Entries tagged 'interview-questions'
Questions we dread during interviews
This week’s question, “What is the one interview question you hope you don’t have to answer?”, produced some very interesting responses, from the humorous, to the expected, to questions that are illegal to ask in the United States. Here’s our take on some of the themes shared in your comments:Simone got us laughing when she posted: “Is that toilet paper on your shoe?” Yeah, wouldn’t be too awesome to walk into an interview dragging along some TP from your last bathroom break. Though maybe it could be an icebreaker to get both you and the interviewer cracking up about something silly.
We hear you on the “What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?” questions. We’ve hopefully helped set you on the right track with our post on this topic, but still this isn’t an easy set of questions to answer.
What do you ask when interviewing a company?
I think we can all agree that interviewing is a two way street. Though maybe a little more heavily weighted towards the employer, we also get to ask questions to determine whether the company is a place where we want to either start or continue to develop our careers. That’s why our question this week focused on you as the interviewer of a new employer; “What is the one question you always ask during interviews to make sure the job is right for you?”One common theme that emerged was what the company has to offer you. From on the job development, to community involvement to, yes bonuses, it was important for you to know how a company will support you and your career and maybe even some of your interests:
How to prepare questions for your interview
I recently participated in a job group panel and was asked for my interview tips. As I answered the question, I realized that I've come up with a whole bunch of additional suggestions since I last wrote about interviews for JobsBlog.The first thing isn't a tip, so much as a philosophy of interviews: when faced with an interview, it is important to recognize that the process serves a dual purpose.
1) Interviews gives us a chance to find out whether or not you can contribute to the company, add value to your team and do the duties that are listed in the job description. This is the obvious purpose of an interview.
2) An interview is also a chance for YOU to interview the team to find out if it is a place where you want to work, a role that you want to take and a manager and team with whom you will "fit in."
It is imperative that you remember this second purpose. Interviewers will almost always open the floor to the interviewee at the end of the session to ask THEM questions. So be prepared!