Interviewers' Favorite Questions and Answers

You are wearing your best interview dress and facing your interviewer. 

Comes the first question:  “Tell me about yourself.” 

What should you tell her? What would you tell a real recruiter or hiring manager?

The interviewer is not interested to know where you were born and raised. Focus on your academics and experience. Ask yourself, ‘what are the top five things I want this person to know about me?’”

Frequently asked questions by interviewers.

What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

The interviewer is not interested in what actually you want to become.  The purpose of this type of question is to help the interviewer know if the job seeker will be happy in that position, or if he or she wants to work in it only as long as it takes to find something “better.”  

How do you make yourself indispensable to a company?

The interviewer is looking for both technical and interpersonal competence. Generally the question is answered best because you know what working for a company entails.

What’s your greatest strength?

Relate your strength to the position. Don’t just talk about your strength. Let the interviewer know you are a qualified candidate.

What’s your greatest weakness?

If you have any specific difficulty let the interviewer know what it is and also inform him what are the strategies you use to get around it.

Tell me about a time when your work load was heavy. How did you complete all your work?

Relate this question  to your "planning and organising" capabilities. The interviewer is looking for your ability to plan-ahead and organise the work load so that the work could be completed well within the stipulated time.  You could describe a situation that includes a task that needed to be accomplished, the action taken to accomplish the task and the result of that action.

Tell me about a time when you had to accomplish a task with someone who was particularly difficult to get along with.

Relate this question to your "team working and influencing skills". No interviewer is interested to hear an answer, "I just avoided him" or  "He made me mad".  What you need to tell is your ability to be sensitive to the needs of others and how well you can influence them.

How do you accept direction and, at the same time, maintain a critical stance regarding your ideas and values?

Relate this question to your "interpersonal skills".  With good interpersonal skills, you can understand how to accept the direction and simultaneously maintain your ideas and values.

Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a problem with no rules or guidelines in place.

Relate this question to your "problem solving and decision making skills". The interviewer is looking for a sense of urgency in initiating action, and explaining the question shows your ability to overcome obstacles.