Interview Questions

Most important thing before the interview - learn about the company. You will be better prepared on what the company's expectations are, what it is like to work there, help you to develop questions to ask and to answer their interview question much more intelligently. I had one person interview with me that kept referring to my company as a bank - we were not a bank but a financial company. This gave the impression he wasn't all that interested in working there if he didn't even know that.

Also make sure you know how to get there, where to go, how long it will take and who to ask for. This will help you from being late and also nothing would be so nerve racking if you get lost, go to the wrong floor, etc. Prepare some questions you want to ask before you go - write them down and bring them with you so you don't forget - no one would mind if you wanted to refer to the questions - it makes you look serious about the job and prepared.

During the interview - when you first begin the interview, shake the persons hand and smile. Look at them directly (if it makes you nervous to look them right in the eye, then look at their nose or forehead - they won't know the difference. Once a question is asked, you can take a moment to pull together your answer in your head. Answer the question as honestly and directly as possible - it helps if you give real life examples. Like if they ask if you are good with people, don't just say "yes, I love working with people." Give them an example of when you were exceptionally good with a customer. "Yes, I am good with people, I remember one time when ……"

At the end of the interview, shake hands, smile and thank them for their time. Also, say you want the job. I like what you told me here today and am very impressed with ABC Company. I would love to work for such a great organization.

Most of those questions I cannot answer for you as they are pushing for you to give examples of your experiences.

What I would suggest is if possible give your real life examples from your current job rather than a personal experience - these will relate better to what you are interviewing for. For planning - think of how you plan your work, what do you do when you come in - how do you know what to do when, etc. Some people use calendars, lists, etc. Give them examples of what you do. It doesn't even have to be a big project, they want to see you demonstrate you are organized so simply telling them you have a planner, or a list and you prioritize is what they are searching for.

Problem solving - same thing. What have you worked on that there was an issue? Did you have a customer that had a problem you had to deal with? Explain the whole situation. Was some information sent to you incorrectly - how did you handle it? Again it doesn't have to be big - they just want to know that if something didn't exactly work the way it was supposed to how you will handle it.

Gotta love how you ask how to answer questions which all ask you to describe past experiences. Only you can answer that my friend.

The reason they ask these is they're trying to get an idea of the type of person you are. Even when they ask you, "what are your weaknesses," they want to know how you think, how you work, and what you have done to overcome those weaknesses. They don't want to hear the lame "I work too hard" answer a retarded monkey could come up with.

Before going in, you want to do your research on the company, the role, so you can paint a positive picture to them how your skills, strengths, and experiences are a good fit to the job. Using past examples are a GREAT way of answering questions, even if you have to, uh, "fudge" your answers a bit.

Linkat gave good advice. Usually Linkat is posting threads about sleeping with great grandmothers in nursing homes, so this is a nice surprise.

Thanks Slappy - I figured to change tactics as most people were not appreciative of my other endeavors.