you the greatest satisfaction? Why do you think you would enjoy this particular job? Specifically, how does your education or experience relate to this

job? How did you come to know about this job in our organization? Or

how did you learn about this job opening? Are you a member of any club or social organization? What sort of work did your parents do? Why do you want to change your job? Have you ever been fired? And if so why? Have you ever held a part time job? What did you do during summers in your college? Have you ever done any volunteer work?

What was the most interesting or satisfying job you have ever held? Why?

Who was your best manager or professor? Why did you like him or her the most? Or describe the best supervisor you ever had?

What special skills and experience you bring to our organization?

What is your current salary? What salary do you expect for this position? How do you define and measure success? Do you prefer working alone or in teams? Are you ready to relocate? Or would you be willing to relocate

in the future? Would you like to travel? Why do you prefer to work here? or why are you interested in

this job ?

Why should we hire you? Do you know any of the staff members of our

organization? Or do any of your friends or relatives work for this company?

Why do you like to take up this job? Or why are you interested in this job?

Do you have the right skills and motivation to do well in this position? Or do you feel confident in your ability to handle this position?

What is the salary you think is appropriate for someone with your experience?

What makes this job different from your previous jobs?

Do you have any questions? What do you know about the position we have

open?

Who do you think are our three major competitors? Do they have any advantages over our company? Can we contact your present employer? Why do you want to enter this field? What have been the biggest frustrations and

failures in your career? Do you think you have ever done the best work

you are capable of doing? Why are you leaving your current position? Describe the best thing you ever did in your life. Describe the best job you ever had? How would you compare the quality of your work

to that of others in the same job?

What factors contribute most to your success on your current job? Can you explain the gaps in your employment history? What do you consider the most significant achievement in your entire

career? What has been your biggest disappointment on the previous job? What do you consider the single most important idea you implemented

in your current job? Does your current employer know you are interviewing for a new job? If offered a job, How long will you stay with this company? What are you looking for in a job? Why do you think you are the best person for this job? Have you ever lived or travelled abroad? Do you have any hobbies and passions that might demonstrate

dedication, initiative or originality? How do you usually handle conflicts with superiors or colleagues or

subordinates? What is the hardest thing you ever had to do in your life? What would be the ideal company for you to work?

. What qualities do you expect from the ideal boss? Or describe your ideal boss.

How would your friends describe you? How would your co-workers describe you? Under what conditions do you perform your best work? Or

describe your ideal work environment. If you had a free afternoon, how would you use that time? Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor? How did

you resolve it? Do you consider yourself a leader? Why or why not? Describe a time when you were under pressure to perform. What

was the outcome? What are your hobbies and interests? Describe a situation in which you and your manager worked well

together in order to overcome some challenges. What has been your most successful experience in

communicating ideas to others?

How do you keep your team motivated and informed when everyone is very busy and facing a tight deadline?

What interests you most about this job? What do you think this job will offer you? How many people have you supervised at any given time? What financial responsibilities have you had? What have you learned from your previous company? How would you describe the position for which you are

applying? How do you improve yourself professionally? Are you looking for a limited or unlimited time contract? What makes you unique and different from other job

candidates? What do you like to do during your free time? Are you able to work effectively under stressful

situations?

. Can you give us some evidence of creative work you have done on the job?

What is your biggest failure and what did you learn from it? How would you respond when your manager tells you that your

performance on a particular day has not been really good? What type of decision do you feel is the most difficult for you to

make? Could you describe a day when you faced many problems and how

you could deal with it? Do you think you’re past decisions and actions were consistent with

your values? How would you describe your last boss? How well you can get along with people of different nature and

different cultures? Can you discuss a time when you had a disagreement with your last

boss? Describe the best boss you have ever had.

How do you deal with office politics? Why did you leave your last job? Did you get any other job offer? .What was your last salary? Are you ready to bring down your salary expectations? Do you think you were given the salary you deserve in your last

job? What salary figure do you have in mind? What types of benefits do you expect from this job? Are you ready to work overtime? What do you expect to be earning in ten years? If you are hired, what do you plan to do in the first week on the

job? Are you worried about what other people think of you? What are your leisure time activities? Are you undergoing any training programmes to improve your

skills?

. What do you plan to do to improve yourself? Have you ever received an award or citation? Do you find the internet and the World Wide Web to be of

value in your daily work? If so how? Do you consider yourself a computer literate? Are you open and enthusiastic about the new

technologies? Could you please give five reasons for your success? Have you ever been fired or asked to resign? In what areas have you received compliments from your

superiors? What is the best accomplishment you can name from each

of your previous jobs? What is your leadership style? What has been your biggest disappointment on the job?

. Recall a time when you made an independent decision. Describe an occasion when you managed a situation that

was your superior’s responsibility Recall a time when you used good judgment and logic in

solving problem. Provide an example of your previous company’s

weakness and the step you took to overcome it. Recall a time when your performance on the job led to

greater productivity and profitability to your organization.

Give an example of situation in which you demonstrated your great skill to solve a problem facing your company

Tell me about a time when your hard work was rewarded. Describe a time when you took an active role in a project

for which you had little experience.

Did you ever take on a task that was not part of your job description?

Could you give some evidence of your investing time or money in developing your career?

Can you give me an examples, of using a skill you have acquired to solve a problem?

With specific examples explain what you did at your last/Current job to increase income for the company

Why are you thinking of leaving your current job? How do you deal with your problem creating

subordinates? How do you deal with difficult customers? How do you deal with difficult co - workers? When did you learn new skills? If you were unfairly criticized by your superior, what would

you do? Would you like to have your boss’s jobs? Why or why not?

Do you manage your time well? How do you handle change in the workplace? How do you arrive at making important decisions? Who do you think are our company’s major

competitors? Have you managed / supervised people in any of the

positions you have held? What were the most memorable accomplishments in

your career? What was the greatest failure in your career? What measures did you take to overcome that failure? If you were starting your college life tomorrow what

courses would you take? Who is your favorite author? What is your favorite book?

Which magazines do you read regularly? Which person has the most important influence on your life? why? Have you ever been elected to a leadership position in a club or a

professional association? Do you volunteer to do social work? How long have you been looking for work? What is the most important quality you possess? What factors determine a person’s promotion in a good

organization? What types of people are your best friends? What unique abilities do you have? How many days of work (or college) did you miss last year? How will you handle criticisms? Are you ready to work with people of different races, ethnic and

cultural backgrounds, religions, cultural and life styles? When are you available to start the job? How did your previous employers treat you?

What have you learned from your previous jobs? Did you have a good relationship with your past boss? What types of jobs have you enjoyed the most and the

least? In what ways have your current job or the last job

prepared you to take on more responsibilities? What experience do you have that qualifies you for this

position? How would you describe your personality? What are the most important things for you in any job or

company? Do you think you are overqualified for this positions ? Tell us about the biggest project you have worked on

from start to finish. Will you can handle a stressful situation? What was the most difficult problem you have ever

handled? How did you deal with it?

Could you ever influence your previous boss by providing your new ideas?

What was the most difficult training course you have ever taken?

What type of marketing strategies would you use to sell a newly introduced unfamiliar product?

Are you able to work with numbers? Are you a good listener and a fast learner? Do you have good analytical skills? Are you goal oriented? Are you able to make quick and appropriate decisions? Are you able to plan, organize and implement new projects

and programmes? Are you able to build good customer relations? Are you well aware of the current economic and business

situation and industry structure and customer needs? Are you adaptable and able to hand multiple tasks? Can you give a brief description of your transferable skills?

Do you have good problem solving skills? Do you have good leadership qualities and capable of overcoming and dealing with obstacles?

Are you able to maintain constant contact with the team members and able to motivate them to do better tasks?

Do you think your career so far has been successful? Why have you been working so long with your present

employer? How do you get the best from people? How do you prepare a particular project? Are you a natural leader? What motivates you to take up a job? How do you avoid misunderstandings in the work place? Tell me about an occasion where you had to take on the role

of leader. How do your skills and experience match the job

descriptions of our company’s vacancy for which you are applying?

What appeals to you most about this vacancy? Are there any other organizations to which you are applying? How quickly can you adapt to a new work environment? Do you mind if we contact your current or previous boss for

reference? Are you able to make difficult decisions and tough choices? What reservations do you have about working for us? What character flaws do you have? What makes you better than any of the other candidates I am

interviewing? How do you manage your staff? Why are you thinking of leaving your current job? How did you get your last job? How does this job fit into your career plan? How have you handled criticism of your work in the past? How has your employer rewarded your accomplishments? What are your short term and long term goals? Have you ever taken a position that did not fit into your long term

plans?

Have you progressed in your career as per your expectations? Why did you choose this career? What makes you think that this job is right for you at this point in

your career? What career path interests you within the company? Do you have any hobbies? What are some of the things you do to relax? Are there any community projects that have benefitted from your

professional experience? Are you punctual for your work? Are there any issues in your personal life that might in some way

affect your professional career? after learning more about this job, which aspect interests you most? Do you have any concerns about performing this job? Will you be able to respond to customer complaints effectively? Several of our clients have not paid their bills. If we hire you, how will

you collect the money from them?

Are you able to maintain confidential information about our product and services?

As my assistant, will you able to do my work sincerely, whenever I will be out of my office?

Do you have any problem in working around the clock for a week three to four times a year?

What kinds of jobs did you have during your college days? How is the present job different from that ones you had

before it? What duties of your last job did you find difficult to

perform? What additional benefits do you expect to get from this job

that your last job did not provide? Is there any special reasons for you to choose the job in

this industry your career? What particular aspect of our company interests you most? How will you be successful in this job?

Do you have sufficient knowledge about our recent growth and performance?

Do you know much about the major clients of our company? If you are given an opportunity to develop a new product for our

company, what would it be? Can you identify our company’s distinct advantages over our

competitors? Could you suggest some new strategies for improving our

advertising campaign? Can you identify some of the areas where our company’s need

considerable improvement? If we allow you to run our company, what would you do differently? Do you know about the missions and the visions of our company? Do you think our company will have a bright future? What would be your dream job? What would you say if one of our company competitors offered you

a job? How have your career changed over the past few years? How does this job fit in your career goals?

Do you have an up to date Knowledge about the goal of this business?

Why is unemployment so high in Europe? Why is unemployment very high in India? What will you contribute to the growth of this company? Are you aware of your job description if we hire you? If you were hired today, what will be the first thing you

would do? Are you planning to do an MBA degree programme? Why did you choose to study at Madonna university ? How did you manage to score very high GPA at the university

exams? Why did you score lower grades in school exams? Why haven’t you done any internship? Did you do any internship during the college days? What did you gain from attending the college?

. How would your professors describe you? Did you ever have any disagreement with your teacher in the school

or your professor in the college? What did you like the most about your college? Which aspects of your work are most often criticized? How do you feel when things go wrong on a project? How would you

handle it? Did you ever work with a boss who was unfair to you? Why did you work in the previous jobs for a short period? Why did you stay in your room last job for such a long time? Do you think that you are qualified and skilled to take up more

challenging jobs? Would you be able to work longer hours if the job required you to? Are you sincerely interested in working with our company in this

available position? How good are your communication and presentation skills? What really wakes you up in the morning looking forwards to work?

.. How important to you is your work / life balance? Do you think your lack of accounting knowledge will be a

disadvantage in this job? What opinions have you formed of the people you have met so

far? Do you enjoy hard work? In your opinion, what is the ideal relationship with your boss? How does your present team see you? How will you know when you have found the right job? How do you manage your subordinates? How do you deal with interpersonal conflicts? What factors will make a successful team? Would you describe yourself as a good manager? What is your attitude towards delegation? In what ways do you intend to improve upon your

performance? What are you most afraid of?

. Are you satisfied with your current earning? Would you still be interested in this job, if your current employer offered a

pay rise? Can you tell me about your most admired teacher? In what job position did you make the best use of your communication

skills? In which job position were you the best at motivating yourself or others? Which was the most difficult client interview you faced last year? How did

you prepare and respond to the client’s concerns? What are your views on diversity? How would you manage a diverse team? How would you differentiate between a manager and a leader? What will be your next step if you don’t get this job? How do you deal with failures in life? Are you good at doing research? What personal characteristics do you think will assist to your overall

success? Do you consider yourself a leader or follower? Have you ever had difficulties in getting along with others? Have you successfully worked with a different person? What do you expect regarding your salary?

Can you give a brief description about your education and work experience?

In which job description did you make the best use of your communication skills?

Could you describe a time when, despite your best efforts, you were unable to meet a technical challenge or solve a technical problem?

What factors encouraged you to apply for this role? What do you think of our facility here? How did you come to know about this job? What do you know about our organization? Did you experience any difficulty in finding our organization? Could you describe about your study and time at the university? Do you regularly read the news paper in the morning and if so

which is your favorite news paper? From which source did you see this job advertisement? Describe briefly about your work history. In your last job, what exactly were you responsible for? What could you learn from the jobs that you have held?

Some of the terms you have used in your resume are unclear to us , could you please explain those terms concisely and clearly ?

What did you gain from your bachelor’s degree? Why did you choose that particular course of study? How will your knowledge from your studies will help you in this

job? Don’t you think you are over qualified for this position? What have you learned from your previous jobs? How do you update your knowledge? What measures have you taken to improve your marketing

skills? Why did you choose to become a marketing manager or

operations manager? What is your opinion about the current important trends in our

industry? With very little work experience do you think you can perform

well in this position for which you interviewing?

Do you really want this job? What are the major goals you would like to achieve? What personal qualities do you possess which will make you

successful in this position? How much freedom do you expect to get in a job? What kind of management potential do you have? In what way do you think this role will be the right next step for you ? What has been the right point of your career? Why do you want to change your present job? Why did you leave your last job? Will you respond positively, if your present employer offers you better

pay package? .What are your expectations in your ideal job? Would you like to work for us on voluntary basis? What do you identify as our biggest market advantage? How would you rate your career growth compared with your peers?

Describe a time when you had to make an unpopular decision under tremendous pressure from top management?

How do you evaluate your work performance? How did you know you were doing a good job? What type of individuals do you think will do well in this job? Can you give

the evidence? We are interested in employing people with specific competencies. How

does your experience match our requirement? How did you get along with your team members in your last job? Can you give examples of a time when you had to work with a difficult

team? Have you ever persuaded your colleagues in the work place to do some

work they were unhappy about? Have you ever failed to achieve a goal that had been set for you? Did you ever have to work under pressure and how did you successfully

manage it? How well can you motivate and manage people? Could you tell me about a time when you took a tough decision as a

manager?

Could you give me examples of leadership qualities you have displayed in your life?

Are you able to save sufficient money for the organization which has employed you?

How do you describe us as a business organization? Have you ever been asked to resign from your job? How did you get along with your previous boss? Have you ever been asked to accept a pay and how did you respond? Have you ever worked without supervision? Did you ever fail to meet a challenge in your life? Have you ever had any problems with previous supervisors? Can you give a examples to prove that you are reliable? What kind of problems do you normally encounter in your job? What were your reasons for leaving your last job? What kind of decisions do you make in your current job? How well can you follow instructions of your superiors? What are the reasons for your success in the current profession? How do you rate your confidence? Or Are you ready to take up any

challenging tasks?

What measures would you take to improve our business performance? How can you find out what your competitors are doing? Do you have a good understanding of specific sales and marketing

techniques for selling our products? In which fields / areas do you have good experience and specialized

knowledge? How do you handle specific tasks and assignments? How do you approach specific problems that confront you in implementing

an important decision? How do you get the knowledge of what is happening in other departments

of the organization where you are working? What is the definition of a good job in your profession? Have you ever supervised people more qualified than you? Do you have any objection to being supervised by a person less qualified

than you? Are you able to write procedures, specifications and tenders in your job

confidently, clearly and accurately? What steps do you take to make important decisions? How do you define a pleasant working environment?

What would you do to improve our business if you were given a free hand by us?

What kinds of decisions do you think are most difficult for you to make?

.When was the last time you have to shout at a colleague?

How do you motivate your co-workers? How do you prioritize your work load? Are you able to influence and persuade people? How do you recruit a new member to a team? How do you conduct an effective and efficient

meeting? How familiar are you with total quality management

and control and do you use it currently? What methods do you use to predict the future

workloads?

Do you have a positive view on customer service?

How do you get along with people of different cultures, different nationalities and different ethnicities?

What skills do you think are most important to handle people tactfully?

Do you think your lack of experience and lack of qualifications could be a problem for tacking up this job?

Do you think you will be successful in your current job?

CAN YOU DO THE JOB?

How do your skills and experience help you to take up this job?

Can you describe in detail about your last two positions? What do you know about our firm’s competitors? Do

they pose any threat to us? If you are a good and efficient employee, why didn’t you

get promotion in your previous job? What is the most recent skill you have learned? Have you ever been involved in long range planning? In how many months time will you be able to make a

meaningful contribution to our organization? Do you have any reservation about working with us

here? In what way did you your pervious job prepare you to

take on greater responsibilities? How does your previous boss describe you?

HOW TO HANDLE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS?

The present job requires multiple responsibilities. How will you do those tasks efficiently and effectively?

How quickly can you make an important decision in your department?

For what types of decisions have you been most frequently criticized?

How will you deal with difficult people?

WHAT KIND OF MANAGER ARE YOU

Can you describe your management style?

What kind of procedure do you follow in hiring?

What are people’s greatest misperceptions about you?

How do you deal with disgruntled subordinates?

Have you ever fired anyone and did you ever doubt your decision about firing someone?

WILL YOU BE RIGHT WITH US?

What do people like most about you and least about you?

How do you rate yourself on the scale of efficiency? Do you ever say lie to get things done? How often are you disturbed and what makes you

mad? How do you make your opinions known when you

have disagreement with your management or boss? Do you think that you are a successful individual?

Can you give some examples for your career success? Did you ever face any personal hardship in your life? Could you mention about a situation where you

personally or professionally failed? Who is your greatest personal mentor? How did you manage to get your last job?

DO YOU WORK WELL WITH OTHERS

When do you expect promotion? When do you plan on retrieving? How much time did you take off from work? Do you have any objection to honesty or

psychological testing? Will your boss feel upset when you resign from

your job? What was the least satisfying job that you ever

had? What kinds of personal experience, outside of

work, do you have for this job? How do you manage to interview while still

employed? Can you describe the way you moved up through

the organization?

ADDITIONAL GREAT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

What was your favorite position, and what role did your boss play in making it so unique?

What was your least favorite position? What role did your boss play in your career at that point?

What makes you stand out among your peers? ( P.11)

What have you done in your present / last position to increase your organization’s total revenue? (P.13)

What have you done to reduce your department’s operational costs or to save time? ( P.14)

What has been your most creative achievement at work?

What are the broad responsibilities of a job title? ( P.20)

What aspect of your job do you consider most crucial? How many hours a week do you find it necessary to work in

order to get your job done? ( P. 23) What does growth mean to you? ( P.33) What kind of mentoring and training style do you have? Do you

naturally delegate responsibilities? (P.52) How would you describe the amount of structure, direction and

feedback you need in order to excel in your career? What type of corporate culture will you create if we hire you?

(P.55) How does your degree prepare you for a career in industry or to

excel as a job title? What qualification do you have beyond academics that qualify

you to make a successful transition into business? ( P.61 ) Do you think your grades are a good indicator of your ability to

succeed in business? (P.63) What other type of companies and positions are you

considering right now? ( P. 64)