If your Résumé has made it through the minefield of ATS (Applicant Tracking Software) and the prospective employer has called you for an interview, there will be a series of questions you can expect that they will ask you.
The reasons employers ask these questions is to determine the following:
#Be prepared for these questions
We can safely assume in the initial interview stage the interviewer will ask you the relatively easy questions like tell me about yourself and what do you like to do in your spare time.
Once the small talk is over, the real questions will begin. Here, the interviewer may begin to ask probing questions that can make candidates begin to squirm as they ask you to provide detailed examples of the answers you give.
As with anything in life, practice makes perfect so if you want to nail the next interview you go to, you need to prepare for those questions that you hope you won’t be asked but inevitably will be so you can appear calm and confident in your responses.
Here, All Résumé Services on the Gold Coast, provide a guide on job interview questions and answers so you can ace the next interview you go to.
#What do you know about our company?
We would hope you would have researched your prospective employer thoroughly so you can respond with factual information such as when they were established, what their mission is, what their core products and or services are, what is their market share or do they contribute to any environmental or charitable causes.
This shows you have done your homework, have a diligent personality and are genuinely interested in working for their company.
#Why do you want to leave your current job?
Asking you why you want to work for their company is an easy question to answer. Asking you why you want to leave your current job is a test on your response.
If you say you are unhappy with your current job, it will give the interviewer cause for concern. You may be asked to elaborate on why you are dissatisfied with your current position and we would caution you to not speak disparagingly about your current employer.
This is an interview no-no! Never disparage your current employer.
A far more positive response would be that you are seeking to take on more responsibility, progress your career, relocate, undertake a career change or improve your work/life balance.
#What is your greatest weakness?
Again, asking a candidate to speak glowingly about their strengths (and you will be asked what your strengths are) is much more comfortable to do than to ask a candidate to analyze their own weaknesses.
Here, you would need to respond with something other than “I have no weaknesses” as you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t display any weaknesses in the workplace at all.
What you do need to do is give an appropriate response with how you identified and overcame that weakness so the interviewer knows you are (a) able to recognize them and (b) able to resolve any issues.
An example might give is that you are a perfectionist however you have come to realize that you were wasting time on rechecking things repeatedly, so have learned to trust the quality of your work and its accuracy.
#Where do you see yourself in five years?
This question will give the interviewer an insight into your career aspirations and if you understand what the advertised role is about.
Some positions within a company may have little way of progressing through the ranks whereas others may be stepping stones to a larger career within the business. Importantly they are gauging whether you intend to still be with them in 5 years.
Never joke that you see yourself having their job in 5 years. Another interview no-no!
#Give an example of………
Be prepared to give detailed answers to a question they ask of this nature or as evidence to anything you have written in your Résumé.
If you exceeded targets for the quarter, explain how you went about doing that and what the targets were exceeded by. If you came up with a new workplace procedure, detail how you saw a need for a new procedure that improved workflow or profit and how you went about implementing that new procedure. If you used exemplary customer service skills to placate and turn around a hostile customer, explain at length what skills and attributes you used to achieve this.
Be prepared to back up any claims on your Résumé or cover letter as employers will want the minute details on how you achieved these to gauge if these skills and qualities will benefit the position you are applying for.
By being prepared to confidently answer and qualify any questions your prospective employer may have, you are giving yourself every chance of winning that job.
All Résumé Services based on the Gold Coast offer not only professional Résumé writing services Australia wide, but interview preparation services as well.
We can provide you with all the job interview tips you need to get you across the line. We will prepare you with all the relevant questions an engaged and interested candidate should be asking.
All Résumé Services will also arm you with all the relevant material that you should be taking to a job interview so that you look prepared, proactive and organized.
Remember, the job interview is a two-way process, and you should be interviewing the interviewer right back to find out if it is a place that you want to work in as well.
So, give yourself the best chance to win that perfect job with a professionally written Résumé and professional interview preparation with All Résumé Services, Gold Coast.
Call All Résumé Service’s now on 0410 934 371.
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