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Job Interview Questions

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Lyyynnnchy

Lyyynnnchy

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Thought it might be a good idea to post questions you have had in a job interview that have surprised you or that you have struggled to answer.

Im 20 years old and have a job interview as a Junior Project Manager with the option of going to a Project Manager if suited. Very good pay and looks to be quite a good job especially with the chance to move up in the company.

My last 2 jobs I have struggled to answer, "what are your weaknesses". I always go in with something to say but it always comes out sounding average.

Anyone have any ideas?

What are some questions that have surprised you or that you have struggled to answer?
 
This thread as potential!

To answer your question about your weakness, I would start off with something like.

While I have comfidence in my strenghts, I'm eger to learn through the feedback of my colleagues and willing to learn new ways and new ideas.

This tells the employer that you are open to learning and open to feedback which is a positive from here you can maybe give an example of an early you would like to enhance.
 
The weakness question can be a bitch if you're not prepared, some tips I've heard:

1. be honest, but make sure it isn't a big weakness that could ____ you over i.e. essential skills for the job
2. don't dodge the question ("I'm a perfectionist/workaholic")
3. mention what you're doing to rectify it
4. keep it relatively brief
 

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I think jobs are realy looking for the creative answers and people to use there initive when answering the "what are your weaknesses" question. Saying somethign corny doesnt seperate you from any of the other applicants.

Saying something unusual or something they might not have heard of before can keep you in there mind and at the top of the list

Any other questions?

Whats the best answer for "why did you leave your previous job"

I plan to answer in someway explaining that in my current role there is not a lot of room to move forward in the company which is somethign I always try and push myself to do
 
the dreaded 'weaknesses' question:-

option a) Answer the question in a way that your 'weakness' can in fact be seen as a strength. eg - "I'm a perfectionist" isn't a bad one if you can give an example where maybe you have spent too long on a task to get it right, where it wouldn't have been the end of the world to have sacrificed a bit on the quality side.

option b) Talk about it in terms of 'areas I would like to develop' - eg "Well one area I would really like to develop further is my ...leadership skills / customer service skills / conflict management skills / negotiation skills / ability to analyse data etc". Talk about it in terms of improving/building on the skills you already have - not in terms of "I'm really crap at 'x'.
 
The "why did you leave / are you leaving" Q:-

be honest! Why are you leaving? Why are there limited opportunities? Are your efforts not recognised? Is the culture/values of the organisation not a match for you? Why? Job not challenging enough? Why? What are you looking for? Only you can analyse your decision. If you have no answers then maybe you should stay where you are.
 
PowerKat said:
the dreaded 'weaknesses' question:-

option a) Answer the question in a way that your 'weakness' can in fact be seen as a strength. eg - "I'm a perfectionist" isn't a bad one if you can give an example where maybe you have spent too long on a task to get it right, where it wouldn't have been the end of the world to have sacrificed a bit on the quality side.

option b) Talk about it in terms of 'areas I would like to develop' - eg "Well one area I would really like to develop further is my ...leadership skills / customer service skills / conflict management skills / negotiation skills / ability to analyse data etc". Talk about it in terms of improving/building on the skills you already have - not in terms of "I'm really crap at 'x'.
Click to expand...

I think option b is really the way to go. It makes you stand out among the other applicant who use the corny, I dont really have any weakness/I am a perfectionist/I tend to work to hard

How much do you bull**** your way through an interview?
 
Lyyynnnchy said:
I think option b is really the way to go. It makes you stand out among the other applicant who use the corny, I dont really have any weakness/I am a perfectionist/I tend to work to hard

How much do you bull**** your way through an interview?
Click to expand...

I don't need to bullshit :cool:
 
Bombermania said:
This thread as potential!

To answer your question about your weakness, I would start off with something like.

While I have comfidence in my strenghts, I'm eger to learn through the feedback of my colleagues and willing to learn new ways and new ideas.

This tells the employer that you are open to learning and open to feedback which is a positive from here you can maybe give an example of an early you would like to enhance.
Click to expand...

BRILLIANT - I will use that one :thumbsu:
 
You can go with something small like "I tend to have a messy desk with paper work all over it"

Then add: "Thats because I like to have all my work in front of me. So I have determined to organised a system that is not so messy but allows me to keep on top of all of my current tasks."

Or you can tailor it to the job & say that you have not had the opportunity to be in a project management position & you understand were this position is heading so the fact that you start as Junior Project Manager will allow you to fill in that void in your experience & move into the management role when needed.

Using this tactic you are selling the job back to them & telling them why the job is important to you & them also.

So you are admitting to a flaw (which is what they want) but if they give you the Junior Project Manager position they in effect fill that gap in you experience for you. A win win situation.

Other things to mention:

You need to show that you have a sense of humor, don't be a comedian in the interview but people need to feel that they can work with you & get along with you day in & out.

Cheat way of telling people you have a sense of humor: if you have no sense of humor or are to nervous to be a bit light hearted, when they ask for your opinion on your strengths tell them that one of them is your sense of humor.

Also mention:
- you make friends quickly
- easy to get along with
- team focused

Stuff like that shows you are the type of person they could see themselves working with.
 

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I was the weaknesses question and my last interview and I pulled some crap outta my arse like:

"In the past I've had a problem with prioritization, however I believe I'm turning this into one of my strengths because at my previous job (I've been told to always give examples) it was hectic all day every day so I catergorized my requests as urgent or non-urgent and acted upon them accordingly"

It was some crap like that but she was impressed and I got the job!
 
Personally, I can't really remember being asked about my weaknesses. The question that I struggle with as well as get annoyed on the inside more than any other because I've been asked in about 3 different interviews, and it's always left to last is "Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?"
For f*ck's sake, I wouldn't have a clue. I really do not think about the future that much at all, unless you claim to be a psychic, you have no idea at all where you'd be.
It's definitely one that baffles me. So there you go lyyynnnchy, that's my question that I have struggled answering.
 
Not knowing your job type or how old you are etc makes it hard to help with "The 5yrs one" which is about seeing if you have some sort of goal setting ability or ambitions. It's not a big issue if you are honest and say that you want to establish yourself in the industry and take opportunities as they arise, or similar. You may just want to keep on doing what you're doing because you enjoy it so much.

If you have ambitions you can say something like "I would like to develop my leadership abilities and by that time be a team leader / manager / whatever. or a bit more vague "I would like to have established my career to the point that I would have developed to the next level". This is very generic from me because it depends where you are and what you really want to be, and what industry you are in. You could say you want to be a leader/manager/run projects (if you're not already now) - but no point if that's not what you want. You could say you would expect to be a well respected top performer in your role at a company you are happy working for, or you are young and keeping your options open, and need to establish yourself first so you don't think that far ahead at this time etc etc etc.

I've had people tell me they want to be a team leader and then find out later they don't want the responsibility. Not much point in that.
 
I reckon the worst question is

Tell us a time when in the workplace someone has not done their job properly, how did you deal with it.

Now I can see the point but considering what I thought of my last job how the Fk can you answer it without breaking the golden rule of not bagging your former Employer.
 
Just come up with a situation where someone made a minor error and that you told them about it - either asking them to correct it, or you were happy to fix it for them. The reason for this question is to establish that if you find someone has done the wrong thing, that you don't ignore it, ie that you are willing to approach people and let them know
 

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Lyyynnnchy said:
Thought it might be a good idea to post questions you have had in a job interview that have surprised you or that you have struggled to answer.

Im 20 years old and have a job interview as a Junior Project Manager with the option of going to a Project Manager if suited. Very good pay and looks to be quite a good job especially with the chance to move up in the company.

My last 2 jobs I have struggled to answer, "what are your weaknesses". I always go in with something to say but it always comes out sounding average.

Anyone have any ideas?

What are some questions that have surprised you or that you have struggled to answer?
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but who hires 20 year olds as (OK, junior) project managers? I've been in the construction / mining game for close to 20 years and didn't get to that level until mid 20's and haven't seen anyone younger than that at such a level.

As for the "weakness" question, I've always cited my lack of tolerance for idiots. (a) it is being (burtally!) honest, and (b) it can be seen as a positive without claiming to be a smart arse who has no weaknesses.

The best answer I've ever been given as the interview-er is "chocolate". In other words, a humerous approach doesn't do any harm. Particularly since I don't mind the odd block of Old Jamaica.
 
In my last interview (after which I got the job) I said I think one of my weaknesses is that im cocky and I always think I can learn anything I need to do really quickly and really well and im always a bit concerned this could make co-workers not like me (in reality I couldnt give a flying farquar) even though I know all co-workers like me ;)
 
The most important thing about job interviews:

know the role itself.

put yourself in their shoes, what type of questions would you ask if you were hiring the person.
 
Leper said:
No disrespect, but who hires 20 year olds as (OK, junior) project managers? I've been in the construction / mining game for close to 20 years and didn't get to that level until mid 20's and haven't seen anyone younger than that at such a level.

As for the "weakness" question, I've always cited my lack of tolerance for idiots. (a) it is being (burtally!) honest, and (b) it can be seen as a positive without claiming to be a smart arse who has no weaknesses.

The best answer I've ever been given as the interview-er is "chocolate". In other words, a humerous approach doesn't do any harm. Particularly since I don't mind the odd block of Old Jamaica.
Click to expand...

It is more of a trainee project manager position and it's tomorrow so wish me luck!

Will think of something for the "what is your biggest weakness" question as it will most probably come up
 

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