Doko.vn 31413 Cac Cau Hoi Phong Van Bang Tieng Anh

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Interview Questions

Basic Questions:

1. "Tell me a little about yourself."

You should take this opportunity to show your communication skills by speaking clearlyand concisely in an organized manner. Because there is no right or wrong answer for thisquestion, it is important to appear friendly.

Short Answers

"I attended MI where I ma!ored in lectrical ngineering. My hobbies includebasketball, reading no#els, and hiking."

"I grew up in $orea and studied accounting. I worked at an accounting firm for two yearsand I en!oy bicycling and !ogging."

"I%m an easy going person that works well with e#eryone. I en!oy being around differenttypes of people and I like to always challenge myself to impro#e at e#erything I do."

"I%m a hard worker and I like to take on a #ariety of challenges. I like pets, and in myspare time, I like to rela& and read the newspaper."

"I%#e always liked being balanced. 'hen I work, I want to work hard. (nd outside ofwork, I like to engage in my personal acti#ities such as golfing and fishing."

Long Answer

"I went to the )ni#ersity of 'ashington and ma!ored in nglish *iterature. I went tograduate school because I really en!oyed learning. (fterwards, I started my career atBoeing as a web content editor. I%#e been there for + years now. (lthough my emphasisis in writing, I like numbers. I think sol#ing logic problems and riddles are quite fun. Ialso en!oy !ogging, reading, and watching mo#ies."

here is no right or wrong answer for this question. Most important thing you shouldremember is how you deli#er the message. he e&ample abo#e shows a short answer

telling a little bit about the person. he answer went from education to career, and then topersonal interests all in a smooth flow.

. "!hat are your strengths"

his is a popular inter#iew question. hey want to know what you think of yourself.(lthough this is a general question, there is a wrong and right answer. he wrong answeris a generic answer saying you are organized and friendly. (lthough it will not hurt you


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during the inter#iew, it will certainly not help you either. (nswer this question based onthe type of !ob you are applying for.

Short Answers

"I belie#e my strongest trait is my attention to detail. his trait has helped metremendously in this field of work."

"I%#e always been a great team player. I%m good at keeping a team together andproducing quality work in a team en#ironment."

"(fter ha#ing worked for a couple of years, I realized my strength is accomplishing alarge amount of work within a short period of time. I get things done on time and mymanager always appreciated it."

"My strongest trait is in customer ser#ice. I listen and pay close attention to my

customer%s needs and I make sure they are more than satisfied."

Long Answers

*et%s say I am inter#iewing for a management position. You should mention traits thatare important for managers.

"( couple strengths I ha#e are planning and e&ecution, and working with people. I%#ealways been #ery good at planning and detailing all the steps. #en in college, I wouldspend time organizing my week and planning a strategy to tackle each class orassignment. &ecuting a plan has always come easy for me as well. I belie#e it%s due toproper planning. I also work with people #ery well in a way where I use the strengths ofeach indi#idual in a team to produce the best results. Because of my easy goingpersonality, I%#e been told by my directs that it%s easy to approach me."

If you are applying for an accounting position, you should mention strong traits anaccountant should ha#e and claim them to be yours.

"I%m #ery detail oriented, good at managing time, and #ery honest. I always incorporatemanaging time and being detailed together. By nature I%#e been detail oriented, and thatresulted in taking too much time on a particular task. (fter incorporating timemanagement into the mi&, I found that my work and efficiency increased dramatically. Iplan better and produce higher quality work in a time constraint en#ironment. -inally,I%m a #ery honest person. 'hen I was working as a #alet attendant during college, a ladyga#e me a twenty dollar bill to pay for the three dollar fee. he almost dro#e off the lot,but I stopped her and said here is your change. My co/workers said I should ha#econsidered the change as tip, but I know what I did was honest and right. You can foolother people, but you can%t fool yourself. hat%s what I belie#e."

he second e&ample can seem a little wordy. But the power of an e&ample is greater than

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any great words you can string together. #eryone can claim they are honest, but with ane&ample, it is much more belie#able.

#. "!hat are your wea$nesses"

-or this answer, you should display a weakness that can be seen as a strength. here aremany types of answers that will work. ome answers will be good answers for certain!obs, while the same answer will be a bad answer for a different !ob. elect an answerthat will work for the position you are applying for. 1ere are a few e&amples.

Short Answers

"his might be bad, but in college I found that I procrastinated a lot. I realized thisproblem, and I%m working on it by finishing my work ahead of schedule."

"I feel my weakness is not being detail oriented enough. I%m a person that wants to

accomplish as much as possible. I realized this hurts the quality and I%m currentlyworking on finding a balance between quantity and quality."

"I feel my nglish ability is my weakest trait. I know this is only a temporary problem.I%m definitely studying hard to communicate more effecti#ely."

"he weakest trait I struggled with was not asking for help. I always try to sol#e my ownproblems instead of asking a co/worker who might know the answer. his would sa#e memore time and I would be more efficient. I%m working on knowing when it would bebeneficial to ask for help."

Long Answers

"I think my weakest trait is my impatience. 'hene#er I work in a team and a member isnot performing up to my e&pectations, I can get impatient and annoyed. I understand ifthey are working hard and their portion is difficult, but sometimes a person can%t do theassignment due to incompetence or laziness. ( while back I would get frustrated and startcomplaining, but I realized that I can help out by e&plaining things to some people andencouraging lazy people by reminding them of deadlines. I know it%s bad to be impatient,but I%m definitely working on it."

"I%m too detail oriented. I ne#er want to lea#e anything out and I want e#erything to beperfect. his is bad because it slows down my work. Initially, I tried to work faster tocompensate, but that only made me sloppy. o I decided to put more emphasis on priorityand planning. By doing so, I%m hoping that I can make the proper decisions on what towork on and what to intentionally lea#e out."

Both of these e&amples show an answer that is acceptable. (lthough being impatient isnot good, it shows that you are a quick learner and that you like efficiency. he second

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displays a person that is detail oriented, which can be seen as a good trait. -inally, bothanswers identify the weakness and show the actions of correcting it.

%. "!hat are your short term goals"

his question primarily depends on where you are in your career. ( person with 2 yearsof e&perience will ha#e different short term goals than a person with no work e&perience.I%ll gi#e an e&ample for both scenarios. But first, here are some short answers.

Short Answers

"My short term goal is to find a position where I can use the knowledge and strengths thatI ha#e. I want to partake in the growth and success of the company I work for."

"I%#e learned the basics of marketing during my first two years. I want to take the ne&tstep by taking on challenging pro!ects. My short term goal is to grow as a marketing

analyst."

"(s a program manager, it%s important to understand all areas of the pro!ect. (lthough Iha#e the technical abilities to be successful in my !ob, I want to learn different softwareapplications that might help in work efficiency."

"My goal is to always perform at an e&ceptional le#el. But a short term goal I ha#e set formyself is to implement a process that increases work efficiency."

Long Answers

"My short term goal is to learn e#erything I can about marketing. I want to find a positionwhere I can contribute what I%#e learned through education and to gain real lifee&perience. I belie#e the ne&t couple of years will be #ery important to me and myimmediate goal is to learn and become skilled in all aspects of marketing."

"My short term goal is to get into a management position. he last fi#e years of mycareer, I%#e concentrated on learning and acquiring all the skills needed to performe&cellent work. 3ecently, I%#e taken more responsibilities in management because Ie#entually want to become a sales manager. I%m e&cited about the last few assignments Icompleted because it in#ol#ed working with #endors and partners while managing asmall group of workers. o I hope to be in a management position within a year or twoand I feel I%m doing a diligent !ob by #olunteering for e&tra work to gain moree&perience."

he first e&ample is a person straight out of school. *earning is a good short term goal toha#e because it shows that you will be trying hard in your !ob. he second e&ample ismore detailed because that person has se#eral years of e&perience. (nybody can say theywant a management position, but this candidate is taking it a step further by showing thesteps he is taking to achie#e the short term goal. hus, it becomes a stronger answer.

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&. "!hat are your long term goals"

his question is asked to see how serious a candidate is about his or her career. ome

people might not know their long term goals, and some people might ha#e long termgoals of becoming rich and retiring early. hose are incorrect answers for this question.he type of answer you want to gi#e is an ambitious answer that shows you really lo#eyour career. ( good inter#iewer will read between the lines and find out if a person isgoing to be a hard worker or !ust a mediocre one. Being descripti#e and shooting for a biggoal is something inter#iewers want to hear.

Short Answer

"I would like to become a director or higher. his might be a little ambitious, but I knowI%m smart, and I%m willing to work hard."

"(fter a successful career, I would lo#e to write a book on office efficiency. I thinkworking smart is important and I ha#e many ideas. o after gaining more e&perience, I%mgoing to try to write a book."

"I%#e always lo#ed to teach. I like to grow newer employees and help co/workers wheree#er I can. o in the future, I would lo#e to be an instructor."

"I want to become a #alued employee of a company. I want to make a difference and I%mwilling to work hard to achie#e this goal. I don%t want a regular career, I want a specialcareer that I can be proud of."

Long Answer

"My long term goal is to become a partner for a consulting firm. I know the hard workin#ol#ed in achie#ing this goal, and I know that many people fail to become a partner.hat%s not going to stop me from working hard, learning e#erything I can, andcontributing to a company where I%ll become a #aluable asset. I know it%s not aguarantee, but becoming a partner is a long term goal of mine, and I going to worktowards this goal throughout my career."

his e&ample shows a candidate with a big goal. his person identifies the difficulty of

the goal and shows the steps required to achie#e this goal. 5espite the difficulty, thiscandidate shows he or she will not get discouraged with difficult situations and will ne#ergi#e up. It is a short answer that goes a long way.

'. "!hat (o you want to be (oing five years from now""!here (o you see yourself in five years"

his is a similar question to the short term question, but you should answer it a little

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differently. 1ere are some e&amples.

Short Answers

"In fi#e years, I see myself as a #alued employee of a company. I want to be an e&pert at

my position and start training to be a manager."

"In fi#e years, I want to be a senior analyst. I want my e&pertise to directly impact thecompany in a positi#e way."

"My goal is to become a lead in fi#e years. (lthough not e#eryone gets promoted to thisle#el, I belie#e I can achie#e this goal through hard work."

"(lthough I really en!oy working hands on as a mechanical engineer, I want to e#entuallybecome a manager. I want to continue gaining e&perience, and after learning manydifferent aspects, I see myself in management."

Long Answers

"-i#e years from now, I would like to see myself in a management position. I%m going tobe learning and gaining practical e&perience until then, but e#entually, I want to becomea marketing manager. I know there are a lot of things to learn, but I%m going to beworking hard for the ne&t fi#e years. I belie#e opportunities come to great workers andI%m going to try to be one of them."

"-i#e years from now, I want to be a senior sales manager. I%m currently training tobecome a manager, and if I continue to work hard, I feel I%ll ha#e a management positionsoon. (fter gaining se#eral years of e&perience as a sales manager, I want to be in aposition where I can train and pro#ide my e&pertise to newer sales managers."

Both answers display characteristics of working hard. he second e&ample also mentionsthat he or she wants to train newer managers. his is a good answer because it targets onegood trait about upper management6 the ability to train managers.

). "If you coul( change one thing about your *ersonality+ what woul( it be an(why"

his question is another #ariation to the weakness question. You can pro#ide a similartype of question unless it is the same person asking them. o answer this question, thinkof a person you respect and the trait they ha#e that you really like. I used to ha#e amanager that was #ery patient and e&plained things #ery carefully. I really liked this trait,so I%m going to pro#ide the long answer by using this e&ample. But first, let%s look atsome short answers.

Short Answers

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"I get easily frustrated at people who don%t work #ery hard. But I know people ha#edifferent work styles and different work habits. o if I could change something, I wouldlike to be more understanding."

"I ha#e high e&pectations and I ha#e these e&pectations on others. I think if I was more

understanding, I could help other workers impro#e instead of being disappointed."

"I would like to be more of a risk taker. I always do my work and complete it at ane&ceptional le#el, but sometimes taking a risk can make the work e#en better. I%mworking on this by thinking the issue through and weighing the pros and cons."

"I would like to be more of an e&tro#ert. I%m a little quiet and a little closer to theintro#ert side. I would like to change this because I would appear more friendly."

Long Answer

"I wish I was more patient with people. I remember a manager I had a couple of years

ago. 1e was #ery patient with e#eryone. #en workers that were not that smart and failedto understand a concept to perform the !ob. I remember thinking how can this person whocan%t understand this concept continue to work here. My manager took a differentapproach. 1e was understanding of this worker and e&plained the concept in a differentway. 1e e#en e&plained how to #iew problems from a different perspecti#e. hat helpedthis worker and in time that worker became a strong contributor. o if I could change onething about me, I would like to be more patient and understanding. I%m taking the steps tochange for the better by remembering the actions of my past manager whene#er I%m in asimilar situation."

his is a little long, but if you can speak smoothly, it shows off your communicationskills. (lso, the content of the answer is not that bad. hey want a personality problem,and this answer is showing impatience while indicating that you understand difficultconcepts easily. It also shows that you are working on correcting the bad beha#ior.

,. "!hat (oes success mean to you"

here are many things you can say. his type of question doesn%t ha#e a wrong answer.(ll answers will be correct. o the best answer is how good you can make the answer. (mediocre answer will be something like completing a pro!ect on time. You can say this,but add another twist to make the answer a little better. 1ere is an e&ample.

Short Answers

"o me, success means to ha#e a goal, plan the steps to achie#e the goal, implement theplan, and finally achie#e the goal."

"uccess means to achie#e a goal I ha#e set for myself."

"uccess means to produce high quality work before the deadline."

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"uccess to me is knowing that my contributions positi#ely impacted my company."

Long Answer

"uccess to me means completing a task and when looking back, thinking I couldn%t ha#edone it better. o succeed is to complete a task or assignment on time in an e&cellent

manner. But that%s only half of it. he results should be good and the people in#ol#edshould gain a #aluable lesson or e&perience. -or e&ample, if it was a group pro!ect, andonly two people out of four really did the work, I wouldn%t call that success. If e#eryoneparticipated and worked together pro#iding a #aluable deli#erable then it%s a success. o Ithink both the result and the process should be great to call something a success."

his answer is showing that you belie#e in deli#ering great quality work. Moreo#er, it isimplying how much you #alue team work. If you #alue teamwork highly, then it is safe toassume that you would make a great team player.

-. "!hat (oes failure mean to you"

his is quite simple. I don%t see many right answers so this is what I suggest. You canbelie#e in two of the following. 9ne, you belie#e that failure is not achie#ing your goalno matter what. 9r two, you can belie#e failure is only when nothing is learned from thefailure. I belie#e in the latter, but you don%t ha#e to agree with me.

Short Answers

"-ailure is when I do not reach my goal."

"I think to fail at something is making a mistake and not learning anything from it."

"o me, failure means to ha#e a goal and not do anything about it."

"I think failure is not reaching your potential. If you do not use the resources you ha#eand the resources around you, that%s failure because the work or goal could ha#e beendone better."

Long Answer

"I think it%s harder to fail than it is to succeed. he reason is, if you fail in a pro!ect, youcan learn a #aluable lesson from your mistake. *earning from the mistake will allow youto impro#e future pro!ects, or to simply not repeat them. :ust because I belie#e this,doesn%t mean I belie#e it%s acceptable to fail at a pro!ect, but !ust in case, I would try tolearn e#erything I can6 e#en when the end result wasn%t that good. o, failure to memeans making a mistake and ha#ing learned nothing from it."

;obody wants a failure. o you can feel that answering like this will be risky. 1owe#er,this is a solid answer that most people agree with. If the person doesn%t like this answer,then you might not want to work for this person. #eryone fails and if you work forsomeone who doesn%t tolerate failure, then you will be in a difficult situation. #en #icepresidents of large corporations will belie#e that learning from mistakes is a #aluable


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lesson. his answer also states that you will do you best not to fail, but !ust in case, youwant to gain something from your e&perience.

1."Are you an organi/e( *erson"

You can think that this question is stupid. (ctually, I do. #eryone will say they are

organized. 'ho will admit otherwise= You should know that e#eryone will say similarthings. ake this time to be creati#e with your answer. You can use these types ofquestions to lea#e a strong impression with a creati#e answer. 9r, if you are not creati#e,then the best way to answer this question is with an e&ample. )sing a story is morebelie#able and easier to remember. -eel free to mi& in a little humor to make it morememorable.

Short Answers

"I%m a #ery organized person. I like to know e&actly what I%m going to do for the day andthe week. o I outline my tasks and organize my work load. By doing so, I can organizemy time and work better."

"I belie#e I%m #ery organized. I like to organize my work by priority and deadlines. I dothis so I can produce the highest quality work in the amount of time I ha#e."

"I think I%m quite organized. I like my documents and papers in a way where I canretrie#e them quickly. I also organize my work in a way where it%s easy to see e&actlywhat I%m doing."

"9rganization has always come easy to me. I naturally organize things like my desk,time, assignments, and work without thinking about them. his helps me tremendouslyduring times when I%m approaching a deadline."

Long Answer

"I%m actually a #ery organized person. It%s funny that you mention this because !ust theother day, my roommate wanted to borrow my suitcase and saw my closet. 1e made funof me for organizing my clothes by length and color. I%m like that with e#erything. It%s!ust so much easier to manage things. 1owe#er, I%m not picky and don%t need to ha#ethings in a certain way. I !ust want things to be organized. o yes, I consider myselforganized."

his e&ample should only be done if you are confident with your communicationabilities. If you appear awkward or if you sound like you are reading this type of answer,it could ha#e a negati#e effect. Instead, you should make a generic answer if you areuncomfortable with this type of answer.

11."In what ways are you organi/e( an( (isorgani/e("

his is another #ariation to the pre#ious question. his question is a little better becausethe question wants you to identify an area you are disorganized. Make sure to emphasizethe organized portion of the answer. If you are truly an organized person, then it is reallytough thinking about an area you are disorganized. o thinking ahead of time will allow

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you to make a good impression with a solid answer.

Short Answers

"I%m #ery organized with my time and work, but my desk is a little disorganized."

"ince I work with many files, I like to keep my desk organized. I always ha#ee#erything in a certain place so I can find things easier. he area I%m disorganized isprobably my computer desktop. I usually ha#e so many icons e#erywhere. I shouldorganize it a little, but I%#e ne#er needed to."

"I organize my schedule the best. I%m used to many meetings so it%s important for me tobe organized with my schedule and time. he area I need to impro#e is probably my filecabinet. I started to sort things alphabetically, but when I%m busy, I start putting things inthere. It started getting hard to find things, but this is something I%m going to fi&."

Long Answer

"9h6 that%s a good question. 'ell, I%m organized in almost e#erything I do. I%m #eryorganized with my schedule and time. I like to work efficiently, and being organized withmy time helps me. he area I feel I%m disorganized is probably my desk. I like to workfast and don%t keep my desk area as tidy as some people I know. his howe#er doesn%tpre#ent me from doing my !ob well. You know some people can ha#e files and paper allo#er their desk but some how know e&actly where e#erything is located. I think I%m oneof those people. 1owe#er, if I know I%m ha#ing a client or a guest, then I woulddefinitely make things more tidy."

his answer brings a little humor to the question. It lightens the mood and makes aperson seem real instead of appearing to be perfect. 1owe#er, if the !ob you are applyingfor requires constant customer interaction, then this answer will not be good. his answerwould be better for an office !ob where not many people will see your desk.

1."0o you manage your time well""In what ways (o you manage your time well"

he first question is a little easier. he second question is more difficult because itrequires an e&ample. I%m going to gi#e an e&ample for the second question and youshould be able to use it for the first question as well.

Short Answer

"I know I manage my time well because I%m ne#er late to work, and I%#e ne#er missed adeadline."

"I%m good at managing my time. I stay busy both at home and at work and being able tomanage my time is necessary for me to do e#erything that I want to do."

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"I manage my time well by planning out what I ha#e to do for the whole week. It keepsme on track and e#ens helps me to be more efficient."

Long Answer

"Managing my time is one of my strong traits. I prioritize my tasks and this allows me tostay ahead of schedule. ach day I manage my time so I can achie#e more than I set outto do. o managing my time in a goal oriented way is what I feel #ery comfortabledoing."

1#."ow (o you han(le change""Are you goo( at (ealing with change"

5ealing with change is common in the work place. ( simple yes will not be sufficient toimpress the inter#iewer. his is another type of question where e#eryone will ha#e

similar answers. 9f course e#eryone is going to claim being e&cellent dealing withchange. You got to communicate that you are really good at dealing with change. 1ereare some e&amples for you.

Short Answers

"I%m good at dealing with change because I%m a quick thinker. If new information makesus change our marketing strategy for e&ample, I%ll be quick to analyze the informationand create a plan to make the changes."

"I%#e e&perienced many changes pre#iously. I handle the situation by quickly coming upto speed on the changes and applying myself to make them a success."

"I%m good at dealing with change because I%m fle&ible with my work and abilities. I%mnot afraid of learning new and difficult things. 'hene#er I%m faced with a change, I%llput in e&tra effort to make the change a smooth transition."

"I handle changes smoothly. 'hene#er there%s a change of any sort, I analyze thesituation and I always try to find ways I can contribute to the change in a positi#e way."

Long Answer

"I belie#e dealing with change is a requirement in the workplace. he mission statementcan change to introduce a new market segment, or the company might need to changedirection. 'hate#er it is, as a member of this team, I would be e&pected to do my shareby absorbing the new information, analyzing it thoroughly, sharing my ideas, and reallybeing a #alued team member. 5ealing with change is a necessary trait. I think I%m alsogood at anticipating change by being attenti#e and obser#ant."

9#erall, this is a good answer. he last statement is a bold statement of being able to


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anticipate change. If the inter#iewer is impressed, they might follow up by asking for ane&ample of how you anticipate change. If you use an answer like I pro#ided, make sureyou ha#e an e&ample. If you don%t ha#e one, then the answer you ga#e will be seen as alie and you probably failed.

1%."ow (o you ma$e im*ortant (ecisions"here are many ways to answer this question, and if you ha#e a reasonable method ofmaking decisions, it will probably be sufficient. 9ne answer I thought of included notbeing afraid of asking your manager. You can follow up by saying e#en the best needsmentoring, and you always want to impro#e. o basically, this could work as an answer,but depending on the !ob, you might ha#e a better shot with an answer like my e&ample.

Short Answers

"I make important decisions by e&amining all the details and then weighing the pro%s andcon%s for each decision."

"I gather all the information I can find and based on the information, I%ll come to the bestdecision I can. If I know a coworker was in a similar situation, I wouldn%t hesitate to findout the results to make sure my decision is the best one."

"I belie#e all decisions should be made by ha#ing all the information. If you are missingan important detail, it%s easy to make a bad decision. o I make important decisions byha#ing all of the information."

"Important decisions are made by knowledge through information and wisdom throughe&perience. I%ll gather all the information I can find and then apply my e&perience whileanalyzing the information. 'ith this combination, I%m confident I%ll make the correctimportant decisions."

Long Answer

"I think all decisions are important, and ha#ing as much information about the decision isone of the most important aspects. (fter e&amining all the facts, I would think about theoutcome and consequences of each action and after weighing the pro%s and con%s, I wouldcome to the best decision possible. 1owe#er, I%m aware that some decisions are not asblack and white. In this situation, I would rely on my e&perience, or e#en work with myteam members to come up with the best decision."

his is a decent answer, but I think you might be able to think of a better one. -eel free tobe creati#e with your answers because those are the answers the inter#iewer willremember the most.

1&."0o you wor$ well un(er *ressure"

In most cases, the best answer to this question is answering yes. 'orking well under

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pressure is a good trait to ha#e. 1owe#er, I think if you answer that you work the samewith pressure and without pressure, the inter#iewer will be more impressed. 1owe#er,you will need to e&plain in words why this is better. 1ere are some of my answers.

Short Answers

"I work well under pressure because I use the pressure to help me work more efficiently."

"I en!oy working under pressure because I belie#e it helps me grow. In my pre#iouse&perience, I always worked well during deadlines, and I always learned how to workmore efficiently afterwards."

"I work well under pressure because I don%t panic. I maintain self control and work asefficiently as possible. In all my e&periences, I did well and I always en!oyed thee&perience."

"5uring times of pressure, I try to prioritize and plan as much as I can. (fter I%morganized, I really !ust put my head down and work hard in a smart way. I don%t let thepressure affect me. o I belie#e I work well under pressure."

Long Answers

"o tell you the truth, I think I work the same if there%s pressure or if there%s no pressure.I try and take out negati#e emotional factors and work hard regardless of down time orbusy time. I always prioritize and organize my work, and from there, work efficiently. Ifthe situation in#ol#ed pressure due to a lack of time, then the only difference in my workwould be the e&tra time I would need to put in to meet the deadline on time. ince Ibelie#e my normal work is great work, then I suppose I work well under pressure."

I like this answer because it is different than the standard answer. If you are notcomfortable with this answer, then you can use the ne&t one.

"I ha#e a couple of friends who hate working under pressure. I don%t know if it%s odd, butI really en!oy working under pressure. I use the feelings of pressure as a tool to moti#ateme to work harder and more efficiently. In my last !ob, I remember we had a pro!ect tocomplete in 4 days where it usually took ? days. here was a lot of panic by some teammembers, but I ensured e#eryone that if we concentrate on the task and work real hard,we can complete the pro!ect. It took a lot of o#ertime, and the last day we were in theoffice until two (M, but we managed to finish. It was hard work, but I really en!oyed thate&perience."

You might not ha#e e&perienced this e&ample before, but what is pre#enting you frommaking something up= o tell you the truth, I ne#er e&perienced it before either. hereare some things you shouldn%t lie about because they can find out about it such as your@A( or what school you attended, but a story such as the one I included abo#e cannot be

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#erified by the inter#iewer. he only thing you ha#e to be careful about is being able toanswer follow up questions.

1'."!hich category (o you fall un(er A *erson who antici*ates a *roblem well+ ora *erson who reacts to a *roblem well"

his is a tough question because both options look pretty good. My recommendationwould be to answer depending on the position you are applying for. -or e&ample, if youare applying for a type of analyst or upper management position, then anticipating aproblem would be more useful. 1owe#er, if you are applying to be a nurse for a hospitalemergency room, then reacting to a problem well is stronger.

Short Answers

"I think it%s good to be good at both. But in my e&perience, I realized I react to problemsbetter. 'hene#er I%m faced with a new problem, I know what steps to take to deal with

the problem."

"I belie#e I%m strong in both, but I try to work more on anticipating problems. In thisprofession, it%s #ery important to anticipate a problem and fi& it before it becomes a realproblem."

"I%m #ery obser#ant and aware of what%s going on, so I%m stronger at anticipatingproblems."

"I%m good at dealing with problems, so I%m a person who reacts to a problem well."

Long Answers

"I feel I react to problems well, but I%m much stronger at anticipating them. I%m a type ofperson that pays attention to detail, inconsistencies, and subtle signs. Basically, I want tofind a potential problem and put measures in place to correct it before it happens. It%sinteresting to see how the people who deal with problems get rewarded for resol#ing theissue. 'hat about the people who put the fire out before it e#en started= o anticipatingproblems before it happens is what I%#e always done and I belie#e it%s important in anywork en#ironment."

"Being a nurse requires many skills. 9ne of the important traits is to be able to react toproblems well. 3eacting to a problem well requires the ability for quick thinking, abilityto think of all the options a#ailable, and maintaining self control in hectic times. In myspare time, I e#en think about creati#e problems that might come up. ince a problem canarise at any time and in any form, I try to be as creati#e as I can and I walk through thesituation as if I%m dealing with the problem. o this has helped me to become #ery goodat reacting to problems."

he answer gets stronger with e&amples, so if you ha#e e&perienced something that you

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can e&plain, feel free to use include it in the answer. (lso, if you are unsure about how tosay it, remember that you can ask us.

1)."Are you a ris$ ta$er or (o you li$e to stay away from ris$s"

his also depends on the position. But in most cases, I belie#e someone who likes to takerisks is a better candidate. If you choose to answer saying you are a risk taker, you shouldinclude why and how you take risks.

Short Answers

"I consider myself to be in the middle, but if I were to choose from my past e&perience, Iwould think I would call myself a careful risk taker."

"I%m reliable and belie#e in stability and guarantees. My work will be based on factswithout assumptions or guesses, so I tend to stay away from risks."

"I think it%s important to take some risks. I keep the options open and if the reward!ustifies the risks, I would definitely try. o I%m more of a risk taker."

"I take risks because through planning and working smart, it%s possible to reduce some ofthe risk. o if there%s a reasonable chance of success, I would take the opportunity."

Long Answer

"I see myself as a risk taker. But before taking the risk, I always e#aluate all otheroptions, weigh the pro%s and con%s of success and failure, and after careful consideration,I would definitely take a risk if the rewards were high enough. I #iew staying away fromrisks similar to staying away from a gold mine surrounded by dynamite. 9f course if youdon%t know what triggers the dynamite, it would be unwise to take that risk. But if youstudy the situation and know the location of all dynamite and the way they are triggered,then the risk is minimized. ome people would not e&plore the options to reduce the risk,but I would definitely study each situation and take a risk that would impro#e mypersonal or company%s situation."

You don%t ha#e to use the dynamite e&ample. You can think of any other e&ample. But Iused this to clearly e&plain what I feel about taking risks. ;ot only did I choose to be arisk taker, but I also e&plained how and when I would take risks.

1,."!hy shoul( I hire you"

I don%t know if this is a common question, but I heard many people use this question. Inall the inter#iews I%#e been through, I ne#er recei#ed this question, nor did I ask thisquestion in any inter#iews I ga#e. But, there are a lot of people asking this question, sopreparing for it is a must. o answer this question, you need to know e&actly what theyare looking for. 'ith this information, tie it in with your strong traits. his will #erify

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that you are completely qualified for the !ob. econd and more importantly, you need tostand out more than the other people inter#iewing for this position. I will gi#e twoe&amples for the long answers, one for a person with a lot of e&perience, and the other fora recent college graduate.

Short Answers

"I%m a perfect fit for this position. I ha#e the e&perience and the traits you are looking for.9n top of that, I%m a great team player that gets a long with e#eryone."

"I should be hired because I%m efficient, smart, and friendly. I%m great at sol#ingproblems and lo#e challenges. Most importantly, I%m dependable and reliable."

"here are two reasons I should be hired. -irst, my qualifications match your needsperfectly. econd, I%m e&cited and passionate about this industry and will always gi#e??."

"You should hire me because I%m confident and I%ll do the best !ob. I ha#e a pro#en trackrecord of success starting from high school until now. I%m responsible and smart.his position requires someone that will work well without super#ision. I know how tomanage my time and organize my work well. o, I%m confident I%ll be the best candidatefor this position."

Long Answers

"his position is for a quality assurance manager, I%m confident I%m the best person forthis !ob because of my past e&perience. (t (BC oftware Company, I was in charge of ateam that was responsible for the quality of three different applications. I ha#e intimateknowledge of quality assurance, product support, and e#en some creati#e processes thatwill benefit a quality assurance team. I%#e built a team from scratch and fully understandthe product de#elopment cycle. -inally, one of my traits is in de#eloping and mentoring!unior employees. I belie#e in transferring knowledge to e#eryone in the company andin#esting a little more effort into the people who work for me. o I strongly belie#e thatI%ll be the best candidate due to the combination of my e&perience, my managerial skills,and my desire to pro#ide growth in employees."

"he reason I applied for this position is because the qualifications matched my strengthsperfectly. I%m good at !uggling multiple tasks, I%m #ery detail oriented, and I organize mytime #ery efficiently. But the truth is that many people ha#e these traits. But if I were inyour position, I would hire myself because of the passion I ha#e for this industry, and myoptimistic personality. My education background and my strengths show that I can dothis !ob. But I want to make more of an impact than !ust doing my !ob. I don%t want toblend in with the company, I would rather want my addition to impro#e it."

he first answer is using e&perience and skills to con#ince the inter#iewer to hire him orher. In addition to talking about past e&periences, this e&ample also emphasizes the

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strong ability to mentor people. he second e&ample is more on the personal le#el anddefinitely more creati#e. #eryone one will claim to ha#e all the good traits. o thiscandidate says it by saying, "6 the truth is that many people ha#e these traits." 9n top ofthese traits, this candidate is including passion and e&citement. his is #ery importantduring inter#iews. -inally, the last sentence is a good line that the inter#iewer will

remember. It is creati#e and bold.

1-.Tell me about Q2s... 3 Tell me about a time you ma(e a mista$e.

4Tell me about56type of questions are #ery popular. It is more effecti#e because it isasking for an answer that comes from e&perience. If you don%t ha#e a particulare&perience in one of the questions below, make one up. You should prepare ahead oftime because you don%t want to make up a story during the inter#iew. It will be too hardto sound belie#able. -inally, you should know that some questions will not be asked tocertain !ob types. -or e&ample, if you are not in a management position, you probablywon%t be asked how you sa#ed the company money. 9r if you are not in sales, you won%t

be asked about making a great sale.

hese types of answers are usually long because it is e&plaining an e&perience. If youwant the inter#iewer to understand the significance of your story, they will need tounderstand it. o all my e&amples will be a little longer than regular inter#iew questions.-inally, a lot of these are my own e&periences. I encourage you to think back to youre&perience and create one. I%m pro#iding my answers so you can see the structure andlearn from my answers.

"Tell me about a time you ma(e a mista$e."

he best answer for this question in#ol#es learning something from a mistake. If you areha#ing difficulty thinking about a mistake you made that will be an effecti#e answer, tryto think of a lesson you learned that impro#ed a good trait. Making a mistake is not good,but since you ha#e to tell them something, you should tell them something that makesyou look good. -or an e&ample, let%s create a scenario where you learned how to besomeone who anticipates problems.

Short Answer

"I was gi#en a pro!ect to complete in a week. I understood the pro!ect, but Imisinterpreted one section. (fter completing the pro!ect, I was told by my manager that itwas done incorrectly. I really made a mistake by assuming incorrectly in one of thesections instead of asking for clarification. I learned not to assume through the mistake Imade."

Long Answer

"I had a pro!ect I was working on, and while I was in the middle of typing up mydocumentation, my computer started acting weird. It froze for a while and so I rebooted.

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(fter ? minutes, the computer showed a blue screen saying that there were problemsand recommended that I reboot the computer again. (fter another reboot, e#erythingappeared to be ok. I continued my work and finished for the day. I spent two days on thisassignment and when I went to retrie#e my data the ne&t day to double check my work,my computer wouldn%t start up. ( technician came and found that my hard dri#e

malfunctioned. I lost all the data and lost two days of work. I was disappointed andthought I would ne#er trust a computer again, but there was a great lesson to be learned. Ihad a couple of warnings and I ignored them. -rom then on, I practiced being someonewho can anticipate problems. I now think of potential problems ahead of time and payattention to details along the way. If I applied this sooner, I would ha#e sa#ed the data onanother computer and I wouldn%t ha#e lost a couple days of work. But I can%t say I regretmaking the mistake because it made me someone who can anticipate problems better."

his is a minor mistake, and you can say it is really the computer%s fault. But this is agood e&ample because I wasn%t really at fault. he computer was. But this e&ample iswording it so it looks like the person%s fault and it e&plains how a great lesson was

learned. In the end, this candidate became a better person through this mistake. *earningfrom a mistake is probably the key point here, and this e&ample demonstrates that.

."Tell me about a time you ma(e a goo( (ecision.""Tell me about a time you foun( a solution to a *roblem."

his is a little easier than thinking about a mistake. You should make sure to include whyit was a good decision and the result should be ob#iously meaningful. I also want to usethis as an e&ample of answering multiple questions. I would use this same answer foreither of the two questions abo#e. It was a good decision, and I fond a solution to aproblem. Areparing for e#ery inter#iew question in the world will be too much work.hink of key e&periences and apply them to multiple answers. In the case where it is thesame inter#iewer, then you might be forced to think of a new answer. o it might be goodto think of couple of answers.

Short Answer

"5uring my last pro!ect, we ran into a difficult problem. his was high priority soe#eryone was instructed to find a solution. I started looking for more information on theInternet, I e#en talked to a different manager on a different team. his helpedtremendously and our problem was sol#ed. I made a decision to use e#ery resource Icould find, and in the end, it sol#ed the problem."

Long Answer

"In my last position at Microsoft, there was a time period where our group was going toslip reaching our milestone by one day. his was because the day before e&iting the thirdmilestone, we found a problem in the program. ince we created a new build with all bugfi&es each morning, we had two choices. 'e could either fi& the problem and #erify theprogram the ne&t day after we build again, or we could postpone the problem and fi& it in


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the ne&t milestone. Both options didn%t sound #ery appealing. I suggested fi&ing theprogram now, and perform another build to #erify the fi& instead of waiting fortomorrow. Many times people are used to following a process, but in this case, Ichallenged the process of building in the morning and requested another build to #erifythe last bug fi&. In the end, we were able to complete milestone + on time and fi&ed the

important problem. his was significant because if we didn%t e&it milestone +, thene#eryone waiting to start work on the ne&t milestone would ha#e to wait another day. Inessence, this sa#ed a days work for more than +? people."

-or this e&ample, I was careful not to use too many technical !argons that might not beunderstood. I also e&plained the situation carefully and e&plained why the decision was agood one. 3emember that some of these answers will not work for you. In this case, ifyou ne#er worked at Microsoft and ne#er e&perienced this, !ust follow the steps of statingthe problem, e&plaining the choices, why you made the decision, and finally why it was agood decision.

1."Tell me about a time you ma(e a *oor (ecision."

his question is similar to the mistake question. o first, let%s think about what lesson wewant to learn. ( common mistake is when people make assumptions. I%ll gi#e an e&amplewhere a poor decision was made due to making a bad assumption. he answer will alsoinclude what was learned and how the poor decision was used as a tool to become abetter worker.

Short Answer

"'hen I was doing an audit for a small company, there was a problem with one of theaccounts. I tried to contact the company to ask questions, but they were not there. I madethe decision to keep looking for the answer. -our hours later, they returned my call and Irealized it was a simple typo. I wasted 4 hours of my day. In this case, I was too sensiti#eabout detail. o I learned how not to be so detailed and picky."

Long Answer

"In my first month working at iffany%s selling !ewelry, I made a poor decision bymaking an assumption. ( person buying an engagement diamond wanted to see somerings. It%s not polite to immediately ask for a price range, so I showed the person a #arietyof rings. 1e pointed to a ring that was about twel#e thousand dollars. he diamond ringhe pointed to was one of the more e&pensi#e ones I showed him. ager to sell him thering, I e&plained the quality of the ring, e&plained our satisfaction guarantee policy tohim, and made sure he was comfortable with making a purchase at iffany%s. 1e boughtthe ring, and I thought I made a great sell. 1owe#er, it turns out that on my day off, hecame in and e&changed the ring for one that was twenty fi#e thousand dollars. It was oneof the rings that I didn%t show him. o basically, I made a bad decision on selling himwhat he first pointed out instead of showing him more options. I assumed that the initialring he selected was the price range he was looking for. I ne#er made that mistake again

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and I learned that I shouldn%t assume so much."

his e&ample is geared towards sales, but like I said earlier, make sure to clearly e&plainthe situation, identify the decisions, e&plain why it was a bad decision, and mostimportantly what you learned by making a poor decision.

."Tell me about a time you fire( someone."

-iring someone is a difficult task. )sually you will not be asked this question unless it isfor a management position. You should emphasize a couple of key things when youanswer this question. -irst, you should be #ery professional about firing someone.econd, you should mention the procedures you took so the action of firing is !ustified.I%ll gi#e an e&ample for someone who has ne#er fired someone and an e&ample forha#ing fired someone.

Short Answers

"In my last position, I had four people reporting to me. 9ne of my direct reports failed toshow up on time, complete assignments, and really didn%t care about the work. I tried toencourage the employee, assign different types of work to him, and e#en sat down andshowed him how to do things. (fter 0 months of trying, I had to let him go."

"9ur company was down sizing and I had to let two people go. It%s easier when a persondoes a terrible !ob, but if e#eryone is doing there !ob, it%s more difficult. I had to selectthe bottom two performers and e&plained why they were being let go."

Long Answers

"5uring my second year as a manager, I had to fire one of my directs. I can%t say it was adifficult task because not only did he not do his !ob well, he didn%t want to try. Initially,we put him on probation monitoring his work, we tried to gi#e him different types ofwork that he might do better at, and we e#en assigned a mentor to him. 1owe#er, e#enthrough all this, he was a weak performer. I consulted with other management membersand we all agreed it was best for the company to let him go. I got together with an 13representati#e and told him that he no longer has a !ob here. 1e wasn%t surprised at all.1e !ust picked up his things and left."

"I%#e ne#er had to fire somebody yet. I belie#e that a manager should mentor and lead allteam members to be a solid performer. But I know that there are some people who can%tor won%t perform despite management%s best effort. o in that case, I would ha#e to letsomeone go in a professional manner following the procedures set by the company."

Both of these are good answers. hey mention that a manager should take actions tomake the worker better, but sometimes turning something bad to something good isimpossible, so the only action is to fire someone. he person with e&perience outlines thesteps taken. -or e&ample, the probation, assigning different work, pro#iding a mentor,

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etc. hen in the end he was fired. he second e&ample shows despite e&perience, that heor she would fire someone in a professional manner following procedure.

#."Tell me about a time you hire( someone."

If you hired somebody before, you know you could ha#e hired someone great, orsomeone bad. If you ha#e both e&periences, you can ask if they want to hear a bad hiree&perience or a good hire e&perience. ometimes the question will be, tell me about thetime you made a bad hire. In that case, then you don%t ha#e to ask. I%ll gi#e an e&ample ofa good hire and a bad hire.

Short Answers

"I found a resume on the Internet that was a perfect match for one of our open positions. Icontacted the person and we talked for about ? minutes. 5uring that call, I e&plainedwhy our company was a great place to work and the opportunities we offered. (fter a

couple more calls, he agreed to come in for an inter#iew and we made an offer. 1ebecame a great employee."

"I recei#ed a resume but it didn%t ha#e all our requirements. I initially thought she wasn%ta fit, but after looking o#er the education background and the pre#ious work e&perience, Ithought this person would ha#e more potential than other candidates. (fter inter#iewingher, we e&tended an offer. he was a quick learner and performed at an e&ceptional le#el.ometimes it%s important to see potential and in this instance, it was a great hire."

Long Answers

"In the last company I worked for, we had a recruiting team. hey go through all resumesand submit the ones that would be a good fit for a particular team. I recei#ed a resumeand after looking it o#er, I was quite impressed. I called him for a phone inter#iew andafter that we scheduled a full inter#iew. 1e aced almost e#ery question gi#en to him by 2different inter#iewers. 'e made a reasonable and fair offer. 1e mentioned that he wasconsidering another company. I called him to touch bases with him and reiterated theopportunities, the great en#ironment here, and ultimately that we all looked forward toha#ing him !oin our team. I tried to make the phone call more personal and warm to showhim that our group was a place to be comfortable. 1e !oined our team and became one ofour strongest performers. It took a little e&tra work, but it%s important to take e&tra stepswhen you see someone who is going to be great."

"I had one bad e&perience when hiring someone. I remember I was following proceduresand #erifying e#erything I could from past e&perience, checking communication skills,personality, work ethic, technical skills, and some tough logic problems. 'e e#en had 4different people inter#iewing this candidate. #erything looked great. But when theperson started, he had a hard time understanding new concepts. I originally thought it wasbecause he was new and had to ramp up on many things, but as months past by, thisemployee was still unable to work alone. 1e always had to ask how to do e#en simple

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tasks. I remember going through his resume and looking o#er his background and e#enthinking about where we missed this flaw in the inter#iew. )sing this same inter#iewingprocedure, we hired many great people. But this one turned out a little sour."

he first question is straight forward. his person took it one step farther by making a

phone call and encouraging the candidate to !oin his team. But the second answer is ane&ample of doing e#erything right, but seeing bad results. You can use something likethis, but if you do, you must think of follow up questions such as, "what did you do tothis employee= 'hat happened in the long run= 5id you end up firing this person=" But Irecommend you think of a situation that you personally e&perienced. hen you cananswer all follow up questions easily. But if you ne#er hired anyone before, then simplysay that. It shouldn%t hurt unless it is for a recruiting position.

%."Tell me about a time you faile( to com*lete an assignment on time."

If you are a good worker, then you probably ha#en%t failed to complete an assignment on

time. But if you ha#e a lot of e&perience, you might ha#e some situations where e&ternalfactors caused you to miss a deadline. his is what my e&ample will be about. But if youha#e an e&ample where you failed to complete an assignment, make sure you gi#e clearreasons why you failed and what you learned from it. (lso, if you can%t think of any, thenuse an e&ample from your uni#ersity days stating. But if you do, make sure you tell themthat so far in your !ob e&perience, you completed all assignments on time or ahead ofschedule.

Short Answer

"9ne time, I had a pro!ect that was due on uesday. 9n -riday I analyzed our progressand I was ahead of schedule. I didn%t ha#e to work o#er the weekend to complete theassignment. 9n Monday, my manager was sick so I had to attend se#eral meetings thattook all day. Because of that, I didn%t complete my assignment until 'ednesday. ;ow, Itry to finish my assignments a day or half a day early because something une&pectedcould come up."

Long Answer

"'ith proper planning and good e&ecution, I think it%s hard to fail at meeting a deadline.But I remember one time in the middle of the pro!ect, our clients wanted to change oneaspect of the assignment that we already completed. I analyzed the change request andtold them that we wouldn%t be able to make the date. I estimated that it will take threeadditional days. hey insisted that we finish on the agreed upon time schedule. I toldthem we%d try but could not promise anything. #en with hard work and o#ertime, wemissed the due date. 'e did howe#er, finish one day late. In this situation where I didn%tfeel we could reach the deadline, I specifically told them that we couldn%t, I continuallysent updates on the progress to keep the clients informed. ince we missed the deadline,they were not too happy, but o#erall they were satisfied because I effecti#elycommunicated the progress regularly."

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I like this answer because they want a situation that should make you look bad. Instead,you ga#e them a scenario where you failed to complete an assignment, but really itwasn%t your fault. In the end, this answer makes you look good because you dide#erything right from communicating properly, gi#ing them a new time frame, and

reaching the goal two days ahead of schedule despite missing the original date by one.But !ust in case they ask what you could ha#e done better, you can say something like, "Ifeel I should ha#e been more firm with the three additional days I requested. I like tomeet difficult deadlines, but I knew the additional work was too large to finish on time."

&."Tell me about a time you foun( a solution to save the com*any money."

his question is also for a management le#el position. If you are not in management, thenyou probably won%t face this question. But !ust in case, here are a couple of answers. Ifyou are not in a position to sa#e the company money, then you could think of somethingsmall.

Short Answer

"1mmm6 I wasn%t really in any position to sa#e the company money, but I ha#e onesmall e&ample. 'hen we were a smaller company, we didn%t get a significant corporatediscount on our hardware. (fter we grew in size, we qualified for the larger discount, butnobody realized that we now met the quota. I pointed this out and we started sa#ing 2more on our hardware."

Long Answer

"'e were outsourcing a portion of our work to a +rd party company. 'e had two phasesfor this pro!ect. (fter the first phase, I was gi#en the task to complete the work becausethe original worker responsible for this pro!ect left our group. I quickly got up to speedon the details of the work. I analyzed the information and realized that one portion of thework gi#en to them could%#e been done by our group because we already had theinfrastructure in place. o I only spent half a day to set this up and in turn, we werecharged +2 less for the second phase from the first one."

his is a simple story of an e&perience. It doesn%t include e#ery detail on the type of workthat was outsourced, or what I specifically did during the half days of work. If theychoose to ask this, then I will be prepared to answer it, but this answer gi#es enoughdetails to allow the inter#iewer to understand how you contributed in sa#ing the companymoney. (lso, depending on the field of work, answers will #ary. If your !ob specificallyo#ersees the finance, then it is probably important to think of a much better answerspecifically for that position. hink of some scenarios, write them down, and feel free toask us if the grammar is correct.

'."Tell me about a time you aime( too high."

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his is another question where you can turn this answer into a good e&perience. I amgoing to be using the answer as the one where you failed to complete an assignment ontime. his is good practice to use a similar answer by changing only a few sentences toanswer another tough inter#iew question. But first, I%ll gi#e an e&ample of a differentshort answer.

Short Answer

"'e had a new pro!ect that I was interested in. #en though I was busy, I #olunteered totake on the assignment. I had to work so much more. (lthough I managed to completethe assignment, it really burned me out. I feel I aimed too high and I would ha#ebenefited by doing a better !ob on my current assignments instead of wanting morechallenges."

Long Answer

"I belie#e aiming high is a good practice. (iming high keeps me focused and forces meto grow by trying to reach high goals I ha#e set for myself. But I know there are timeswhere aiming too high is not good. -or e&ample, one time in the middle of the pro!ect,our clients wanted to change one aspect of the assignment that we already completed. Ianalyzed the change request and told them that we will not be able to make the date. Iestimated that it will take three additional days. hey insisted that we finish on the agreedupon time schedule. I told them we would try but we could not promise anything. #enwith hard work and o#ertime, we missed the due date. 'e did howe#er, finish one daylater. I challenged myself to complete on time, but with the large change request, it wastoo high of a goal to reach. In this case, I really aimed too high. I should ha#e been morefirm telling them that we will need a few more days."

his is a similar e&perience we already used, but you changed the beginning and the endto tailor it to this question. 3emember that you can use one answer for multiple questions.his answer should make you look good instead of looking like you made a terriblemistake.

)."Tell me about a time you aime( too low."

I ha#e ne#er been in sales, but the e&ample answer I want to gi#e is an e&ample ofanswering the question while displaying good traits. 3emember to be clear whene&plaining your e&perience and don%t assume that they will understand e#erything. Youshould e&plain it step by step.

Short Answer

"here was a new pro!ect that I was interested in. Because I had other responsibilities, Ididn%t #olunteer. I wasn%t too busy, but I was worried I wouldn%t complete the assignmenton time. I realized I missed a wonderful opportunity because I aimed too low."

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Long Answer

"'hen I was selling cell phones for Derizon 'ireless, I had a great month where Ireached the quota in !ust two weeks. My goal is to always break quota by more than ?percent, and this month, I new it was going to be easy. I scheduled to take a week off to

rela&, and at the end of the month I surpassed the quota by +. I had an opportunity tobreak the location%s record, but I didn%t !ump on the opportunity. I was basically thinkingthat ha#ing achie#ed my original goal of ? was sufficient. But I think whenopportunities arise, I should be fle&ible and willing to change my goal. I aimed too lowand I missed a rare opportunity."

his is not a bad mistake. You can say you were burned out, or needed to take some timeoff, or wanted to re!u#enate yourself. his answer doesn%t show a failure, but shows agreat success. In this e&ample, aiming too low resulted in great numbers and great resultsat the end of the month, so there is no harm done. In the end you are indicating that youcould ha#e done e#en better, that you are willing to re/e#aluate your goals, and that you

are now able to see and !ump on opportunities.

,."Tell me about a time you ma(e a great sale."

his is similar to the question, "what does it mean to make a great sale=" You can changethe words a little and use the answer for both questions. he key to this answer ise&plaining what it means to make a great sale, and then gi#ing a good e&ample of a greatsale that you made.

Short Answer

"I had a customer come in that was a little rude. 1e had many questions and cut me off#ery frequently. I stayed patient and e&plained e#erything to his satisfaction. 1e ended uprepresenting a medium sized business that required a large order. I feel this was a greatsale because I treated this customer with respect and patience."

Long Answer

"Making a great sale can be measured by how much the company made, but I thinkmaking a great sale is how satisfied the customer is. ( satisfied customer will return andcontinue to be a #alued customer, so it%s important to make sure that the customer issatisfied. 9ne day, a customer was debating on two different types of watches. 9ne wasE0?? and the other was E4??. his was a huge difference. I belie#e I could ha#e soldhim the E0?? watch, but instead, I laid out all the pro%s and con%s for him, and askedhim questions to find out the purpose of the watch, if it was for casual wear or formalwear, and e#entually helped him realize e&actly what he was looking for. 1e ended upbuying the E4?? watch. ome people might think that was not a great sale, but I felt as asalesman and a person representing the company that I did a great !ob in satisfying thiscustomer. In the ne&t couple of years while I was working there, he came and boughtmany more items and had other friends come in to buy more products. I can confidently

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School 7elate( Interview Questions:

1."!hat e8tracurricular activities were you involve( in"

If you don%t ha#e any work e&perience, then a company wants to know what e&tra

acti#ities you did in school to see if you are acti#e. It is best to list a couple of thingsdescribing what the group is and what role you had in the group. If you were not a part ofany group, it might be ok to make something up. It is hard to #erify this so they will notfind out. But it could back fire, if the inter#iewer happened to be in the same group at thesame uni#ersity.

Short Answers

"I was in#ol#ed in our school newspaper. I was one of the writers for three years."

"I was #ery acti#e in our uni#ersity politics. In my senior year, I was the #ice president of

the )ni#ersity."

"Besides studying, I played baseball for our school. I really like to study and to stayphysically acti#e."

"I was in#ol#ed with a group that helped awareness of en#ironmental problems such aspollution. I was on a team that educated people about dri#ing alternati#es such as busesand carpooling."

Long Answer

"I was #ery acti#e in the uni#ersity magazine committee. I was a member of that groupfor four years. I helped write articles about e#ents occurring in school. In my senior year,I was the editor and did less writing and more managing in regards to the magazinestructure, what contents to add, and distributing work among the !unior members of thegroup. I really en!oyed my e&perience there and learned about working closely togetheras a group to deli#er a quality magazine."

If you don%t ha#e work e&perience, then you will need to say something to show themthat you learned some #aluable lessons such as team work. I suggest you to reflect onwhat you did during school and create a list of what you learned.

."!hy (i( you choose your ma9or""!hy (i( you choose to ma9or in istory"

If you are a computer science ma!or inter#iewing for a computer position, then they willnot ask you this question. But if you are an nglish *iterature ma!or and inter#iew for acomputer position, then they might want to know why you chose to ma!or in nglish*iterature. o create an answer for nglish *iterature, you can say things learning to be abetter communicator, ha#ing better reading comprehension, and say how skills learned

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from nglish *iterature can be applied towards many fields. But something like 1istoryis different. )nless you are going to be a 1istorian, it%s hard to !ustify how your ma!or isgoing to help you in your !ob.

Short Answers

"I ma!ored in 1istory because I en!oyed learning about the past. I always try to apply myhistory knowledge in many things I do. his knowledge allowed me to study manydifferent e&periences."

"I ma!ored in nglish because it was a ma!or that would make me more skilled inreading, writing, and communicating. I belie#e nglish is a tool that is used e#erywhere,so I thought it was the best ma!or for me."

"I ma!ored in Asychology because I was interested in seeing how the mind works. I alsofound it useful because it helped me to work with people better by understanding

differences in e#eryone."

"I ma!ored in Biology because I initially wanted to go to med school. (lthough I decidednot to go to med school, I still wanted to complete my bachelor%s degree."

Long Answer

"I ma!ored in 1istory because I always had a strong interest in historical facts. I grew up#ery close to history and chose this ma!or because I really en!oyed the sub!ect. I plannedon becoming a high school history teacher or e#en a professor, but then I started to getinto computers. It%s totally different from history but it really fascinated me. ;ow, insteadof looking in the past, I%m always looking into the future through all the technologicalchanges."

It doesn%t connect the ma!or to the !ob but at least it gi#es an e&planation. It%s not bad tosay you ma!ored in something because you liked the sub!ect. he only bad answer is tosay you didn%t know what else to do and you couldn%t get into a better department.

#."If you re(o college again+ what woul( you ma9or in"

I already e&plained this a little in another question about restarting your career. You canuse the same answer here if you want, but I will gi#e one more e&ample of not changingyour ma!or in the long answer section.

Short Answers

"I didn%t realize I was so interested in computers until I graduated college. o if I couldselect a different ma!or, I would ma!or in Computer cience."

"I liked the fact I completed my degree in nglish. But if I could redo college again, I

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would like to double ma!or in nglish and Business."

"I would liked to ha#e ma!ored in ngineering. I ha#e a strong interest in hardware so Ibelie#e ngineering would ha#e helped."

"I would choose to ma!or in Marketing in the Business chool. I really en!oy this type ofwork and ha#ing more background would ha#e helped me to e&cel more."

Long Answer

"If I were to redo college again, I don%t think I would change my ma!or. I liked the factthat I ma!ored in Business and I belie#e it will help me with my career. I%m pretty goodwith the computer, but I would like to ha#e taken more computer classes. Becausetechnology is growing so quickly, I think I would ha#e benefited from ha#ing a deeperunderstanding in computers."

his answer demonstrates a good choice in the beginning. I included the portion aboutcomputers because they want to see something you would ha#e done differently. (ndmaking the comment about computers shows the inter#iewer your understanding abouttechnology to some degree. But don%t say this answer without first stating that you arepretty good with the computer.

%."!hat course (i( you li$e the most""!hat was your favorite sub9ect"

'hen you answer this question, use a sub!ect that helped you become a better person or abetter worker. (lthough this question is asking for you opinion and there is no wronganswer, you should take ad#antage of this question by showing your strengths.

Short Answers

"I really en!oyed an nglish writing class I took. his class taught me to write moreclearly and concisely."

"My fa#orite sub!ect was Ahysics. It really helped my logic abilities and I use thisknowledge to sol#e problems in a #ariety of ways."

"here was a speech class I took that I really en!oyed. It helped me to speak in groupsbetter and I learned to speak professionally in front of an audience."

"My fa#orite sub!ect was applied science. I really en!oyed learning different ways ofapplying science into ordinary things."

Long Answer

"I really en!oyed ma!oring in electrical engineering and it really helped me to prepare for

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my career, but the class I en!oyed the most is probably a couple of psychology classes Itook. (lthough it didn%t help me in any technical way, I learned a little bit about humanbeha#ior and learned how the brain works. I started to understand the reasons for mystrengths and weakness instead of !ust knowing them. (lso, it helped me to understandpeople who are different than me."

his is a simple answer but a #ery good one. (n engineer is mostly technical and theymight lack skills in human interaction. o an engineer saying their fa#orite course waspsychology demonstrates that this person has both technical skills and the ability to workwith others better. It lists se#eral good e&amples such as understanding both strengths andweakness along with understanding different people.

&."!hat course (i( you li$e the least""!hat course (i( you struggle in the most"

his is an easier answer because you don%t ha#e to show off your strength here. (ll you

ha#e to do is make sure you don%t pick a sub!ect that relates to your !ob. It is also safer topick something that most people do not en!oy. -inally, picking something that you are notgood at is acceptable if it is not a skill required on the !ob. My long e&ample will be abouta drama class.

Short Answers

"I didn%t en!oy history that much. It wasn%t that difficult, but it didn%t allow me to thinkcreati#ely. Most of the classes I took were about memorizing dates and facts. o historyis my least fa#orite sub!ect."

"I struggled in a music class the most. I really en!oy listening to music so I tried to learn alittle about it. But it was a disaster. My tone was off and I couldn%t tell if something wasflat or not."

"My least fa#orite class was probably poetry. 5uring that course I struggled writing a realpoem. I realized I am not a poet."

"I disliked my geography class. It wasn%t difficult, but I simply didn%t find it #eryinteresting."

Long Answer

"-or me, I had a tough time in my drama class. I didn%t realize that I was a terrible actor. Ididn%t think it would be that hard, but week after week, my instructor would point outproblem after problem. 1e ga#e me a B, but I think it was because of my effort, notbecause of my abilities. I say this because when I saw myself on #ideo, oh my gosh, itwas terrible."

You are putting yourself down a lot here, but in this e&ample it is actually good.

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Inter#iewers are worried that a person who can act well will be able to lie about manythings during the inter#iew. ( person without acting skills will not be able to hideautomatic body gestures that the inter#iewer is looking at. (lso, this answer is goodbecause it shows that this person ne#er gi#es up and puts in a lot of effort.

'."ow will your *erformance in your worst class affect your *erformance on this9ob"

his question is another opportunity to show many good traits. You can display traitssuch as endurance, effort, and willingness to work on things you don%t like. his is #eryimportant because during your career, you will ha#e to do many boring things. his longanswer will display that you are a person that will do good at any task.

Short Answers

";o matter if I liked the class or not, I always tried my hardest. (s a result, the lowest

grade I e#er recei#ed was a B. o I%m confident that I%ll be good at any task."

"I had one class where I really struggled. I asked more questions and studied more. (s aresult, I did #ery well. o e#en if I%m struggling, I feel I can find ways to do a good !obby putting in more effort."

"My performance in my worst class will positi#ely impact my performance on this !ob. Istruggled with a logic class, but I studied harder, researched more information, and Ine#er ga#e up."

Long Answers

"I remember I did terrible in my astrology class. I didn%t ha#e much interest in the sub!ectand I really didn%t know that I would struggle in it. I thought about !ust doing enough tomake it through, but I decided that I was going to put some effort into it. I continuallyasked questions and studied more for this class than I did in others. I got a B for all myeffort, but at least I didn%t gi#e up and I kept pushing forward. o now I know thatwhether I like a pro!ect or not, I%ll do the best I can because it%s my responsibility."

his answer shows maturity and the inter#iewer should like it.

)."ow woul( your best frien( (escribe you"

his answer can be short. )se key words that show how you are a good fit for thisposition. If it if a salesperson, mention things like, an easy person to talk, goodpersonality, and dependable as the traits. But if it is for a manager position, then you canuse different words like organized, helpful, considerate, and smart. o it all depends onthe position. Most people will be honest and say what the best friend will actually say,but it is more effecti#e to choose the words so it relates to the !ob. 1ere are somee&amples.

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1."!hy are you a**lying for a 9ob that you (i(n6t ma9or in""!hy (i(n6t you *ursue a career in your ma9or"

In the )nited tates the statistics for a person changing career paths is #ery high. It%s

something like an a#erage person will change careers fi#e times. Changing !obs is onething, but completely changing careers is a big mo#e. o this question is not thatsignificant. If e#eryone worked in the industry as their ma!or, then this question is moreimportant, but because e#eryone changes !obs frequently, it%s no big deal. You !ust ha#eto use this opportunity to show them how much you like the current industry you are in.

Short Answers

"I ma!ored in nglish because I liked to write. Because I didn%t know e&actly what Iwanted to do, I ma!ored in something I was #ery interested in. (fter working for a yearon the marketing team, I realized that this is what I want to be doing."

"I ma!ored in 1istory, but during my senior year, I had an opportunity to work at anaccounting firm. (fter seeing first hand at the work they were doing, I really wanted tobecome an accountant."

"I was planning on going to 5ental chool so I ma!ored in Biology. (fter working withcomputers, I realized how interesting and challenging it was. o I studied computers onthe side because I wanted a career working with computers."

Long Answer

"I en!oyed ma!oring in psychology, but I didn%t want to become a psychologist. I !ustfound the sub!ect to be #ery interesting. It also helped me to understand a wide #ariety ofthings. -or my career, I wanted to be doing something I was good at and what I en!oyeddoing. I had an opportunity to work at a smaller logistics company as an administrati#eassistant. 5uring that time period they were short handed and I actually got to do someplanning and organizing for one of the smaller clients. I didn%t lead anything, but Irealized how much I en!oyed the work. #er since then, I%#e been studying up onplanning, logistics, and business."

his e&ample does three things. It e&plains why this person is not going into a fieldrelated to their ma!or, it is e&plaining why this person is going into logistics, and finally itis showing passion for the industry and a desire to learn. ince you are probablycompeting against people who ma!ored in logistics, you need to make an impression withyour answer. o you should definitely show enthusiasm here.

11."0uring college+ how (i( you s*en( your summer vacations"

he best answer is to ha#e spent your summer producti#ely such as working as an intern.#en if you did only one intern, the inter#iewer will like that. he worst answer is to say

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you didn%t do anything. 9r say you worked in the supermarket to get some money so youcan party at night. o think of something producti#e, and if you don%t ha#e an interne&perience, you can say that you spent your summer learning something new.

"My last two summers of college, I did an intern for a consulting firm. I gained

e&perience working on office solutions for large companies."

"I ha#e a strong interest in tra#eling, so I used my summer to tra#el. I went to urope,(ustralia, Brazil, and China."

"#ery summer, I took e&tra nglish classes. I also took some drawing classes becauseit%s one of my hobbies. o I spent my summers learning more things."

"My first two summers, I had to work to sa#e money for tuition. But after sa#ing enoughmoney, I had a free summer. I actually ended up taking some computer classes to preparemyself for the business world. hese days it%s a requirement to know computers, so I

prepared for that."

(lthough I said don%t mention useless work, it is ok if it is for tuition. It shows financialresponsibility. -inally, taking some computer classes for the summer is a great way toprepare for work life and it was a summer well spent. Make sure you ha#e an answer thatshows producti#ity.

1."!hat (i( you learn from your internshi*"

If you worked as an intern, your resume will say it. Your resume should also include alist of what you learned during your internship. You can answer this question repeatingwhat was on the resume, but using full sentence and with more enthusiasm.

"In my final summer #acation, I had the opportunity to work as an intern for a publicaccounting firm. It was only for + months, but I learned a lot about performing quarterlyta& ser#ices for small and medium size companies. I also learned to deal with timepressure and learned how to prioritize work to be more efficient. It was a great e&periencethat I know will help me when I start my career."

1#."0i( you (o any internshi*s"

You should be asked this question if your resume doesn%t ha#e any internship e&perience,or if they didn%t look at your resume. If you do ha#e internship e&perience, then you cananswer, that you do and say the same answer as the one pro#ided with the question, whatdid you learn from your internship. But if you don%t, you can simply answer that youdidn%t do any internship but gi#e a good e&cuse.

"Yes. I did two internships. he first internship was for :ohnson and :ohnson. I worked inthe distribution team, and my second internship was for tarbucks. (t tarbucks, I hadthe opportunity to work on o#erseas #enture."

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"I did one internship for IBM. I was on the de#elopment team creating applications forbusiness solutions."

"I lo#e to tra#el and I realized that when I start my career, I won%t be able to tra#el for

long durations. o I used my summers to tra#el a lot. I spent one summer in urope for 0months. I spent another summer tra#eling between China and some outh ast (siancountries, and finally, I took a road trip through the )nited tates."

ra#eling is not a bad answer. It is not as good as doing an internship, but definitelybetter than nothing. It is definitely not a wasted summer. (lso, if the internship wasuseless and generic, then the inter#iewer will not remember this answer as a good answer.o it didn%t do any good. In this case, tra#eling could be better because the e&ample Iga#e is significant and interesting. omething different always stands out more.

1%."If you coul( learn something such as a new s$ill+ what woul( it be"

"!hat6s the ne8t thing you want to learn"

his is another type of question that has no wrong or right answer. hat means you needto make your answer a little more creati#e so it stands out.

Short Answers

"I would lo#e to learn more about auditing. (s a ta& accountant, I primarily work on ta&.But I like all aspects of accounting and I think auditing would be #ery interesting."

"he ne&t thing I want to learn is how to make web pages. I think this skill can be usedanywhere. If I want a personal web site, I would make it myself. (nd if my group at workneeded an internal web site to organize acti#ities, I would be able to make one."

"I want to learn the different ways to market globally. In my marketing team, I learnede#erything about marketing on a local le#el, but I would really lo#e to learn aboutmarketing to different countries."

Long Answer

"I use the computer on a daily basis and know how to use e#erything I need to be good atmy !ob. But sometimes something goes wrong with the computer for no reason at all.Because I%m not a computer engineer, I ha#e no idea what%s going on. Basically, I ha#eto wait for a technician to fi& it. 5uring these times, I want to kick the computer out offrustration. Mostly, it ends up being

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