How to Answer The Interview Question How Long Are You Planning to Stay With Our Organisation?

Employers spend around 33% of their profits on recruitment and will prefer to employ an applicant who will stay with the company for at least 2-3 years.

In reality, an employer will never really know what will happen in the future and how long an employee will work for one organisation. So why ask the ‘duration’ job interview question?

In most cases, an employer will only ask how long an applicant is likely to stay working for them – sometimes framed as the interview question ‘how long have you worked for your previous organisations?’ because the employer has experienced a high turnover of staff.

This interview question is common with contract work, project work, and for low paid or low skilled roles.

How to answer the interview question.

The interviewer with the ‘how long do you plan on staying with our company?’ interveiw question is concerned with staff retention.

Therefore the interveiw answer must reassure the employer to score high marks as part of a structured job interview.

How to reassure the interviewer.

One way to reassure the interviewer, to score high on the interview scorecard, is to explain how you have researched their organisation including the values and the company vision, or how you know friends who are employees of the company and who talk positively about the company culture, which has resulted in you wanting to make a career out of working for this particular company.

What you are doing with this interveiw tactic is saying – ‘I don’t just want any job, I want a career with your company.’

Another similar approach is the ‘matching’ technique. Here an applicant can talk about their personal values, what motivates them as an individual and which type of environment they work well in. And matching this to what the interviewer stated at the interview start (In most job interviews, the interviewer will kick off the job interview by discussing the job role, the team and the company culture)

Here you are showing how this organisation is the ideal workplace for your temperament.

A final interview technique is to express dislike.

This approach may sound dangerous, but in fact, it has the opposite result – desire.

When asked about duration, the interviewee can talk about how they dislike job hunting, moving from one company to the next having to learn new processes and procedures, and how they only applied for this role as it is their preferred employer.

Applicants can evidence how they are loyal to a company by explaining how they have worked for their previous employer for the past 10-20 or 30 years.

This approach is saying if you recruit me I will be a loyal employee.

March 17, 2013January 13, 2021

How to Answer The Interview Question Tell Me About a Suggestion You Have Made

More and more, organisations are looking for employees to share ideas, suggestions, to be innovative and creative, due to the fast-paced changes within job sectors created by globalization, new entries and technology.

When asked an interveiw question on ‘suggestions’ you will know that this organisation is forward-thinking.

This question also tells you the company is looking for team players and creative people.

Use a real-life example of when you put a suggestion forward, the situation, how the idea developed and the outcome.

Answering ‘suggestion’ Interveiw Questions.

Situation – initially start the interveiw question by describing the problem the company was facing.

This could be, as an example, a new product from a competitor that was going to reduce company income in your organisation. Or how global events were affecting sales or production.

Developed – next explain your process for finding a solution (the suggestion you took to an employer) Use detail here; talk about two different ideas and how you looked at the opportunities and threats for each option.

Talk about any research you undertook or challenges you faced. SHow that it wasn’t just a lightbulb moment and that you thought about the suggestion or idea.

Outcome – end with the positive outcome, how the idea was initially tested and then implemented, and how the idea helped the company financially.

Example Answers

“In my previous company, the management team was asked to suggest ideas how we could break a new policy to the workforce, that long term would save jobs but the short term could potentially upset some of the workforces. Having had previous experience in change management I knew change management theories that could be easily administered. With the orgnasiation being a smaller family-run company with no experience of change management, I went away a created a project plan including a comms and risk plan. The whole project was detailed out with step by step guides on how to implement the changes. The manager was really impressed with the detail and research and implemented the project plan that resulted in a smooth change with no staff losses or grievances.”

March 17, 2013

How To Answer The Interview Question Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?

How to Answer The Interview Question Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?

A dreaded question for many! When answering this question never give a negative answer. “I did not get on with my manager” or “The management did not run the business well” will show you in a negative light and reduce your chance of a job offer. Answer the question positively, emphasising that

you have been looking for a career progression. Start by telling the interviewer what you gained from your last job

“I enjoyed my last job, I quickly learned how to multi-task and prioritise work and over the last 3 years I have seen myself grow. I am now ready to take the next step up the ladder with my career and feel I would suit working for company such as this”

If you were made redundant, let the interviewer know, this is not a negative!

This is an extract from the Interview E-Book “Tricky Questions, Killer Answers – over 50 interview questions and answers”

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March 17, 2013

How To Answer The Interview Question What Experience Do You Have In This Field?

How to Answer The Interview Question What Experience Do You Have In This Field?

For this question you first need to read and understand the job specification, as this will tell you what experience the interviewer is looking for. Your answer should relate your experience and achievements to that of the job role. Often interviewees will talk about experiences that are not relevant to the job role, this will only lead to the employer becoming uninterested in you.

“I have over 6 years experience as a nursery nurse, in that time I have gain an NVQ Level 2 and 3 in child care. I have worked with children of all ages including groups of children with disabilities. I understand the importance of “health and safety” and “every child matters” and use my creative skills to organise games and activities to teach young children new skills while keeping them entertained. Recently I also won an award for employee of the year”

This is an extract from the Interview E-Book “Tricky Questions, Killer Answers – over 50 interview questions and answers”

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March 17, 2013November 12, 2020

How To Answer The Interview Question Why Did You Leave Your Last Job

How to Answer The Interview Question ‘Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?’

Lets start with some basics:

Be positive with this answer and smile –

Why smile? Research show’s that smiling increases likeability and likeability, in a job interview, increasing interview scores.

Why Positive? Employers like to hear that you left for a good opportunity or reason, a chance to do something special or for a good career move.

Interview Question Structure:

Start the answer with a look back
Explain what you enjoyed about your previous role
Give a Positive reason for leaving

Interview Answer Example:

“I enjoyed working at Company Name and really enjoyed the interaction of working with a wide range of individuals-I feel I gained a lot of transferable skills from this experience, which I can use in this role. It was a hard choice to leave but I felt that this great opportunity is the next obvious step for me”

March 17, 2013

How To Answer The Interview Question Tell Me About Yourself

How to Answer The Interview Question Tell Me About Yourself

One of the most common asked questions in interviews, normally asked at the beginning of an interview, this question gives you the opportunity to deliver a short statement about your experiences and skills relevant to the job position you are applying for.

Start with a “selling” line that will highlight your main strength and/or achievement
Keep each point brief as you can explain each point again in more detail throughout the interview
You want to interest the interviewer and get them to want to know more about you
End this answer with a reason why you’re looking for a new job

“I’ve been working in Sales for 8 years. I have a great understanding of selling insurance to the public and businesses. My innovative sale techniques have increased profits by 25% year on year for the past 3 years. I am now ready for a new challenge and with your company having a great reputation, I believe this is the opportunity I have been waiting to apply for”

This is an extract from the Interview E-Book “Tricky Questions, Killer Answers – over 50 interview questions and answers”

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February 27, 2013December 12, 2020

8 Almost Illegal Ways To Pass The job Interview

Not for the faint-hearted, these 8 techniques will get you ahead of the interview game, but all will be lost if you’re found out, so keep these interview secrets to yourself!

Only the strongest survive, use these 8 almost illegal ways to pass your next job interview, but remember to leave your morals, guilt and niceties at the door.

The 007 Approach

This technique works best for promotional job interviews. Buy a 007 type of listening advice from any of the hundreds of online gadget shops and sneak one into the manager’s office/meeting room.

When the manager and HR team meet to discuss the interview criteria, listen in and use this inside information to prepare your interview answers.

Like a spy undercover, this inside information will help you play the character the interviewers will want to promote.

Wet the Seat

This childhood prank of wetting a friends pants to make them look silly in the playground works just as well in the job interview.

All you have to do is take a small bottle of water into the interview waiting area.

Once sat down poor the water onto the other seat, when the second interviewee comes in and sits down, his wet pants will make him look more frightened than he already is.

Pick Up Artist

You need to use some more 007 skills to follow and monitor the interviewer’s activities, what you are looking for here, is the interviewer’s partner.

Once the partner is located, follow them undercover of course, around for a few days to find out where they hang out.

Armed with this knowledge, create a chance meeting and turn the charm on, but most important get the partner talking. Pick-up artists will compliment, question and build on what others say to create intrigue and strong rapport.

Utilise these techniques, and at some point, the faithful partner will discuss their beloved, explore this and find out what the interviewer likes and loves, discover their charterer, hobbies and taste.

The more you keep the partner talking the more inside information you will uncover.

This inside information is key to building rapport, as people like people who are like them, in the interview when asked “tell me a little about yourself” you can parrot phrase what their partner told you, if they’re a football fan, tell them that you are a football fan, if they like art, explain how yoru a big art fan, just don’t mention that you fancy their partner – that’s the one commonality that bound to break not create rapport

Buy Your Way In

When applying for position in an established company, one thing you know is true is that hundreds of other past applicants have written an interview-winning application form.

Offer these people money for a copy of their application form (go on industry forums and do this anonymously) edit the application form and wait for the job interview.

Pay to Work

I know this one sounds crazy, but the crazy ones work really well.

Approach a company offer to pay them £400 to work for their company for free – who could refuse this?

With the condition that if they think you’re a good worker at the end of the week they have to employ you, if not they keep the £400.

For this, to work you need to approach a company that is looking to hire new staff.

Don’t Take Sweets From Strangers

We have all fallen for the joke sweet prank as a child; you excitedly take the offered sweet only to hear the laughter from your classmates as unknown to you, your teeth are now blackened.

When waiting in the reception area, as a friendly jester offer a sweet to your fellow interviewees…it wasn’t your fault that you child must of hidden a joke sweet in among the others.

Remember the interviewer will make an opinion about the interviewee on their first impression, which will be highly negative for your competition with the un-brushed blackened teeth…at an interview!!

Steal a Car

Don’t worry you don’t need to steal a car. But what you can do, is arrive early for your job interview and wait in the car park.

When you see another interviewee arrive make a mental note of the make, model and colour of their vehicle and interviewees are always easy to spot.

Leave it for ten minutes and then go into the interview reception area, as you say hello to the other interviewees ask if anyone has a (state the make, model and colour – don’t use the registration because when they find out that their car is fine you don’t want them questioning you ) because it looks like someone has broken in, the panicky interviewee will run out of the office only to find that it must have been a similar car to his that was vandalized.

As he returns, the interviewer sees the flushed interviewee arriving late for the interview tut tut no-one likes a late interviewee

Bad Advice

Interviewees love to chat between themselves to reduce their nerves and help the waiting time to pass away quickly. Use this time, to ask if they had researched the company, which most will reply yes.

Tell them in your research you found that the company really values A, B and C and this is part of the company criteria. You can go to say your not sure when you will mention this key criterion, maybe in your opening statement or when they ask the question what do you know about us?

And then leave it there, the trick here is the key criteria is the exact opposite to what the company requires, even if the interviewee has researched the company themselves panic will set in, because they won’t be certain if they have overlooked this valuable piece of information, and when they mention this during the interview they will break rapport instantly.

February 21, 2013December 18, 2020

Can I Go To College Even though I Dropped Out of School

Every UK school leaver (even if you dropped out of school) is entitled to a free college place, but entry to certain college depends on your GCSE results.

If you sat your GCSEs and gained 5 A-Cs in the core subjects (including Bs in the subjects you want to study at A-Level), generally you can access most college course (course such as Art may require you to have a portfolio of work)

If you left with no GCSE due to, as an example an illness you can access a college course to re-sit your GCSE exams – but only certain college offer GCSE re-sits.

In some colleges if you completed some but not all your GCSE examinations, you may be able to sit your A-Levels and complete a GCSE course alongside it. In most circumstances the college will ask you to complete an assessment to check your academic level.

I Dropped Out of School with NO GCSEs

If you didn’t sit any GCSE’s or if you didn’t gain 5 GCSEs A-C, you can still apply for and attend college. Depending on your GCSE results, depends on the course level you can attend.

Generally speaking, but this various on the college if you have 2 x C/D GCSE grades you can start a level 2 course, 4 x E/F’s GCSEs means you can start a level 1 course and if you have no GCSEs you can apply for the various “entry” course available at most colleges.

You are entitled to a FREE education

But all school leaver age students are entitled to a free education if you are 18 yrs old or under. For university courses a student loan is available.

This means everyone will have to be in some form of education until they are 18 yrs old, for many this may well be college but for others, this could be an apprenticeship.

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January 29, 2013

Taking Care of Work

Nearly all of us have a need to work. Not all of us work to meet a financial need.

The nature of work changes significantly through our lives. During our education, work is progressive. As soon as we can show we can do something to the required standard, we are moved on to something else.

It comes as shock to find in our first job that as soon as we can show competence in doing something, we are left to repeat it over and over again. Some people find themselves doing mind-numbing repetitive work for months, years or even a lifetime.

stressed out

Yet others manage to have absorbing, challenging work which stimulates them and which they are content to do right up to traditional retirement age, and beyond. What is more they are usually rewarded better for that work both in terms of money and feeling fulfilled.

How have they done this? It is usually because they have followed a progression in their work which was rarely planned but unrolled in front of them.

The path would have been different for each of them but there would be certain common ingredients.

A common thread emerges however. This is progress to greater and greater independence in the work they do. In the articles below and in our learning programmes, we show people how to turn routine work in a job into a career. This career will lead to a wider horizon and more choices. Usually at some point people these people will move from a large organisation to one where they have much more freedom. This may be a smaller existing organisation or to working for themselves.

Beyond that, depending on their situation and non-financial needs, they may well then find themselves building an organisation where they have complete control. Starting and running your own business from scratch in the commercial sector may only be for a brave minority. However, today there are many other options, including many in the public and voluntary sectors.

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January 29, 2013January 29, 2013

Turn Your Job into a Career

For many young people today, the biggest Career challenge seems to be getting onto the employment ladder in the first place.

We are often brought up with the limiting belief that the longer you stay in education the better employment prospects you will have. This is not always true, as many graduates who leave education and find it hard to secure employment, sometimes this is due to their grades or attitude and in many other cases because they picked the wrong subject!

workplace

The wrong subject

With university fee’s increasing, you don’t want to spend thousands of pounds on a course designed to secure you a career, which half way though you realise “it isn’t for me”

You can get good careers advice, but the key is to find your passion and then get paid for doing it – what is it that really gets your juices flowing? Helping people, complex sums, creating a masterpiece, performing to thousands? You need to ask yourself what will make me wake up every day and shout “yes I’m going to work”

We are all excited about different things, your passion is personal to you and I would add, Once you know your passion, it is easy to find the route to your career.

What if I get it wrong?

Einstein failed his exams and later became the figurehead of geniuses throughout history. Richard Branson was bankrupt and is now a successful billionaire. Elton John took a risk, walking out half way through a concert with his band as he knew that his real desire was to be a successful solo singer.

To have a successful career you first need to know what you are passionate about and then you can ask yourself “what is the best way for you to achieve your career goal?”

Apart from certain professions such as medicine and law, higher level education qualifications do not necessarily open the door to desirable employment opportunities.

I personally know several very successful business people, who quit university to pursue their dreams and they all had two things in common “passion” and the belief that they would “succeed”

Career Planning

Once you know your passion, you need to plan your career path, for some this will be through education, for others their path will be through apprenticeships and employment and for some they will do it by themselves.

It’s not about which career path you choose, it is about identifying each of the steps needed to be taken along the way and committing to your goal, as some days it will be harder to do this than others.

You need to plan the steps from the YOU now to the successful future YOU- How can you become successful? What do you need to learn? What experiences do you need? What resources will help you?

As an example someone choosing to work instead of attend college, may have a goal to own their own hairdressing business – for this they know they need learn about business, become a competent hairdresser and have financial backing.

To do this, they may first gain a hairdressing job, working at the bottom rung of the ladder cleaning up hair and making cups of tea. For some young people completing these “boring” task is an insult, thinking “this duty is beneath me- why should I do it?” Whereas the successful young person with a career plan, knows that one day they will have their own business, and everything they are doing, seeing and hearing is helping them to become a better future hairdresser and business professional and I would add, this is often seen by others as you having a “good attitude” which results in them offering you more responsibility and the chance to learn new hairdressing skills, further supporting your long term career goal.

What is a good attitude?

So what is a ‘Good attitude’? The short answer is that it is a positive approach to the work situation. (As Jim Rohn says, the guy who whistles as he hauls out the trash is worth at least 10cents an hour more.) Show as a Pull quote. Employers say they are always looking for people who:

Are prepared to take that bit more responsibility
Look for better ways of doing their work
Look for extra work they can do a part of their existing job

While the official policy of most employers is to encourage talent and initiative to rise through the ranks, it usually doesn’t feel like that if you are working at the bottom of the hierarchy.

As the employee, you need to look at each task as a learning opportunity, asking “what am I learning from this experience?” “How can I use this experience to achieve my career goal?” “How can I make this task more exciting?” and “How can I be the best at this task?”

Once you start asking these questions to all task, you will be quickly become known as a good worker, with a good attitude and when the opportunity arises to move up the career ladder you can take it, often with the positive support of your previous employers.

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