As the old saying goes: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
Both good preparation before and confidence during an interview are essential for success. Standard patterns do exist but interviews may vary significantly depending not only on the position and industry but also on your profile as well as the interviewer’s experience and judgment.
Here, you can find a brief overview of different questions and techniques. Nevertheless, the provided answers are only suggestions and thus, should be modified accordingly.
› Tell me about yourself
A typical but tricky opening question. It is important to draw the interest of the interviewer from the very first moment, so keep it short and to the point (less than five minutes). Elaborate on your qualifications, career history and skills but avoid going into too much detail. If you lack any (significant) prior work experience you can always focus more on your studies and correlate them with the specific entry position.
› What have your achievements been to date?
Focus on position-related and (fairly) recent achievements, and illustrate their impact on the company. e.g. "I managed to decrease the stock levels and thus, reduced warehousing costs by 30%."
› Are you happy with your career-to-date?
A straightforward answer justifying your up-to-date choices should be enough. Do not forget to mention the word "happy" and elaborate on your future career goals and personal achievements.
› What is the most difficult situation you faced and how did you tackle it?
The interviewer is trying to identify what you perceive as "difficult" and apparently, you must emphasise your problem solving capabilities. Describe a difficult situation and make sure your answer clearly states: problem definition, possible solutions, justification of your choice and of course, the outcome. A "what-I-learned-from-that-experience" speech would be ideal for ending...
› What are your strengths?
Surprisingly, most candidates believe that this is one of the most difficult questions. Just mention core terms such as:
- "easy learner"
- "result oriented"
- "socialising skills"
- "team player"
- "proactive"
- "hard worker"
All of them, followed by concrete examples.
› What are your greatest weaknesses?
Be ready to mention (some of) your weak points. Admitting lack of experience is always an option but stressing your weaknesses along with actions you are undertaking to improve them is much better.
› Why did you apply for this particular job?
This is the point that you need to convince the interviewer that this role complements your personal characteristics and career prospects. A thorough preparation before the interview should reveal which attributes of the role / company interest you the most.
› Where do you see yourself in five years?
Your answer should include both short and long term goals. Describe the position that you would eventually like to work in and give a brief overview of how you plan on going there. Keywords such as "ambition" and "determination" should be mentioned but not repeatedly...
› What can you offer to this organisation?
Every employer is looking for an employee to add value, so pay extra attention and of course, time. Usually, job descriptions include the required characteristics, so isolate all keywords and practice your answer beforehand.
› What level of salary are you seeking?
The interviewer assumes that you are aware of the labour conditions as well as salary levels for similar positions. Try not to specify your desired wage level even if there is a salary indication in the job description. In general, employers accept the fact that many candidates are not willing to discuss it during the initial stages.
