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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Be Ready To Answer The Top 10 Job Interview Questions

Be Ready to Answer the Top 10 Job Interview Questions

GREAT INTERVIEWS GET THE JOB

It can be easy to convince ourselves that the job interview doesn't matter so much, as long as our resume is outstanding, our dress is impeccably professional, and that we are nice people. After all, nice people do win in the end, don't they? Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth. Even though the resume, attire, and likeability factor all play a part in an employer's decision to hire someone, the answers that you provide to the questions during the interview will demonstrate what the employer is most interested in: your confidence, skills, and knowledge of the job.

THE TOP 10 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Your best weapon to mastering the job interview is to practice, practice, practice your answers to the most commonly asked questions by employers. The most certain way to sabotage your chances to win over a potential employer is to try and wing the interview. Your answers can appear aimless and without direction, making you look unprepared or worse, unqualified.

Don't risk the future of your career by flying by the seat of your pants. Prepare yourself by developing answers to the most commonly asked questions:

1. Tell Me a Little Something About Yourself.

This is probably one of the most dreaded questions of all time. We quiver and sweat in our seats wondering what the employer really wants to know. Hey, relax! For starters, this is a great opportunity for you to sell yourself to the employer. Talk about your key accomplishments and strengths and how these factors will benefit the employer in the desired position. Write down ahead of time what you plan to say; perfect it; then practice it every chance you get.

2. Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job?

This question is basically a wolf in sheep's clothing. It appears harmless enough, but it can damage your potential in a heartbeat if you're not careful. By all means, keep your answers to this question as positive as possible. Above all, do not dwell on how much you hate your current boss! The interviewer wants to hire a team player to the position, not a negative and vindictive hater.

3. Are You Still Employed and If Not, Why Not?

If you are, great, but if you aren't, you can still use your answer to this question to shine a light on your positive features. For example, if you were laid off or terminated, focus less on the actual termination and more on what you learned from the whole process. You'll look mature and wise in the employer's eyes!

4. Do You Have Any Budgeting Experience?

If you haven't, be honest; but you can answer in a way that shows that you have had some exposure to adhering to a budgetâ€"on a project, for example. If you do have budgeting experience, discuss your fiscal responsibility.

5. Have You Ever Managed Anyone?

This question is most important to those who are seeking a supervisory type of position. If you have managerial experience, elaborate on how many people you have supervised and what their positions were in the spectrum of the organizational chart. However, if you haven't had direct managerial practice, talk up how much you were a part of the decision process of a team project, or how you organized volunteers for a fundraiser.

6. What Are Your Strengths as an Employee?

To adequately answer this question, you need to be aware of the strengths you possess in the following areas: personality, experience, and skills. Once that information is known, match your strengths to the requirements of the position for which you are interviewing.

7. What Are Your Weaknesses?

Obviously, no one likes to admit that they have any weaknesses, especially in front of a potential employer. So what do you do? You can provide ONE trait about yourself that is the least important to the position. Refrain from canned responses such as you are a perfectionist or a workaholic.

8. Discuss How You Make Important Decisions.

If you are interviewing for a supervisory role, you definitely want to come across as someone who is able to ask for input from others, yet is comfortable making the final decisions. Also, consider the type of position and company. For example, is it a budgetary role at a financial institution? In that case, you probably will want to emphasize that you exercise great care and caution when making big decisions.

9. Where Do You Want to Be Five Years From Now?

Suffice it to say, do not answer this question with, "Retired." Keep your answers positive and simple, with just a tinge of ambition. Think along the lines of a "motivated" versus "rat race" mentality.

10. What Have Been the Biggest Accomplishments of Your Career so Far?

Focus on accomplishments that directly relate to the open position. Discuss the challenge you were presented with, your actions, and the end result. Did you streamline processes? Devise a way to increase customer satisfaction? Were you recognized by management for your efforts? The way you answer this question will distinguish you from other applicants since your answer will require you to go beyond the basic job responsibilities.

A FINAL NOTE

As you can see, the interview is more than just showing up on time in the right clothes. It is your best and only opportunity to convince an employer that he or she should hire you. If you were selected for an interview, consider yourself lucky because you are halfway to the finish line. Make sure you are prepared with relevant and well-thought-out answers to bring in a home run interview.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Know to Grow Your Income

With over a million Realtors® in the United States, it is getting harder and harder to stand out from the crowd. What can you do so that customers and fellow Realtors® know you, choose you and recommend you? You can make a good living simply by taking floor time and doing open houses. However to make a quantum leap in your income you need to have satisfied customers and other Realtors® referring you. Focusing on the following three points will help you become more successful.

Know Yourself

To powerfully communicate the benefits of choosing you over other Realtors®, you really need to know yourself and learn how to communicate what makes you unique in a few succinct phrases.

Begin by taking one of the many personality tests that are readily available, such as: DISC, Keirsey Temperment Sorter, or Myers-Briggs, among others. You can find these easily by doing a search on the internet. These tests can give you great insight into your strengths and weaknesses. They help you understand your core values and personality type. Understanding who you are may help you distinguish yourself from the competition and can be the foundation for communicating your unique value and your personal brand.

Your personal brand or image is a combination of your passions, strengths, skills and traits. Spend some time getting to know your self:

• Write a list of your personal passions. What do you love doing? (Is it interior design, teaching, art, music, golfing, football, reading, travel? Don't worry about whether or not it is work related.)

• What are your skills and talents? (Are you perceptive, spontaneous, theatrical, detail-oriented, organized, do you speak other languages? Again, don't limit these to your work).

• Write a list of your personal traits. (Perhaps you are punctual, or a "people person". Are you optimistic, open minded, curious, determined, spiritual, or team oriented?)

Look at your list from your customer's point of view. Which of these qualities that you have identified would be valuable to your customer? Take those items and use them to help you create a few concise sentences explaining your unique value to your customers.

Use this knowledge to also help you find a niche market something you really love. Is it new construction, foreclosures, first time buyers, seniors, ethnicities, locales? Once you find your niche, become an expert in that area. That doesn't mean that you can't sell outside of your niche. However, the more expertise you gain, the more likely you are to become well known in your field. It is not uncommon for other customers even other realtors, to say "Oh, you need Joe. He knows everything about new construction." These personal recommendations can be the most inexpensive and effective marketing tools.

Know Your Customer

To be able to truly meet and exceed a customer's needs and wants you have to know that customer. In your effort to gain this knowledge you need to gather information. The more you know the more you can meet your customer's needs, both stated and unstated.

Start broadly and then get more specific. A good source for information is the National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. It has chapters on the characteristics of home buyers and sellers.

Then, start to narrow your research. Learn about the community in which you sell. Become involved in community events. Pitch in, support and help your community grow, while learning about its unique qualities. These activities not only help you learn about the community, they bolster your image as a valuable member. People like to do business with helpful people they know and with whom they can identify.

After you understand the broad information about your customers and their communities, you need to listen to what they say. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Customers often complain about feeling the agent didn't listen carefully to their requests or needs. Listening is an art. It goes beyond the obvious. Customers aren't always great at communicating clearly; they sometimes don't even know what they really want or need. You need to listen with all your senses in order to unearth and translate their true needs and wants. It isn't sufficient to just hear the words your customers say. You need to watch body language, be sensitive to tone of voice and try to interpret their sometimes vague descriptions. By asking carefully constructed questions you can actually help the customer better understand his or her needs.

Know Your Team

Customers are becoming more and more demanding. You need a team that meets these ever increasing demands. Customers expect you to recommend the RIGHT person for their needs. These people must not only match your personal brand/image (they are in effect representing you), they also must have unique qualities that meet the needs of your customer. I know of one Realtor who has three mortgage brokers he trusts and recommends. He has a "three piece suit guy," he has a HOG (Harley owners group) and a dynamic woman. He mixes and matches the team member to the specific customer. This is done so that each customer can feel totally comfortable. You should also have a trusted team of insurance providers, painters, plumbers, and stagers to call on. Basically, the more one-stop you can be for your customers the happier they will be. Spend time with each of these people. Ask questions. Get recommendations. Do research and background checks.

Make it a personal priority to spend time each day learning more about these three keys to success. Be patient and understand that this kind of knowledge can't be built in a day. But the time spent on truly understanding these three keys will pay off. This is the most powerful way to become a Realtor® that others want to do business with and refer to their friends and family. Remember you need to Know to Grow Your Income!