The Hidden Meaning of the ‘tell me about your last job?’ Question

Job interviews are complicated at the best of times, but often employers unconsciously make the interviewer harder due to the way the interview questions are phrased.

The three common mistakes employers make are:

Asking multiple questions embed into one interview question.
Questions that have a hidden meaning – including the ‘tell me about your last job?’ question.
Ambiguous questions.

Job seekers, during the job interview, have their hands tied. It is impossible for an interviewee to explain to the interviewer that they need to improve the way they phrase the interview questions – this would only end with a rejection notice.

Instead, applicants need to understand the common mistakes employers make and how to overcome these tricky interview questions during the recruitment process.

Multiple Questions in One Interview Question

Career professionals have to remember that a high number of interviewers have never been trained in the art of interview communication.

Job interviews are often conducted by either a HR staff member (often trained in the art of interviewing) or a potential line manager (rarely trained in interviewing).

It is these same untrained managers who are responsible for writing the interview questions. Employers, generally speaking, ask 8-10 interview questions, but the essential criteria list can number upto 30 criteria.

Due to needing to check if the applicant possesses all the required skills, interview questions end up being stuffed with additional questions, confusing the candidates.

An example of ‘interview stuffing’ is when an interviewer requires an example of problem-solving. The interview questions would sound like, “Give me an example of when you have overcome a problem?”

Additional questions can be asked that are helpful to the applicants, “State the problem, what actions you took, and the outcome.”

Not so helpful is when the question is filled with additional questions, “Give me an example of when you have overcome a problem? Maybe one when you worked on your own or in a team. And explain if you used or know what a risk register is?”

Often the additional embedded questions aren’t part of a written question. Instead the question is impromptu during the interview itself.

How to answer lengthy interview questions?

When asked long descriptive questions, stuffed with a follow-up interview question the interviewee can receive a low-scoring answer as they focus on one of the embedded questions rather than another. This is because a structured job interview means the employers have to reference the applicant’s answer against the scorecard criteria.

To ensure an answer meets the marking criteria, job candidates must cover all bases while being seen as a confident communicator – rule 3 of a successful job interview.

Using the ‘overcome a problem’ question, the applicant initially can state “I have two short examples…” informing the interview panel of the structure of the interview answer.

Next, the two examples need to meet the additional criteria questions, “the first one is overcoming a problem when working as part of a team. While working at….”

Finally, when a summary can be added that covers any additional questions not yet disucssed, “In our line of work we are constantly faced with problems that require solutions. To be more effective I utilse a risk register….”

Hidden Meaning Interview Questions

In the main, interviewers don’t design purposely tricky interview questions, But often, when taken at face value, an applicant can misunderstand the reason why a question was asked.

Understanding the reason for the interview question gives an interviewee an advantage as their answers can be tailored to meet the job criteria, resulting in a high-scoring answer.

An example of the ‘hidden meaning’ question is the, ‘Tell me about your last job?’ interview question.

Many candidates wrongly believe to answer the ‘last job’ question they should talk about the company culture, duration in the role, company successes, and the size of the organisation.

The required answer isn’t that obvious. What employers are really asking when they say “tell me about your last job?” is, ‘how did your last job prepare you for this job?’ This is the hidden meaning behind this question.

Think about it? Why would an employer ask about the company culture or the size of an organisation the applicant worked at?

Remember, the goal of a recruitment process is to predict the job performance of each applicant before offering the perceived best employee the advertised position.

For this question, employers want to know:

What skills did you develop that will be useful in the our company?
What ideas, knowledge and experiences will be useful if you were to be employed?
Do you have a skill or quality that would add value to the business plan?
Were you influential in the completion of a project/outcome?
Has your work ethic or character helped to increase business output?
Do you have experience on a project similar to one we are just about to launch?

Ambiguous Interview Questions

One of the biggest barriers for the job applicant is the high number of ambiguous job interview questions.

The real barrier here is that many questions don’t actually sound ambiguous.

An example of this is the stakeholder question, “how would you collaborate with a key stakeholder?” As a stakeholder is any group affected by the company, there are numerous stakeholders which all have varying levels of interest and influence over the company.

Imagine a retail store asking this question. Two key stakeholders are 1) customers, and 2) suppliers. The approach for collaborating with each group of stakeholders would vary.

A second example, is the interview question: “What is your approach to project management?” Approaches vary depending on the project, timeframe, associated risks and the number of stakeholders collaborating on the project.

Similar to the, “What role do you take when working within a team?” The answer can change due to varying factors of the team and project: the size of the team, is the applicant is employed to manage the team/project, if the task is reacting to a situation and therefore urgent, or a proactive team task allowing more time for creativity.

Answering Ambiguous Questions

To answer any ambiguous questions, first ask for specifics.

Gaining the detailed intelligence by asking for specifics, gives an applicant all the required data they need to frame their answer so it is relevant to criteria on the interview scorecard.

Let’s say the employer asks “How would you ensure you meet your targets by the month-end?” The question can be answered by talking about the month as a whole; projecting targets, planning actions, and monitoring results.

Whereas, the employer may have meant if the employee was underperforming (as this is common within their organisation) and is interested to hear how the applicant acts under pressure.

A second example is, “How will you make an impact if you were employed here?” This and most other ambitious interview questions are opened ended. Ask a closed question to get the required detail needed to answer the question as expected by the employer: “Do you want me to talk about how I will have impact on my colleagues to achieve team targets or how I will impact on the positive relationship with stakeholders?”

By asking the “A or B” scenario requires a response from the employer. Employers, now responding in detail, will give the virtual clue to support the interviewee to succeed.

May 5, 2021May 5, 2021

How to Embed The Three Rules for a Successful Job Interview

First, the 3 rules for a successful job interview are:

Rule 1 – identify the job criteria
Rule 2 – be a self-promoter
Rule 3 – communicate with confidence

More often than not, job offers are given to candidates that utilise the three rules of a successful job interview throughout the recruitment process.

The three rules are universal and work in a variety of different recruitment processes and interview models, from an informal job interview to a structured interview, to an all-day recruitment event.

The power of the three rules is down to how, when combined, they help to sculpture a positive interview identity.

An ‘interview identity’ is one of sixteen interview personality types that are prevalent in the job interview. The identity is how an employer perceives the applicant.

How an employer views an applicant, desirable or undesirable, skilled or unskilled, liked or disliked, affects the subconscious scoring allocation of each interview question.

Therefore, the three rules of a successful interview help to reinforce a positive interview identity:

These four interview identities often receive high-scoring points, compared to other weaker identities, including:

It isn’t only the duration in an industry (job experience) or a degree level qualification (academic ability) that results in high-scoring interview answers, but the applicant’s presence and communication style that creates the employer’s positive perception of a strong candidate.

As an example, some highly experienced interviewees fail, time and time again, to land high salaried job roles because their own self-worth results in a poor communication style.

This article will teach you have to be viewed as highly skilled and confident by any employer.

How to identify the job criteria?

Rule one, the identification of the job criteria, is key to receiving a job offer.

Why? Without possessing a deep understanding of the job criteria – the skill, qualities and experiences an employer requires for the advertised job position, an applicant won’t have the insight to choose job-relevant interview answers and examples.

This lack of insight can lead to candidates going off-topic, giving descriptive answers that have nothing to do with their future job role, and the use of jargon that isn’t understood by an employer (as it has nothing whatsoever to do with their job sector).

Identifying the job criteria allows a skilled career professional to reference 3-5 skills, qualities and experiences, required by the employer, in each job interview answer. Furthermore, the explanation of sector-related models and theories, plus industry jargon, reinforce the positive interview identity the employer is forming.

In short, each answer scores high and employers have a positive feeling that the applicant would work well within their organisation.

Quick ways to identify the job criteria.

Three ways to easily identify the job criteria.

Each essential criterion, in the main, will each be part of a job interview question.

For many job interviews, the employer will follow a structured job interview process, where each answer will be allocated a score. The answers stating the highest number of criteria, generally speaking, will gain the highest score.

This is because the job interview is designed to predict job performance.

The more criterion the applicant confidently shows they possess, the more likely it is that the applicant will be a highly-skilled worker.

Without question, all job hunters should review the job specification for the position they are being interviewed for.

The employer’s job spec list of the required job criteria, specifying which criteria are essential or desirable.

Additionally, a clever applicant can analyse the job spec to search for repeated mentions of certain criteria. If a criteria has been reference several times throughout the job spec (and in the job advert) then this criteria is, more than likely, going to be one of the key job interview questions.

If the job position’s job spec lacks detail, a second way to predict the criteria, and therefore the job interview questions, is to read a ‘job profile’.

A job profile is a tool career advisors use to help understand various job roles. The profile consists of the job duties, required skills, entry routs and salary bands.

For most roles, the skills are required for all employers: communication skills for a sales executive or a creative mind for a problem-solving position. Therefore, the job profiles list of duties and required skills can be used to plan interview answers to predicted questions.

A third way to use predict job interview questions is to use your online network.

Linkedin, as an example, can be used to contact people who work or have worked in the organsiation for the advertised position. Many people who use social media are more than happy to help others, even going as far as providing a list of job interview questions and ideal answers.

WARNING – you need to do your research before reaching out to any old employee. You never know if one of the people you are reaching out to is going to be part of the interview panel.

We recommend having a foot-in-the-door approach:

Make contact with a person who is working for the organisation, stating that you saw they are working for X company and that you are also interested in applying for a job there. Ask for their opinion about the company. Once a response has been received, you can then explain you have an interview and ask for ‘any tips’. This can even lead to asking for potential questions, depending on the replies you are receiving.

Another online tool is a career forum website, such as glassdoors, that encourages interviewees and employees to share their interview questions and opinions about employers.

How to be a self-promoter

The law of a job interview is: an employer can only score an applicant on what they have discussed during the job interview.

It is this rule that is the barrier to internal candidates being interviewed by their line manager.

Many internal candidates will fail to mention business-as-usual tasks because they know that their line manager knows that they are competent with these tasks.

However, if the business-as-usual tasks form part of the scoring criteria on the interview scorecard and an internal job applicant does not reference these, the interview panel will be forced to score them low due to the process of a structured job interview.

What is required is self-promotion.

Consistently good interviewee’s are skilled self-promoters. Each answer given is clear, structured and states what the applicant, themselves, did to achieve a positive outcome.

DO NOT:

Think it is arrogant to talk about your own successes
Believe you have ‘imposture syndrome’ – you were offered a job interview based on your past experience and academic ability
Self-disclose weakness

To be a self-promoter:

Utilise none-verbals; strong eye contact, smile, gesture and positive and powerful body language
Vary language and use positive emotional words and powerful language
Explain in detail what YOU did to overcome problems
Detail how a skill (from an example) can be utilised in the interviewer’s company
Reframe any mistakes or weaknesses as learning points

How to communicate with confidence

Communication is king in the job interview

As mentioned above, failing to mention key criteria can only result in low scoring interview answers.

In addition to discussing essential criteria, the way skills, qualities and experiences are communicated influence how they are received.

An example of this is stating acronyms that aren’t reconisgnise by an employer or mumbling. The use of filler words, a monotone voice, and short snappy answers will also create a negative interview identity.

Employers admire confidence.

A confident team with the required experience are likely to be a high-performing team. In addition, trust is closely linked to confidence.

Employers, therefore, subconsciously score applicants who communicate confidently slightly higher than a weak communicator.

To communicate confidently:

Complete pre-interview voice warm-ups
Make small talk at the interview start to build rapport
Vary tonality, projection, and emotions
Focus on pace; speed up to create excitement and slow down when stating positive outcomes
When feeling nervous (or a dry-mouth) stop and drink water
Be humorous or smile is that comes naturally
Explain answers in detail as a high number of words per answer, research shows, gain higher scores
Be expressive – use gestures and positive body language
Debate ideas, and even challenge an employer opinion (in a professional and friendly way)
Ask the interview panel questions throughout the job interview, to create a conversation not a Q&A process

A successful job interview

Much research shows how the 3 rules; identifying the job criteria, being a self-promoter and communicating with confidence, will be vastly improve a candidate’s chances of winning the job offer.

Career professionals who struggle with gaining career advancement due to a high number of failed job interviews can analyse their interview performance to identify which of the 3 rules they are failing to implement.

With this reflection, and using the advice in this article, once weak interviewees can become strong applicants altering their job interview identity from a weak identity to one of the 4 strongest interview identities.

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021

How to answer the ‘where do you work question?’ if you are unemployed

Being unemployed, for many job seekers, creates its own barrier when attending a job interview.

Applicants often feel that being unemployed puts them at a disadvantage.

The reason for this unnecessary fear is the negative associations attached to the stereotype:

Laziness
Unemployable
Lacking the required skills

The truth is, employers, in the main, do not have bias based of whether an applicant is employed or unemployed.

Instead, the interview panel score applicants based on their ability to meet the job criteria, highlighted by their perceived level of sector knowledge and industry experience.

Employers are aware of the reasons for being currently unemployed, which can include:

Career gap
Redundancy
Change in career
Leaving education
Contract end/short-term contract of employment

Even so, the interview question ‘where are you working at the moment?’ or ‘who is your current employer?’ can be a tricky question to answer.

This article will help guide an unemployed job applicant through the steps required to give a strong answer when asked ‘where do you work?’

Preparing an interview answer

The ‘where are you working’ question can be asked in two settings:

As part of the structured job interview process
Informally, at the interview start

It doesn’t matter when or how the interview question is asked, what is important is the applicants response.

Interview anxiety

The anxiety of being asked a curveball interview question is the emotional turmoil it creates.

What the mind focuses on the body feels.

If an applicant is worried about the ‘unemployment’ question, their nervousness and anxiety will effect the whole job interview process; answers will be short and snappy, lacking detail. Communication will be mumbled and use of filler words will be high. Nervous twitches and lack of eye contact result in broken rapport.

To reduce job interview anxiety, the applicants focus needs to be directed onto their achievements during the unemployment period.

Preparing answers that highlight skills and knowledge gained while being unemployed.

This could be in the form of accredited courses, CPD or volunteering. Many career professionals have side hustle and part time businesses or can show leadership skills from being on the board of their child’s school.

What is important is the direction of the mind. The brain can only consciously focus on one thing at a time, direct this focus strengths as a positive focus is the pathway to confidence.

4 Tips for answering the unemployment question

Tip 1 – give the reason for being unemployed.

Being made redundant isn’t a negative. By stating the reason for the company, you previously worked at, making redundancies gives context. Humans like to have reasons, they find them reassuring. Without a reason, people will guess which is when an unconscious bias can come into play.

The ‘context’ strategy is required for all reasons for being unemployed. If a career professional choose to leave a job, an explanation, stated is a positive, is required. This could include: being a carer for a ill relative, to gain a new industry recognised qualification, or to gain a life skill by (travelling the world)

Tip 2 – share lessons learnt

Time off work has one key advantage, the career professional gets the opportunity to reflect on their career choices. Keeping the positive ‘frame’ going, applicants can state how having time out of work allowed them to reflect on their ideal career and company. During this period the applicant can state how they had time to research organisations to find a company with the right values, and how this is the reason why the applied for this role.

Tip 3 – what can the applicant offer?

All job interviews are designed to predict the interviewee’s potential job performance. It is important, therefore, for the candidate to state clearly what added value they can bring to the organisation. The first of the three rules for a successful job interview is ‘identifying the job criteria’. All answers, promotional points and interview stories must reference the job criteria for the advertised position. In short, applicants need to tell the interview panel that they possess the required knowledge and experience for the role.

Tip 4 – avoid focusing on unemployment

Any interview question can be reframed. If an interviewer asks about a weakness, the applicant can reframe their answer to talk about lessons learned. The ‘reframe’ can be utilised with the ‘unemployment’ question. Instead of focusing on why the applicant is unemployed focus the answer on what the candidate can bring to the team.

Attitude is king in the interview.

Confident and charismatic applicants do better than nervous and unsure interviewees.

Stating how the ‘unemployment’ period was a horrible and troubling time creates a different emotional connection between the applicant and employer than an answer that happily states ‘this was the best thing that could have happened to me’.

However an answer is framed, it is the applicants communication and non-verbal communication, the packaging of the answer, that will increase and decrease the allocated scores to the interview question.

Interviewers warm to applicants that look confident;

positive body language
strong eye contact
warming smiling
confident communicate; long descriptive answers, positive emotional words, strong diction, pace and volume.

Always remember – confidence builds trust.

Will you be asked about being unemployed?

In most structured job interviews there will be a pre-set of interview questions that all applicants are asked.

Generally speaking, there won’t be a ‘unemployment’ question.

Instead, interviewers will ask:

‘Tell me about yourself?’
‘Explain why you are suitable for this role?’
‘Why did you apply for this position?’

All of the above examples can lead to nervous applicants explaining why they are currently unemployed.

Research shows that anxious applicants are more likely to self-disclose weaknesses, including the referencing of being unemployed.

Take the lead from confident candidates who state all answers in the positive and reframe any negative follow-up questions so they are viewed in the best possible light.

April 26, 2019January 12, 2023

Common Asked Housing Officer Questions

A housing officer will often be employed for housing associations or the local authority, supporting clients with the assessment of needs in terms of housing applications.

The housing officer may also specialise in working with homeless people and/or service users with additional needs.

How competitive is a Housing Officer job Interview?

Interview Specifics

This article will list the commonly asked job interview questions for a housing officer.

By understanding the job interview structure and by knowing the commonly asked housing officer interview questions, applicants can prepare answers that highlight their level of competencies within this industry.

Common Asked Housing Officer Interview Questions

Can you tell me about your housing officer experience?

This housing officer interview question is asked for two reasons; 1 it is an open question to get you talking/feeling relax at the job interview start. 2, to gain a general overview of your experience (generic because the follow-up questions will go into more detail)

To answer this job interview question, start by summarising your experience as a housing officer, your relevant qualifications and a key unique skill relevant to the industry – something that makes you stand out, this could be a specialism you have IE working to house homeless service users.

How do you assess the needs of a client?

This interview question is key because this is the crux of the job role.

Split this answer into two sections. Section one is your people skills; explain how you build rapport, how you use effective listening skills, how open and closed questions have a powerful impact, and how you remain calm in stressful situations. Give a short example to highlight your level of expertise and competencies.

Section two should explain the interview structure; the questions you should ask, the information you need to collate, and how you follow GDPR, data protection and confidentiality legislation.

What does customer service mean to you?

You may be asked several customer services-related interview questions.

In the housing association sector often the service users can be stressed or angry. Some service users may have alcohol or drug addiction. In some cases, you will be speaking to clients who are struggling with finances and have been turned down for financial support.

When answering interview questions relating to customer service and communication, explain how you can handle these situations;

What was the situation – why was the service user angry or upset?

How did you handle the situation – what did you say or do to help calm down the client?

What was the positive outcome – how did the client respond to you?

What do you look for during a housing inspection?

Competency-based job interview questions require you to fall back on your experience.

Give an example of when you have carried out an inspection that had issues (you need to pick an inspection with issues to show that you can deal with this in a professional way)

In the example explain what you look for during a general inspection, the inspection process you follow and quote safeguarding regulations, and how you, when required, challenge a service user.

Follow this up with the example “one time during an inspection I saw…” Give details of what you found, the potential safeguarding issue, and what you did to address this

How would you have a positive effect on your colleagues and team?

A big part of the housing officers’ job criteria is to have the ability to work as part of a close-knit team. You will be asked one way or another about your ability to work within a team.

Open the teamwork answer by simply explaining how you enjoy working as part of a team and how in all previous housing roles teamwork has been an important aspect of the role. This opening confirmation statement shows how you have this required skill.

Now you have ticked the ‘teamwork’ box, you need to give a real-life example. A good frame for this job interview answer is to give a ‘helper’ perspective.

Describe how a colleague was having a problem with a housing issue and how this problem affected the output of the whole team.

Go on to describe how you took action and explain the action you took. Follow this up with the positive outcome focusing on how the whole team benefited from your quick actions.

You can also talk about the larger team – in this role, you will need to work with a range of agencies and stakeholders, including social services, jobcentre plus, citizens’ advice service.

Which other agencies would you refer a service user to?

Part of a housing officer’s job role is to work with the tenants to help them to be successful.

To be effective in this job duty you will need to work with, signpost or refer to a large number of partner agencies from social services to the local job center, from doctor surgeries to career advice officers.

In your answer list the relevant agencies you would partner with and give an example of when you would make a referral compared to signposting.

The example has to be specific. First, explain the service users situation and the key block that was holding them back. Explain the limitations of your roles and how the service user required expert advice.

Go on to explain how the service user had attempted to get support but had failed. End the interview answer by stating what you did to ensure the client got the support and advice they required.

Do you have any questions for me?

A guaranteed question is the “do you have any questions for me?” question. And your answer should be YES! Always ask a question.

Good questions to ask in a housing officer job interview are;

What is your approach to supporting service users with their many barriers?
What development opportunities do you have to help upskill a housing officer?
How many hostels/houses do the organisations look after?
What is the best part of your day?

November 6, 2017December 5, 2020

Aristotles Teaches How To Persuasion in a Job Interview

Aristotle’s Persuasion Technique

Persuasion is the goal of the job interview.

In the job interview, you need to influence, persuade and motivate through the answers of your job interview answers. You naturally persuade all the time, through the words you say and how you say these words. The problem is you may persuade people not to recruit rather than persuade them to offer you the desired job position.

Aristotle was a master of the persuasive language. We have taken the leanings of Aristotle’s rhetoric and made it relevant to the job interview.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Ethos is your character, how you come across to the interviewer. In a job interview, you need to be seen as credible, an authority. If the job interviewer believes in you, they will listen to you, if they listen to you, they will want to buy you (offer you the position) Aristotle said “We believe good men more fully and more readily than others.”

An example of an ethical appeal: “What I have learned from working in this industry for over 28 years is…” Your duration of experience has a direct path to your Ethos.

Pathos creates an emotional response from the interview panel. In the job interview situation, you need to appeal directly to the interviewer’s emotions. The great interviewee controllers the employer’s emotions throughout the job interview, taking them on an emotional roller coaster.

An example of an emotional interview answer is “have you ever been in a situation when a multi-pound deal was just about to be lost….what I did to turn things around was…” By getting an employer to imagine/remember a negative situation stirs up their negative emotions, before you create a positive emotional pull, by explaining your positive outcome.

Logos is a way to use logic; reasoning, data, statistics and even debates and arguments. Imagery creates an emotional pull, logos allows you to give the facts to back up the story. “This technique increased profit by 35%..” “9 out of 10 people benefited from X”

August 19, 2017

Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

Rise Manchester offers a tailor-made space for the FinTech community, drawing together the city’s vibrant startup culture and its rich industrial past. In staff they are looking for friendly and fun staff who know there coffee and who can improve their customers experience.

If you want a job at rise, here is some questions you will need to answer

Below you can also access 101 Interview Questions and techniques to Influence the Job Interview. Good luck with your next job interview.

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Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

Job Interview Question 1:

“Tell me about your customer service experience?”

The opening question at Rise, will be a generic interview question to gain an insight into your customer service and barista experience. Summarise your experience and have a focus on the key skills required for this position; how you welcome customers, how you promote the rise philosophy and how you go above and beyond

Ensure you mention

customer service skills
strong written and spoken communication skills
the ability to solve problems
the ability to deal tactfully with customers
your friendliness and rapport building skills

Job Interview Question 2:

“How do you handle difficult customers?”

For situational job interview questions, answer using a real life story or example

state the situation – why the customer was angry/difficult
explain how you remain calm and how this calmed down the customer
discuss what you did to support the customer while following processes and procedure
explain the outcome of the situation ***ensure this is positive

Job Interview Question 3:

“When have you gone and beyond to help a customer?”

Rise isn’t just a coffee shop, its an experience. In an employee Rise are looking for staff members who go that extra mile. Answer this interview question by first stating your work ethic and your temperament. Second give a real life example of when you went above and beyond to help a customer. Remember at Rise the customer base isn’t just shoppers, in fact the percentage of customer are entrepreneurs who spend their day at Rise working

Job Interview Question 4:

“What questions do you need when booking a room for a customer?”

Many customers book rooms and the stage area. This task requires a level of organisation. When answering this questions explain your strategy for keeping the administration side of things on point. How do you ensure that you have the correct details; customer detailsl, booking details

Job Interview Question 5:

“Why do you want to work at Rise?”

Be honest when answering this question – Rise has to be the right fit for you, and you need to be the right fit for Rise. What made you apply for this role? Why do you like the environment? To answer this question, start with “The three reasons I want to work at Rise are…” and then give 3 real reasons.

Job Interview Question 6:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

Good interview questions to ask interviewers at the end of the job interview include questions on the company growth or expansion, questions on personal development and training and questions on company values, staff retention and company achievements.

Conclusion

Many people are afraid of job interviews. The truth is if you prepare for your job interview, by predicting the job interview questions, you can easily prepare your job interview answers. If your job interview answers highlight your unique selling point, are stated in the positive and are said in a confident manner, then you can influence the job interview to increase job offer.

Interview Preparation Resources

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September 25, 2016November 21, 2020

Out Of The Box Interview Tips

Think Out Of The Box To Pass a Job Interview

Run of the mill interviewing techniques are becoming talk of the past.

“Tell me about yourself”?, A question that has been out there for so long that candidates tend to just learn the answer to it by heart with minor tweaks here and there.

If the questions aren’t going to change so will the same patented responses will be given during interviews. There is no advancement in the interviewing procedures and no learning for graduates coming fresh out of the universities.

career

Let’s consider a situation where a candidate (you) gets the call from HR representative of the company you applied to.

A unique feature about this call would be (we’ll get into that) but how normally a candidate would respond to one such call:

HR: “Hi, is this Mr. X I’m speaking to?”

Mr. X: “Yes, who’s this?”

HR: “This Ms. Y from ABC Co., you applied for the position of XYZ. Have you got a minute, I have to ask a couple of questions?”

Mr. X: “Please go on”

HR: “Ok, so have been you working somewhere?”

Mr. X: “Both yes and no, actually I resigned from my previous employment and am currently serving my notice period”

HR: “Ok, it says here you’ve been with the firm for last 5 years, what makes you want to switch?”

Mr. X: “Although, I have had no issues here during the tenure of my employment, all I feel is a bit stagnant where I’m and want to challenge myself in pursuit of new and better opportunities”

HR: “Alright, let me schedule an interview with you tomorrow say at 11am?”

Mr. X: “Sounds good to me, will be there.”

HR: “The directions to our office will be emailed to you shortly.”

Mr. X: “Sure thanks. Bye.”

That is how a normal telephonic interview appears as. But if we could improvise and candidate can earn the seat in front row? Startling? We pick it up from point no. 10 above and see how it changes.

Mr. X: “Can I suggest a date, as I have some things to take care of in the days to follow? Hence I won’t be able to squeeze time for the meet.”

HR (based on the availability): “When it would be possible for you to visit, then?”

Mr. X: “On so and so date (suggest a date for 2-3 days ahead)

The idea is to buy time so you can thoroughly search about the company, its stakeholders, review their profile on LinkedIn and prepare yourself well.

HR: “How does day after tomorrow sound?”

Mr. X: “Great!”

Now if the counter argument is not up to your liking, best lock in the day as it maybe that the organization is interviewing other candidates or the interviewing authority may not be available in those days.

At least by making a request you have made your presence felt and that you are not typical instead expressive. Just that is the purpose of asking to schedule at a later date. This gives you leverage in negotiations at the time of offer.

You don’t need to insist on scheduling for the day/date you have in mind or you’ll lose the opportunity, altogether. An attempt suffices and generally employer allows for a day or two in scheduling meets for candidates.

Secondly, the questions needs to be revisited to allow candidates to speak open-endedly and when someone is provided the platform to speak, their frame mind is reflected and the person interviewing can gauge whether or not the person would be a suitable fit for the organization.

Questions could be:

“How much element of fun is part of your life?”

“Do you cater to sarcasm?”

“What if I were to ring up a close friend of yours, will he/she be able to tell me your weaknesses?”

Author Bio

Rayanne Dany is an HR consultant and can be reached for assignment writing service via her twitter handle. She has tons of experience in different organizations amounting to a total of 10 years. Her insight over the years as an HR professional has paved way for writing improvement techniques.

August 3, 2015November 30, 2020

4 Insights That Will Give You The Edge At Job Interviews

Out of the whole process of finding a job, which consists of several stages, people generally find interviews to be the most dreadful. However this shouldn’t be the case, with the right mind frame and attitude you will find that there is nothing to fear when it comes to job interviews.

I will be sharing 4 insights that will give you the competitive edge at job interviews.

Handing Curveball Interview Questions

So what are curveball questions? They are the type of questions that you can’t really prepare for.

What is your definition of a brand?
What has been the low light of your career?
What does the word ‘insight’ mean to you?

The main reason they ask you these types of questions is to put you on the spot. In most cases there is no real right or wrong answer. In fact they probably don’t know the answer themselves. They just want to see how you handle the pressure.

Solution

The best way to approach is to simply ‘avoid getting flustered’. Pause and think for a moment about the question, and there is nothing wrong in doing so. Take the question in the spirit that it’s meant to be taken and provide a reasonable answer.

In the worst case scenario where you don’t know the answer is to simply say ‘I don’t really know the answer to that question but I am intrigued to know what it is’.

By doing so you are being honest and transparent. Above all you are showing the attitude of having an interest in learning.

End of the day we are all human beings and no one knows the answer to every question.

Asking Questions

It’s important to bear in mind that interviews are a 50 – 50 situation. The picture is that you are looking for employment and they are looking for an employee.

Just like they ask you questions, you can, should and must ask questions from them too. Note: It’s not to say that you should be asking 50% of the questions!

Here are a Few Guidelines:

Ask them questions to get more clarity on the role that you will be doing and how important it is to the organisation
Enquire what the company’s values, principles and policies are.
Similarly to how they would ask you ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years time’ you may ask them what the organisation’s vision is for the next 5 years.

Another good approach is to find out how the company handled tough times. For instance what challenges they faced during the recession period and how they overcame it.

By asking questions you are portraying confidence and enthusiasm. Plus your awareness of the company only gets better. Furthermore they will be happy to answer your questions since they are proud of their organisation, its vision and how they overcame hardships.

Towards the end of your interview a very good question to ask is “What other concerns or reservations do you have about my ability to carry out this role?”

By asking this question you get a very clear idea of where you stand. You get a feel for what they thought about you. Plus if it happens to be that they have any concerns, you can answer them straight away

Expressing Your Opinion

After doing your research about the organisation you should have a good idea about their history, products / services / projects, target market, competitors etc. The reality is that everyone else who you will be competing against would have done the same. Having an opinion is what is going to give you the edge.

Once again there is no right or wrong opinion but what matters is that you go into that interview room with an opinion and what matters even more is that you have sufficient facts to back your opinion.

Here are a Few Guidelines:

It could be on anything really.
The way they provide their services
Their methods of advertising
Should they be using social media as a potential platform to find new business.
Is there something that can be learnt from their competitors.
Other areas in the market to target, add on sales or merchandise
Any constructive feedback, room for development and growth etc.

Expressing an opinion can be very effective and powerful. What you have said may not be taken aboard but the fact that you made an opinion is very significant. It is also a simple way in which you can get them thinking. “Hmmmm this person has got a point….” This method will certainly make you a cut above the rest, brings in that ‘x’ factor and shows that you are not another crab in the bucket.

Bringing your A-Game

Before you leave home for the interview, it is vital that you are in the right emotional state – confident, calm and charismatic. That feel good state that we all like to be in. We will have our own unique ways of doing this

Here are a Few Guidelines:

This could be:

Your morning routine
Meditation
Listening to your favourite music
Listening to motivational speeches
Doing some push ups. Etc

Identify what yours is and carry out that activity to reach that peak performance state. Effectively, when you walk into that interview room they will just know. You will be radiating that energy, enthusiasm and confidence.

Apply these insights for your next job interview; they are certainly going to give you the edge to be more competitive.

Good luck!

Author Bio

Chirathu Liyanage – Public speaker and Blogger with a passion for self development, aspiring to help people in life.

March 12, 2014December 11, 2020

Job Interview Questions That Interviewers Ask That You Haven’t Prepared For

Some questions that you may be asked are not as obvious, which means you may not prepare for them.

These questions below are asked on a regular basis in the job interview, but often throw candidates as they had no idea they would be asked.

Job Interview Questions That You Need To Prepare For

- Job Interview Question 1:
  What was the most challenging part of your university course?

Job Interview Question 2:
Tell me about a time when you were not able to build a successful relationship with a difficult person.

Job Interview Question 3:
Describe how you contributed to a group project?

- Job Interview Question 4:
  
  Give me an example of when you were able to see the big picture when working on a project.

Job Interview Question 5:

Have you ever gone above and beyond in a working situation?

Job Interview Question 6:

Give me an example of when you have had to write an accurate document.

- Job Interview Question 7:
  
  How would you act if a co-worker was acting unethical?

Job Interview Question 8:
Tell me about a time you had to confront a manager.

Job Interview Question 9:
What do you do to overcome obstacles?

You will also be given the opportunity to ask the interviewer some questions.

December 10, 2013February 16, 2023

Over 10 Nightmare Interview Questions

Can you prepare for nightmare interview questions?

We have shared a few nightmare interview questions with you today to help you plan your nightmare interview.

In the main, employers will use a structured job interview process, asking of standardized interview questions which are then scored against a set of pre-written criteria.

The criteria are based on main job duties. In this way, most job interview questions can be predicted. If an employer needs a creative team player with IT skills, you be bet that three of the interview questions will be:

Give me an example of overcoming a problem creatively
Tell me about a time you were successful while working within a team
How would your deal with (IT problem)

Some employers will also add one or two ‘nightmare interview questions’ these are questions that are hard to predict and questions that are framed negatively.

Nightmare Interview Questions

Tell me how you would handle a co-worker who wasn’t doing their fair share of the work. What did you do?
Have you ever worked with a supervisor or boss that you didn’t respect? What happened?
Describe a decision you made that was a failure?
How do you convey technical information to a non-technical member of staff?

What would you do differently if you could start your career over?
Would you be happy to take work away with you while on holiday?
Why did you apply for this particular position and in what way will this role stretch you?
If you were the CEO of this company what would be the first thing you would change and why?

Are you a risk taker?
If you could meet with a historical figure, who would it be and why?
If you were an animal what would you be?
Convince me to hire you?

How to answer nightmare interview questions

These tricky curveball interview questions, for most interviewees, put them on the back foot.

What is important to remember, is the reason hiring managers ask interview questions. The bottom line is that each interview question is relating to the job criteria and job duties. An employer won’t just ask a ‘nightmare question’ for the hell of it.

When asked a tricky question, first think – what skill, quality, or experience is the employer really asking about.

As an example, the famous interview question ‘how many grids are there in London?’ isn’t a question about sewage. The underpinning criteria for the ‘grid’ question is mathematically problem-solving.

The employer, for this interview question, wants to hear how an applicant would work out the number of grids in a large area. The answer, by the way, is working out the average number of grids in a small area and then using a simple sum to times the number of grids by the square footage of London.

The three steps to answering a nightmare question are:

Listen to the question
Break the question down to understand the job criteria underpinning the question
Give a confident answer

Multiple Questions in One Interview Question

How to answer lengthy interview questions?

Hidden Meaning Interview Questions

Other hidden meaning interview question examples.

Ambiguous Interview Questions

Answering Ambiguous Questions

How to identify the job criteria?

Quick ways to identify the job criteria.

How to be a self-promoter

How to communicate with confidence

A successful job interview

Preparing an interview answer

Interview anxiety

4 Tips for answering the unemployment question

Tip 1 – give the reason for being unemployed.

Tip 2 – share lessons learnt

Tip 3 – what can the applicant offer?

Tip 4 – avoid focusing on unemployment

Attitude is king in the interview.

Will you be asked about being unemployed?

How competitive is a Housing Officer job Interview?

Interview Specifics

Common Asked Housing Officer Interview Questions

Can you tell me about your housing officer experience?

How do you assess the needs of a client?

What does customer service mean to you?

What do you look for during a housing inspection?

How would you have a positive effect on your colleagues and team?

Which other agencies would you refer a service user to?

Do you have any questions for me?

Aristotle’s Persuasion Technique

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

“Tell me about your customer service experience?”

“How do you handle difficult customers?”

“When have you gone and beyond to help a customer?”

“What questions do you need when booking a room for a customer?”

“Why do you want to work at Rise?”

“Do you have any questions for me?”

Conclusion

Think Out Of The Box To Pass a Job Interview

Handing Curveball Interview Questions

Solution

Asking Questions

Here are a Few Guidelines:

Expressing Your Opinion

Here are a Few Guidelines:

Bringing your A-Game

Here are a Few Guidelines:

Job Interview Questions That You Need To Prepare For

Can you prepare for nightmare interview questions?

We have shared a few nightmare interview questions with you today to help you plan your nightmare interview.

Nightmare Interview Questions

How to answer nightmare interview questions