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I know there is a "stupid question" thread, but how about one to answer most interview questions.
Some of the basics to start:
1. What are your strengths?
2. What are your weaknesses?
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
4. Describe a situation with a co-worker/supervisor where you did not agree with their decision and how you dealt with that situation?
5. How can you improve yourself in your current position?
How do you answer these basic questions that seem to get asked at most interviews? What other questions do you get asked frequently and how do you answer those?
1. I answer with job specific strengths---say "my ability to take complex information and explain it in a way that is easy for others that do not have a background in my field to understand:
2. I HATE this question--I never know how to answer this. I generally say something along the lines of "being frustrated with employees that are not doing their jobs"...probably a bad answer .
3. I usually give some BS answer about being in a role where I can contribute to the overall productivity of the department that is mutually fulfilling. What I really want to say is "a job I like that isn't boring and keeps me busy".
4. ????? I never really have a good answer for this.
5. I got stumped on this question a while ago--I've been doing my job for so long and I really had NO idea what to say....in all honesty, in my current role, I'm top-dog and all of my reviews come in at 100%...but I can't really say that.
I know there is a "stupid question" thread, but how about one to answer most interview questions.
Some of the basics to start:
1. What are your strengths?
2. What are your weaknesses?
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
4. Describe a situation with a co-worker/supervisor where you did not agree with their decision and how you dealt with that situation?
5. How can you improve yourself in your current position?
How do you answer these basic questions that seem to get asked at most interviews? What other questions do you get asked frequently and how do you answer those?
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Great questions. I think the key is to always have a positive spin, back it up with a story from your work experience and do not raise any red flags.
Here is what I would answer:
1. My discipline. To be auccessful you have to have the discipline to the the tasks that are not always fun but that are absolutely crucial to the job. When I was working on a client proposal with company XYZ, I had to come in two hours early in the office for a month due to the time difference with the client's HQ, etc bs etc bs.
2. Whateer you do do not answer this honestly. Like I am not a morning person, but I am trying really hard to be on time every morning. Always say something like, my weakness is probably impatience. I am the type of person who wants results now and sometimes I am impatient with team membrrs and I expect them to deliver with urgency. I am working on being more patient but not too patient because I still want things done fast, hahaha.
3. Do not say you see yourself in a different role or in management. It will indicate that you don't really want this job and you prefer to work in a different tole or worse that you want to take the hiring manager's job. Say tou would really like to grow into this role, make it yours and add responsibilities.
4. Coworkers not agreeing. There are always different personalities in the workplace but I always make an effort to see things from anoters perspective and hopefully this ends up making us stronger as a team. Once I was working on a project with my boss and he wanted to take a different direction from what I suggested and he couldn't understand my reasons. We argued a length until we both strted seeing each others strong and weak points and ended up coming up with a combined strategy that was a success.
5. I always try to improve myself and do better. I onstabtly read and study things related tobmy profession to keep up with new developments. I never claim to know eerything and I aleays learn from others.
I am in the Accounting field so below are answers I would/have given.
1. What are your strengths? - My ability in finding ways to increase efficiency and the intricate details I tend to notice that others do not. I take pride in exceeding desired departmental goals by requested deadlines and working well under pressure.
2. What are your weaknesses? - I consider my aptitutde for taking on more work than required, primarily in team-related projects as somewhat of a weakness. There are times I may delegate more work on myself because I have more control on the outcome of the project. - [The best way to answer this question is to describe something that you consider a weakness, but in reality they would consider it a strength.]
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? I see myself in a [mention a position similar to the one that you are applying to] related function within a company such as [mention the company you are applying for], one that has good organizational culture and offers reasonable opportunity for growth - both personal and career.
4. Describe a situation with a co-worker/supervisor where you did not agree with their decision and how you dealt with that situation? There was a time I was working on a project, [go into detail about a specific project or goal] and my co-worker had disagreed with the approach taken because I noticed they had outlined many unnecessary steps through the process. I explained my reasoning as to why I believe certain steps should be omitted, and they were hesitant because the method described had been used for quite a while. We both agreed to get a third opinion on the approach from our supervisor, and she had agreed that the current method was inefficient and that my analysis was correct. - [Pretty much in this situation, they want to know that in the event of a disagreement you take a rational approach in having both parties come to a reasonable solution.]
5. How can you improve yourself in your current position? Certain things that I believe may benefit my current position would be to continue my education part-time while working full-time [mention this if higher degrees would equal more growth in your industry, if you have a Bachelors tell them you would like to get a Masters, if you have a Masters tell them about the possibility of going for a certain license or whatnot] and continuing to work in the industry, learn from my peers and co-workers, and being open to criticism and advice.
My only piece of advice is when answering generic questions always try to give examples that back up your claims.
This. I've heard that's how you ace your interview - using facts/data/numbers to support your claims.
I also agree about not using a strength disguised as a weakness. Interviewers/hiring managers see right through it and it's played out.
If you must, just be honest, or come up with a weakness that you have already solved and talk through that process, or use one that has nothing to do with the job. I usually default to "math."
When it comes to answering the weakness question you will basically just select something about yourself that is a strength that you are trying to improve. But make sure whatever that pretend weakness is doesn't have a direct connection to the position. For example, when I was interviewed for a job counselor position and asked that question I said I type 50 WPM and was trying to increase my speed to 80 WPM so I can get more things done during the day. And since typing speed was not related to being a job counselor, the interviewer liked my answer and eventually offered me the job.
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