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I don't see how answering any of these questions could be considered "reacting under pressure" or "quick thinking" since everybody in the world knows that these questions are going to be asked. You should have thought of how you would answer them and practiced. There are lists of standard interview questions on line. Think about each of the questions and how you would answer, store that answer in your memory bank. Think of a few accomplishments you had at your job. Think of a few times you could have done something better, and maybe learned a valuable lesson from your failure. Think of how you made yourself more valuable to the company, or added value to the clients' experience. These are the things you will be asked about and you should know them backwards and forwards. If you can't say how you brought value to a company other than showing up on time and staying until quitting time then you aren't someone anyone would want to hire anyway. A robot can move widgets, fill out forms, etc, give the interviewer a reason to hire YOU and not a robot, or any other dope that walks through the door. Surely there is something about you that makes you a better hire than the next guy. Figure that thing out and find a way to express it in your answers to these STANDARD and VERY COMMON questions.
For those of you who object to this style of questioning, what is your suggested alternative? I asked both mikeyking and mschemist if they had any thoughts on a better way of doing things, and neither seem to have anything to offer.
If you're trying to get a sense of the person beyond technical competence then ask general questions that have no correct scripted answer that's been approved by 4 out of 5 interview coaches. Just ask what they enjoy doing in their spare time or where they like going on vacation or where did they grow up. And participate in the discussion because if you simply say "tell me about yourself" it's hard to know what they are looking for. Maybe they want a 30 second rundown or a longer more in-depth look.
Too many object to those questions, because they cannot practice in advance of being asked those question. THAT IS THE MAIN REASON THEY ARE ASKED. It allows the one asking the questions, to see how you are able to answer questions you cannot think up answers and improve them with a couple of practice in advance sessions. It helps bring out the real you, and reveals how you solve problems. It says if you cannot come up with answers to such simple questions, it says you are not a problem and quite possibly it is the same you would be for work problems you were not practiced in.
What in the world are you talking about? You're so off base here I don't even know where to begin. The list of questions the OP provided are standard interview questions!!! In fact, after your second or third professional interview, there is no need to "practice" them anymore because you're so used to hearing these kind of questions. I'm not sure why you think candidates "cannot think up answers" to these types of questions? They're so standard, run-of-the-mill that anyone can recite the answers in their sleep.
In trying to state accomplishments for a routine job, such as admin asst, where you feel you didn't really DO any big thing other than perform the same tasks over and over, think more about the attributes that make you good at that task. Let's say you are admin asst to Mr. Bigwig at BW Engineering. You can say that your strongest attribute is your reliability. Maybe your biggest accomplishment was that you went an entire year without a single absence. You could always be counted on to perform your duties without fail. You never missed a deadline. You never had a backlog. You answered phone and performed admin support for 18 engineers singlehandedly. You produced the weekly reports and the annual budget roll-ups for the company without errors for 5 years. These are all things that are routine tasks but they are also accomplishments and should be viewed that way. If you take pride in your work, you should be prepared to show that pride in the interview.
As an example: I have a friend who worked the same job in state government for 18 years. It was very routine, and involved processing tax forms for deceased persons. It was incredibly boring and there was really no big time crunch, although they did work with production standards as part of their monthly goals. This job required tact and discretion, and his team of 3 performed this task for the entire state of California. He could say that his strongest attribute was his ability to handle public information and public requests diplomatically, discreetly, and efficiently at a time when the customer is under stress. He could say that his years of experience brought a level of comfort in dealing with people who are going through a difficult time. He could say that his years of experience gave him complete knowledge of the system, the laws, the requirements to be able to handle virtually ANY situation the job required as there was nothing he hadn't seen before. His biggest accomplishment might have been handling XXX number of cases in one month. Or it might have been that only 3 employees performed this function for an entire enormous state and did it without a single production backlog for XXX amount of months (or years). You see anything that is really just doing the job can be viewed as an accomplishment if you did it with the necessary skill and efficiency. Identify the skill sets necessary to perform the job you had, as well as the job you want, and highlight evidence that you possess them.
Anyone ever refused to answer interview questions or walked out of an interview, I mean questions like what is your greatest achievement - its none their business, and most likely not related to the workplace.
What's your greatest weakness? - This is so generic, weakness in relation to what? and Why would you share your weaknesses with a bunch of strangers.
What would your last boss say about you? - insulting and offensive. saying that a bosses opinion is superior to your own.
Where will you be in five years time - coming from a organisations where your job in on the line every week, and will get rid of you at the drop of a hat.
Can you think of a time you went above and beyond your duty - again if you started doing other people jobs then you might get in trouble for stepping on someomes toes, or be told off for interfering in matters outside your job duties.
When interviewers ask these questions does it not just show their reading from a script, lack any kind of originality.
The more I think about it, interviews in corporate jobs are like this are just exercises in humilation, and the purpose of these type of questions is test your willingness to humilated, what lengths you will go, how much you can grovel.
How about refusing to answer these type of questions, or asking them for more detail, or asking them why they are just reading from a script
Intrusive questions?
When I clicked on your thread I was expecting to see something like these:
"Do you rent or own"?( I was actually this one and I live in CA and it's illegal to ask that)
"Are you married?
"Do you have a 401K"?
While you're right some of those are just from a script, they're hardly intrusive.
When you are an admin assistant and working for an executive, you generally do what they ask and complete your duties in a timely fashion. It's not rocket science!
It's interesting that you make this statement.
As an Executive Assistant, I have managed a boatload of projects, coordinated numerous events, served on various ad hoc committees, revamped some processes all in addition to my regular duties. I attend whatever professional development opportunities that are available to me, and I do have professional goals that I am striving toward.
I'm pretty proactive about taking on these types of things primarily because it builds upon my experience and knowledge which I can carry forward with me, but it also makes answering the questions in the OP easier. Although, I do realize that you may be hampered by an unsupportive boss who would frown upon these opportunities or there may not be such opportunities at your place of employment, your statement as a generality is incorrect.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 37,071,979 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandsthetime
What in the world are you talking about? You're so off base here I don't even know where to begin. The list of questions the OP provided are standard interview questions!!! In fact, after your second or third professional interview, there is no need to "practice" them anymore because you're so used to hearing these kind of questions. I'm not sure why you think candidates "cannot think up answers" to these types of questions? They're so standard, run-of-the-mill that anyone can recite the answers in their sleep.
Yes, these are all questions I have answers to before an interview, and practice wording the answers to showcase a positive.
If you're trying to get a sense of the person beyond technical competence then ask general questions that have no correct scripted answer that's been approved by 4 out of 5 interview coaches. Just ask what they enjoy doing in their spare time or where they like going on vacation or where did they grow up. And participate in the discussion because if you simply say "tell me about yourself" it's hard to know what they are looking for. Maybe they want a 30 second rundown or a longer more in-depth look.
They're basically looking for a brief professional bio - not your personal life outside of work. And asking someone "where did you grow up" is flirting with a discrimination suit.
Those questions above are the epitome of intrusive.
I think that if you spend some time thinking of good answers...and simply write those every time you are asked these same questions that you may find a job. It is a sure thing that not answering them won't get you a job.
Anyone ever refused to answer interview questions or walked out of an interview, I mean questions like what is your greatest achievement - its none their business, and most likely not related to the workplace.
What's your greatest weakness? - This is so generic, weakness in relation to what? and Why would you share your weaknesses with a bunch of strangers.
What would your last boss say about you? - insulting and offensive. saying that a bosses opinion is superior to your own.
Where will you be in five years time - coming from a organisations where your job in on the line every week, and will get rid of you at the drop of a hat.
Can you think of a time you went above and beyond your duty - again if you started doing other people jobs then you might get in trouble for stepping on someomes toes, or be told off for interfering in matters outside your job duties.
When interviewers ask these questions does it not just show their reading from a script, lack any kind of originality.
The more I think about it, interviews in corporate jobs are like this are just exercises in humilation, and the purpose of these type of questions is test your willingness to humilated, what lengths you will go, how much you can grovel.
How about refusing to answer these type of questions, or asking them for more detail, or asking them why they are just reading from a script
actually we couldn't care less how you answer the question, we just ask you those inane questions to bug you and see how you react to an uncomfortable situation. if one of us doesn't like you, we give the secret signal and wrap things up pretty quick.
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