Questions information

Tell me something about yourself.

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 every
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 “Ice-
cream”. 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.”

What is your greatest achievement?

The underlying agenda is to know what personal qualities were required to achieve it. Don’t
go back too far to answer this question as this might give an impression that you have not
achieved anything since then. Find a relevant answer in the recent past for this question. If
you are a fresher and have been a topper of your college or university, you can say that
during the interview.

Are you ambitious?

You can say that I am very ambitious in the way that I don’t like to get to get a feeling of
stagnancy. I want that I should always be getting new experiences and learning new things.

What qualities would you look for, if you were recruiting someone for this position?

To answer this question, you need to analyse the requirements of the job profile before
appearing for the interview. The answer to this question would estimate your understanding
of the role under discussion.

Are you speaking to some other companies? Or how is your job search going on?
This question gives you an opportunity to let the interviewer know that other companies are
also interested in hiring you and gives you leverage while negotiating the salary. You can
say, Yes, I am in the final round of discussion with two other companies. Approach the
interviewer as a “Problem Solver” and not as a “Job Beggar”.

Which companies are you talking to?

You can maintain your integrity by refusing to disclose the names. You can simply say, they
haven’t notified these openings so I believe they would not like their names to be revealed.
At times, taking the competitor’s names might increase your chances of being hires. Analyse
the situation and answer accordingly.

Are you ready to relocate?

You can say, for a right position and right company relocation should not be a problem. Do
not close the discussion at the earlier stage by saying “No”.

You have stayed for a long time with your last company-Why?

Staying with the same company for too long may be considered as the candidate being un-
ambitious. While answering this question you can say, “Yes, I preferred to stay with them all
this while because I was regularly adding value to my experience there and I was growing as
a professional”.

You have switched many jobs-why?

Too much job hopping gives an impression that the candidate is unstable and unreliable but
you can put this query to ease by saying that you switched jobs to broaden your experience.

What was your biggest mistake?

There’s nothing wrong in admitting a mistake. A human being is bound to commit mistakes.
This time it is advantageous to go back as far as possible in the past and find an answer. The
advantage of doing this is that a youngster is expected to commit more mistakes than a
mature and seasoned person. This would give an impression that since that time you have
committed mistakes but not that big.

Take the word “mistake” as liberally as possible and go back to your student life to answer
this question. Probably you can say, if I could go back to my student life, I would have
studied Biology instead of Math.

Why haven’t you got a job yet?

This question will usually arise if it has been sometime since you finished your studies and
are still in the market without a job. You can say that, I have been offered some tempting
positions in the last few days but had to turn them down as I did not find them right for my
candidature. You can follow it up with some examples.

You do not have all the experience we are seeking for this position.
To answer this question, you again need to analyse the requirements of the role properly and
match them to your candidature. If you meet most of the requirements, you can say that you
have most of the qualities needed for this role and for the remaining you are always open to
learning them. You can follow this up with an example from your last job where you learnt
and did things that you didn’t know earlier. Stay confident while answering this question.

Why do you want to quit your present job?

The reasons for you to quit the present job could be numerous, may be you don't get well
along with your boss or your salary is too less but its not good to make derogatory remarks
about your present company in an interview.
You can give a more practical answer like, my present company is not able to offer me
further growth opportunities and I have a feeling that its the time for me to grow up in
hierarchy and learn further..

Have you ever made a mistake at work? How did you rectify it?

Everybody makes mistakes, there's nothing wrong in admitting it. In the interview you can
say that yes , there have been times when you have made mistakes and learnt from them.
Whatever you could correct yourself, you did that and for the rest you went back to your
senior and took his help to sort it out.

What major problems did you face in your last role?

The agenda of this question is to understand if

It is safer to mention a problem which was caused by an external party rather than the
problems within internal parties. May be you can take an example of the problem caused by a
customer, vendor. Discuss what you did to solve the problem. If you took some leadership
role also in the whole process, talk about it.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

By asking this question, the interviewer wants to see, how ambitious the candidate is. You
can say that, 5 years down the line I would like to see myself in a responsible position where
I can make important decisions in the favour of company and the company treats me as its
asset. I am sure that this company can offer me growth opportunities like this.

How do you feel about doing repetitive work?

You can say that I understand that every job has an element of repetitive work but I enjoy
fulfilling all the aspects of my job with equal enthusiasm and give them my 100%.

How did you manage to attend this interview during your working hours?
Everybody knows that you would not ask permission from your boss to appear for an
interview. You can answer this question by simply saying that you have taken a off from the
office to appear for this interview.

Would you like to work in a team or on your own?

The agenda behind this question is to understand if you are a team player or a solo performer.

It might be risky to choose any one of them as the role for which they are considering you
might need you to be a team player but the career progression which they might consider for
you down a year’s time may need you to handle a more autonomous position. It is better to
answer this question by saying that “I don’t have any such preference. I can comfortably
handle both the situations, as the need arises.” Now back it up with examples where you
successfully worked in a team and where you performed an autonomous role.

If your last boss was present here, what do you think he would tell us about you?

This is again a question which can be answered in two ways.

First way: If the situation is light, you can say that, “I am the diamond of his team, you must
pick me up”. This needs to be accompanied by a right body language.

Second way: If the discussion is proceeding in a serious manner, you can pick up a formal
appraisal he gave you and say that I think he would repeat it here.

Has your career developed as you had liked?

The agenda behind this question is to understand if there had been times of dip in your career
and if you lay the blame for them on others. There’s nothing to be ashamed of if there have
been short gap in your employment.
You can justify it by giving a convincing reason. Look at your qualifications and social
environment and relate your achievements to them, to answer this question.

What would you do if your team ceased to perform?

The agenda behind this question is to understand your management style. A good answer to
this question could be, I will try to establish the reasons for non-performance of the team and
try to eradicate them.

Would you take up this job if we offered it to you?

Again there are two ways to handle this question.

First Way: If you have built up a good rapport with the interviewer by now you can ask a
more direct question, Are you offering it to me? (with a smile and right body language). If
they say “Yes”, you can say that off course, based on what we have discussed till now I am
enthusiastic in taking up this position. How soon would you be able to get me a written offer?

Second Way: Alternatively you can say, based on what we have discussed till now, I will be
happy to take up this position but there are still certain things that need to be discussed.
Your expected salary?

Don't jump at a figure when you are asked this question during the personal interview. Try to
turn the ball back into the interviewer’s court and ask him the type of salary the company
offers for a position like this. Still, if you are required to answer this question, mention a
range rather than talking about an exact figure but don't keep the range too vast, you will be
offered the one at the lower end. Probably you can say, I should be comfortable with
something in the range of mid-fifties.

What will you do if you are offered a job with a salary higher than this?

By asking this question the interviewer tries to analyse if the candidate will leave the job for a
couple of thousands. Recruiting candidate costs money to the company so they would like to
hire somebody who has some loyalty towards the company. You can answer this question by
saying that though you know the attraction of money every job offers but you would first try
to analyse the growth opportunities with both the jobs. If your present company can offer you
the desired growth with the industry trend, you would not switch. You will discuss the issue
with your senior and ask his views on your growth in the present job and if you see that there
is a potential to grow in the present job, you will stick otherwise you will politely inform him
about your decision to move ahead in life.

Do you want to ask us something about the company?

When you are going for a job interview, go prepared. Try to find out the latest information
about the company.
When you are asked this question, you can ask interesting questions like the opportunities for
you to grow in the company, the expansion plans of the company and the chances for you to
grow there.

If the company has been in news recently, you can ask questions related to that also..

As your personal interview progresses, the interviewer usually gives you a chance to ask him
any questions that you may want to. This is not only one of the golden opportunities for you
to demonstrate your interest in the company and the job but also a chance to address any
concerns the interviewer might have about your candidature. If you simply sit like a dumb
and say “No, I don’t think I have anything.” Or “You have already answered all my
questions”, believe me you will dig your own grave.

By doing this you not only lose an opportunity to prove your suitability but also make the
recruiters think twice before hiring you. Interviewers do expect some intelligent question
from the candidates and when they get a dumb sounding reply at the end of an interview
which they thought to be successful, their heart sinks. The recruiters also need people to fill
up the vacancies and keep the work moving. They are continuously on a look out for good
candidates. If towards the end of the interview they get a feeling that the candidate is
probably not interested or not suitable enough to carry out the work properly, they also feel
bad, as they again have to go through the whole process of finding another candidate. So,
prepare yourself well in advance to ensure that you are ready to ask some intelligent
questions during the interview.