Interview Questions

Some other questions that a good recruiter will probably ask you: Why are you looking to leave? What aspects of your current job do you like/dislike? What will you be looking for in a new role? What attracts you to this role? What attracts you to this firm? What skills do you believe you can bring to the role/the firm? Describe your working style. Describe a management style that suits you. How do you handle your daily time/ objectives? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Use 3 words to describe yourself Why should I give this job to you?

How do you feel about working long hours/weekends?

Which part of this role is least attractive to you?

Do you prefer to work alone or in a group? Why?

Can you give an example of when you had to delegate authority and/or responsibility?

What systems do you use to keep track of things that require your attention?

Have you ever had to discipline or correct a friend on the job? How did you handle it? What would your friends say about you? What is said about you in appraisals? What would your manager say about you? What would people in work say about you? What motivates you? What is your biggest achievement to date? Where do you see yourself in 2 - 5 years time? Describe a situation where you have had to overcome significant obstacles to reach a goal? Describe a situation where you influenced to bring change? What is the most difficult situation you have dealt with to date? What is the most important decision you have made to date? Where else have you been looking?

Why are you looking for a new job? If you want to leave your present job for negative reasons, be very careful in how you express this to an interviewer. Turn it around to sound positive. Being negative or even rude about your current/previous employer or company can be seriously detrimental. Mention that you are looking for a new challenge, more responsibility or a change of environment, but do not speak of remuneration in connection with your desire for a new job. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Your strengths should always be backed up with examples. Weaknesses should always be turned into strengths. For example: "I am a perfectionist, which means I set very high 2

standards. If I am working as part of a team and someone is not pulling their weight, it will frustrate me. I will handle this by approaching the individual and discussing with them how it can be resolved, rather than letting the frustration build up, and losing my temper." What can you offer our company? The key to this is not to use clichs. Any company will ultimately be looking for someone who can help increase their profits, so bear this in mind when responding. You need to prove you have an exceptional talent, so answers such as "I love selling", or "I'm a good communicator" will not wash. Back up your response with quantitative examples e.g. you may have done a similar role in the past and can bring the experience you gained there to your new role, you may already be in a similar industry sector so will have that as an advantage. What is your greatest achievement to date? Try to use a work-related example, and identify the skills you used and the benefit it gave the company. For example: "I noticed that our company was spending an awful lot of money on travel, so I organised a tender. I found a new organisation which saved us in excess of 50,000 in a year." What do you dislike about your present job? The interviewer is trying to find out whether the job in question involves tasks you dislike. Answer this one with extreme caution. If you're too specific you may draw attention to weaknesses. A safe approach is to play up a characteristic of your present company that's different from the company you're talking to. For example, if your corporation is large, you might say you are frustrated with slow decision-making. Or if it's small, you could say that a lack of opportunities makes you feel unfulfilled.

Competency Based Interview Questions

BUSINESS ACUMEN: Knows how businesses work, knowledgeable in current and possible future policies, practices, trends and information affecting his/her business and organisation, knows the competition, is aware of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace: Competency Questions: Give me an example of when you had to sacrifice a short-term goal for a long term gain. Describe a time when you had to make a risky or tough decision that you felt confident would have a positive impact. 3

COMMAND SKILLS: Relishes leading, takes unpopular stand if necessary, encourages direct and tough debates but isnt afraid to end it and move on, is looked to for direction in a crisis, faces adversity head on, energised by tough challenges. Competency Questions: Describe a situation where your leadership skills were rejected. Why were they rejected? What did you do to manage the situation? Tell me about a time when you managed a highly sensitive or critical situation. What made it highly sensitive or critical? Why did you choose the course of action you choose? DEALING WITH AMBIGUITY: Can efficiently cope with change, can shift gears comfortably, can decide and act without having the total picture, isnt upset when things are up in the air, doesnt have to finish things before moving on, can comfortably risk and uncertainty. Describe a situation when you had to make a decision even though you did not have all of the important information. What was the situation? How did you overcome your lack of information? Tell me about a situation where you had to face multiple demands or where priorities kept changing. How did you deal with that? FUNCTIONAL/TECHNICAL SKILLS Has the functional and technical knowledge to do the job at a high level of accomplishment. Tell me about a time when you misapplied your technical skills to a problem? What did you do to correct the misapplication? What did you learn from the situation? Tell me about a time that you felt your technical skills were not up to the level needed to successfully complete a project or resolve an issue. What did you do to upgrade your skills?

INTEGRITY AND TRUST: Is widely trusted, is seen as a direct, truthful individual, can present the unvarnished truth in an appropriate and helpful manner, keeps confidences, admits mistakes, doesnt misinterpret him/herself for personal gain. Describe a time when you had to present material or implement a process that you were not in full support of. Did you voice your concern of non-support? How did you do this? Who did you voice your concern to? Tell me a time when you demonstrated personal integrity in a business situation. What led to your decision to act in accordance with your beliefs? What challenges, if any, did you face? How did you integrate your personal values with what was needed for the business?

INTELLECTUAL HORSEPOWER: Is bright and intelligent. Deals with concepts and complexity comfortably, described as intellectually sharp, capable and agile. 4

Tell me about a time when you set a challenging goal for yourself and what you did to achieve it. How did you overcome any obstacles you encountered? Describe the most complex problem or issue you have dealt with on the job. How did you arrive at the solution?