Interview Questions – Katharine Hepburn once famously quoted, “Death will be a great relief. No more interviews.”

It is no secret that many people hate job hunting. The entire process is tedious and consists of one of the most annoying experiences someone can go through – the interview.

The job interview is a criterion where the company evaluates and decides a candidate’s eligibility and competency towards a particular vacancy. (And obviously, it cannot be skipped).

The main reason why individuals hate the interview process is because of the questions that interviewer/s asks at times.

Here is a list of several frustrating (yet mandatory on the part of recruiters) job interview questions that you would otherwise prefer not answering –

Interview Questions

1 – “Tell me something about yourself”

You have to know yourself inside out to answer ‘something about yourself’

This is usually the first question they ask you and it just makes you want to cower down the desk and never come back up again. An open-ended question, it is something that would normally have you look back in time to find the answer. Unfortunately, the interviewer cannot give you three decades to answer that question.

2 – “Why did you quit your current job?”

More money should be an acceptable reason

“More money”, is usually our thought, but we have to sugar-coat your answer with reasons like better career opportunity or willing to work with an established brand.

3 – “Why do you want to work here?”

You can’t stay unemployed for long

“Umm… I need a job”, is your psychological reaction when you are unemployed. But again, since your interviewer cannot read your mind and the answer would not justify the purpose of you attending the interview, you cook up career-related answer.

4 – “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”

Predicting future at an interview is always tricky

If you mean in the mirror then maybe a few lines staring back at me. As long as career goes, you cannot tell what will happen in the next five minutes, leave alone answering something five years down the line.

5 – “How much do you see yourself earning in the next five years?”

You need to set the right benchmark to answer such a complex question

Beware. This is a trick question. You set the benchmark too low and the interviewer will think you undermine yourself; set the bar too high and they will perceive you as thinking too high of yourself.

6 – “Do you have personal transportation?”

Legs are fine for transportation

No. I have been raised in one of your office closets, by a coven of witches that you have never seen. On a serious note though, I have legs and manage transportation really well.

7 – “What are your weaknesses?”

Why would anyone want to advertising their weakness?

Hire me. You will know it firsthand.

8 – “Why did you quit your last job?”

Never criticise anyone for quitting an earlier job

Remember. It is never a good answer to negative about your previous employer. If you were laid off or fired, do not mention that either. A downsizing reason can always work in your favour.

9 – “What is your expected salary?”

Giving a number for expected salary is complex

Are you willing to give me one lakh rupees per month even though I do not have much experience with the profile? I’ll take that.

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“Questions You Should Ask At The End Of An Interview”

Whenever you get a call for an interview, all you do is Google company’s name and read some details, facts & figures, who the company is associated with…that’s it. And then, you go to the interview and when the employer asks “Do you have any question”? Honestly, you feel speechless and then you say “NO”.

Now, that’s what some of you do, right? I did it too. But then, I realised that it is actually wrong. Googling about the company is fine but you must also know about what exactly to ask back in the end of an interview. But understand that you must strictly avoid “Yes Or No” questions and ask some logical ones. Well, doing so will make the employer think that you’re prepared and most importantly dedicated to work.

So, here are the logical questions you should ask at the end of an interview.

1. What are the training activities that you offer?

Training is a big part of a company and it is something you start your job with. So, when you ask this question, be confident, as in the employer will know that you want to explore things. The employer will get an idea that you’re enthusiastic to learn new skills and develop in the position that you’ll be handling.

2. Can you brief me about the day-to-day work of my position?

Asking this will be beneficial and you’ll simply get an idea about what work will be given to you and which tasks you’ll have to complete etc. It will help you to figure whether you’ll be able to handle it or is it something that you’re completely not interested in.

3. Can you brief about this company in detail?

Most employers ask directly “You must’ve read about this company, so what do you think?” But now, it is your turn and you must ask ‘em to describe the culture of company in detail or the important basics.

4. What do you like about working for this big company?

Trust me; it is not a rude question. You should ask this one because indirectly it’ll help you to build a growth in yourself and employer’s personal experience will help you even more to know what’s best about the company.

5. What career growth opportunities does this position offer?

In the end, it is all about your career in future. So, ask this question and get an idea about how exactly this company will help you to grow ahead in the position. Also, you’ll get an idea about how the position in this company is looked and developed.

6. What are the next steps in this interview process?

This is the last one but equally important too. Get an idea about when you’ll get a call again etc. This question indicates that you’re enthusiastic to be the part of a company and explore and ready to give your best.

These were the smart questions you should ask at the end of an interview. Do you have anything to add? Comment below.

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Bored with the regular “Tell me about yourself” and “5 years down the line” questions in an interview set-up?

Well, if you are bored of answering these questions, think how monotonous it might be for the hiring manager to repeat such questions to each and every candidate they meet for different profiles or sometimes even for the same job requirement.

These regular, structured set of questions also pose another difficulty for the recruiter – it becomes more complex understand the candidate’s behaviour, attitude towards work and the company, his/her psyche, values/qualities/abilities and of course, his/her seriousness and commitment towards the job and the organization.

Job interview

A meticulous online research and writing sown responses to commonly asked questions in an interview can land them with the job, where the recruiter is not even able to gauge the candidate’s weaknesses and flaws in the mind-set.

But before job-seekers become overjoyed at the proposition, let me tell you that even e-commerce companies like Amazon, search engine based organizations like Google and Health companies, big corporate houses as well as Apple have framed some challenging questions for the interviewee just to chalk out the candidate’s knowledge of the company, his/her leadership and team-building abilities, valued skills and behavioural psychology. This has definitely helped them in understanding the personality, disposition, cultural background and mentality of the person involved.

For example, a question by Larry Page at Google to one of his interviewees was “Teach me something I don’t know in the next 5 minutes” or the one asked by Amazon, “Tell the story of the last time you had to apologize to someone”. If you are wondering what good were these questions and how would something as simple as this could help these companies understand their candidates better, then let me tell you the one asked by Google was to measure how expressive, explanatory and elaborate the candidate’s thought process is. The question is not asked to test his/her knowledge on different subjects or even about a new technology that Larry Page might not have heard about; it rather says a lot about how passionately the candidate can communicate his/her ideas and concepts and if the person is willing to share his bit of learning. The question by Amazon on the other hand, would let the recruiter know how good you are at customer servicing – whether or not you would accept your mistake with honesty and humility to a client. If the candidate has the ability to induce a little humour and crack a joke at his/her own mistake in front of the client or creatively accepts his mistake, then this is sure to impress the recruiter.

Jeff Bezos & Larry Page

A simple question on the candidate’s favourite book or movie or his/her idea of appreciation at work or even his/her favourite superhero and/or role model(s) can let the recruiter know much about the candidate’s personality as he/she gives further reasons to their answers and may even be creative at it. This can tell the recruiter a lot about if the candidate has an interesting thought-process, is creative, honest, imaginative, realistic or futuristic! Did you ever think about it?

As a recruiter, one should think about the qualities, skills and strengths you are looking forward to in a candidate and mould your questions accordingly. If, for instance, you require good team spirit or leadership abilities in the candidate, you need to ask him/her to describe leadership, mention some good successful teams and leaders and how would they treat someone who is not working upto the mark. Even questions like how they want their leader to be or a failed leadership goal or attempt or even their leadership skills if employed in a team and their conflict management techniques can let the recruiters figure out if the person is result-oriented, accepts constructive feedback, is adaptable to different situations, has the zest and willingness to lead and build concepts for a team or an individual to work upon.

There would be some candidates who would always be keen to learn, acquire and adapt more while there will always be some who would be the ‘know it all’ types. To distinguish between the two categories, it is important for the recruiter to ask questions based on candidate’s reading habits and choices, their presence in seminars and workshops, loopholes in the company and ways to eradicate them as well as their choice of books, newspapers, articles, magazines, journals, etc.

Job Interview

This would help you as a recruiter to understand a lot about the interviewee’s business acumen on the company, how much he/she has researched about the company before applying, the business tasks they would like to take on in your company if they were to be employed, what are their interests, aptitudes and motivations and even how often they update themselves.

Also, asking the candidate questions on the values s/he thinks should be there in an individual or a company, and questions based on the candidate’s assessment of the company’s values, missions and visions, as well as those on his/her organizational skills and job role expectations would enable the recruiter to understand if s/he is the best fit according to the company culture, work ethics and organizational values.

As a recruiter, you are free to turn the tables around to know about what questions the candidate might have, what all s/he does not want for his/her career and letting them find out new attributes about themselves.

So questions that you have been reading till now about film actors and actresses could be next asked to you! Be ready to answer them the most innovative and creative way you can!

Well, for instance, what would you answer to this: “If you have food and water to survive on an uninhibited island, what would you want to carry with you?” or even better, “Have you ever taught the older generation the workings of a computer. If not, how would you try?”

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There are a number of questions you expect while preparing for an interview.

Quite a few of them are the most predictable and asked in almost every interview, irrespective of the industry.

When in a conversation with your peers, talking about what you want to be or where do you see yourself five years down the line, is like just another topic. However, when in an interview, the hiring managers wish to be convinced regarding your five year plans. We tell you the best answer, which will help you bag the job.

You’re driven by realistic goals

Employers generally tend to get attracted to ambitious candidates. And why should they not be. Nobody wants an employee who works just for the sake of it. That said, you need to be realistic about sharing your goals with the employee.

For example, if you say that five years from present you see yourself leading a team of twenty members, which in reality is not possible before ten years with the company (unless you perform brilliantly), you risk being perceived as arrogant and unprepared.  To avoid that perform your bit of research on the company and talk about something will you think you can achieve in five years time.

You’re going to stick around for long

Companies invest a great deal of time and resources in recruiting and training new employees. And obviously they wouldn’t want to hire someone who’s going to leave in a year or two. So, even though you plan to go for higher studies or join some society-benefitting organization it’s best to avoid saying that. That said, you should also remember not to exaggerate your answer in a way that might sound fake to the hiring manager.

Your expectation from the company

One of the major reasons you are being asked this question is because the hiring manager wants to know your expectations from the company and how far would your plan go with the company’s vision.  While you should never exagerrate your plans, you shouldn’t even lie about it. Telling the manager where do you see yourself in the near future, is like giving him/her a briefing about what do you think of the company and your growth with it.

Say if you wish to work in the consultation industry at XYZ Company, one of the best way to answer the question would be– I’m really excited about my position at XYZ consulting. Five years down the line I’d want to be seen as someone who has deep expertise in the HR consultancy sector as I’m really glad that I am given this opportunity. At the same time, I am really excited to take on more responsibilities in the coming years and lead a few projects, if I prove myself worthy of it, which I’m sure, I will.”

All you’re required to do is to be genuine and speak why are you looking forward to work with the company.

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