Career Chat // Answering interview questions // CLOSED

Thanks @NikNik.

Good morning and welcome to todays’ forum on Interview Questions.

Today we will chat about the most commonly asked questions and brainstorm how to best answer these.

The better prepared we are for what is being asked, the more we can tailor our preparation, and the higher the likelihood of getting the job.

So come join us to share your thoughts, ideas and insights.

Looking forward to an interesting fun chat today.

Debstar 🙂

Hi again,

A very common interview question (infact, I think I have been asked it at every interview I have ever been to, and there have been many) is “what are your strengths?” The hiring manager usually gives a number, ie 1-3 strengths, but not always.

So how do you answer this question so you appear polished, well prepared and confident?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Debstar 🙂

Hi again,

So how do you answer the question of "what are your strengths?" so you appear polished, well prepared and confident?

As we well know, the first step in this is believing you have strengths, and many of us find it difficult to identify our strengths, especially when feeling down etc.. We all have lots of strengths, it is just a matter of taking the time to identify them. And if you are unsure what your strengths are, ask a family member, friend, support person..etc. You may be pleasantly surprised by the positive qualities they have noticed.

So once you have identified your strengths, think about which one/s relate best to the job you are going for. I always find it useful to look at the analyse the job description and identify the most important strengths for each opportunity. You may be great at making coffee, but if the job is to sell clothing, it isn’t the best strength to highlight (even if they have a coffee machine in the shop, if you are there to predominantly sell, there are other strengths that would be more suitable to share). Perhaps communication skills, selling skills, ability to sell multiple garments etc. I am always mindful of being authentic, and only sharing those strengths I sincerely see as my personal strengths. It will feel heaps easier and sound a lot more convincing.

I always suggest to clients not to be humble, eg saying you are pleasant to work with, as most would have this strength. Focus on strengths that can sell you and your qualities for the role.

And finally, have a concise example ready to back up and explain each strength and then practice sharing those in front of the mirror (strange but helpful) or with family members/ friends that are happy to help. You will likely to sound much more confident and convincing on the day with this practice.

Your thoughts on this? What other questions have you experienced at an interview?

So what are other commonly asked questions?

Why do you want to work here?

Tell me about yourself.

What would you like to be doing in 2 / 5 years?

What are your weakenesses? This is a less common question but still something that is asked at some interviews, so it is good to be prepared just incase this question is asked.

Have you been asked these questions before? What are your tips and suggested answers?

Debstar 🙂

Hi @Debstar, great topic as I think everyone is nervous about interviews. I reckon that the 'why do you want to work here' is an important one. If you can communicate enthusiam for the job and company they may well forgive any not-so-well answered questions later on.

I hate the strengths and weaknesses questions. I find it hard to come across well on those ones. I guess my only tip is that I always mention the strategies I'm using to overcome those weaknesses.

So I might say that I can sometimes procrastinate on big written tasks - like writing long reports - but that I've developed some ways around this. For example, I'll give myself a short 15 minute window to get it started before I take a break. I find it much easier to continue something than to start it so that breaks the deadlock for me.

Is that an approach you'd recommend?

Hi @Former-Member,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Absolutely, mentioning the strategies you use to overcome the weaknesses is a great way to demonstrate that you are aware of a weakness, and have taken steps to address it. Your example is a great one.

Finishing this question with how you have overcome this is the best way to have you looking good with this question.

Also, be careful of your choice of words. Eg, rather than saying “I am not good at…. “ , you could say “I sometimes am not….” (see below example). The latter sounds much better and less as though you are putting yourself down.

An example I have heard used is "I always like to deliver work to a high standard and can sometimes be self critical. To address this I have been working with a life coach who has given me a range of strategies that I am finding useful".

Ideally make your weakness something that isn’t critical to the role. Eg, you wouldn’t say you strongly dislike computers for an office job. Much better to use a nice to have skill, not a must have.

Yeah I agree with what you said about “why do you want to work here”. Having enthusiasm for the job and company will certainly earn you some brownie points and could help make up for other not so well answered questions later. Also looking up company info, such as the company values or something else you particularly like about the company can impress too, and help them to see that you are a fit for the organisation, and also have taken an extra step to learn about them. I often recommend to clients that they call the company, or go in (eg to a Priceline) and sharing back the positive experience they had visiting. Eg, "I dropped by and was very impressed at the professional friendly approach from staff, they were very helpful". Or "when I called I noticed… (ideally positive) and this reinforces to me that it is a place I would like to work". Or "my friend works here and loves it". (if this is the case).

Other thoughts on this topic?

I like your point @Former-Member

I've been given advice to show how you can make your weakness a strength. For instance, I can take longer than expected with tasks because I'm a perfectionist, but using @Former-Member's approach, I can also talk about what I do to overcome this. For example, I set myself time limits to tasks.

Or I can overlook finer details (e.g., editing), but it means that I am great with thinking in broad and conceptual terms. To overcome this, I ensure that finish tasks ahead of time, and to proof read and polish work.

What are your thoughts on this @Debstar?

Another challenging questions are the ones that I don't know the answer to! Any advice on how you can handle this @Debstar?

Hi @CherryBomb,

Great examples for the weakness question. Yes it is all about turning a weakness into a strength. Both examples mentioned can work really well and impress at interview.

How do we handle the questions we don’t know the answer to. Fabulous question!

The first thing I would say is take your time. Breath! And perhaps so the pause isn’t too long, say something to the effect of “That’s a great question, let me think about it”. Take a bit of time to gather your thoughts. If you think it will help, ask to have the question repeated, or ask to come back to that question later, so you have more time to think about it.

Remember that often the hiring manager is not looking for quickly answered questions, but are looking to get a sense of how you work through problems. If after some time you don’t have an answer, be honest and perhaps say, “I haven’t don’t this before but what I would expect to look at is….”

And if you don’t have an answer to share, let the hiring manager know you don’t know and then finish with a positive statement, by saying something about how you are really excited about moving into this area, and that you have been actively trying to learn more..etc.

A few posts ago @Peter_Pan78 shared his personal experience on this…“Four years I had an interview for a job with a disability services organisation. One question they asked was: 'A person you are caring for suddenly show signs that they might be choking. What do you do?' I wasn't totally sure what I would do so I was honest and said I don't know, get a more experienced staff member? I thought I'd flunked the interview, so I was shocked when they offered me the job. I guess they must have valued my honesty and perhaps being able to know my limitations was important when caring for people (making out you know when you don't can be dangerous).”

Honesty certainly worked in his favour.

Other ideas?

Hi again,

What about the question.. What would you like to be doing in 2/5 years? Has anyone felt stumped by this question. I remember it feeling a bit overwhelming the first time I heard it. How did I know where I was going to be then?

Well the good news is the interviewer does not expect us to know exactly where we will be so far into the distant future. They do however want to know how the position will fit into your grand plans. They want to hire someone motivated, proactive and likely to stick around.

Interestingly, on coming out of Uni I applied for two customer service call centre jobs. Both asked me the same question, with a two year focus. For the first one I said I wanted to be a trainer as soon as possible, and on looking back, no surprise.. I didn’t get the job. Given the opportunity, I would have been out of there within days. With the other one, when asked, I said that after doing the role for several years, I would be keen to develop my skills and look into moving into a training role.

I was fortunate enough to get the second job, and learnt that the hiring managers really want to know that you will be keen to stay in the role being advertised for a “reasonable” amount of time before moving off to other places, which makes sense really.

Thanks for being involved in our discussion today (whether that is posting or reading through our forum). I hope you have found it useful and have some take away pointers you can use in future interviews.

Have a lovely weekend and look forward to chatting next Friday for “the link between employment and improved mental health”.

Bye for now,

Debstar 🙂

Thanks @Debstar,

Some great and helpful points were discussed today. I wanted to add how to respond to a question that you don't know the answer to. In a couple of interviews, I've actually explained that I'm not sure of an answer, I'll give it a go, but then I ask the potential employer to give me an answer about what I should do. I think it demonstrates honesty and a willingness to learn. Obviously, it depends on what they are asking. If its a fundamental skill that you need (e.g. customer service in hospitality) and you don't know about it, then I'm not sure that in these instances it would be helpful admitting that you don't know. I hope this makes sense!

Thanks Debstar. See you next time!