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What questions are asked in a job interview

  • Opening questions
  • Organisational questions
  • Work ethic questions
  • Experience questions
  • Questions to ask the employer

Common asked job interview questions

What will an employer ask you in a job interview?

By understanding what interview questions an employer will ask in a job interview, allows an applicant to prepare relevant job interview answers.

Opening Questions

The initial questions asked in an interview are really designed to relax an applicant. These ‘welcome’ questions are not scored against the job criteria (they won’t even reference the job role) but do help an interviewer create a first impression about an applicant before the start of the ‘official’ interview.

“Did you have any trouble finding the premisies?”

“Did you drive or use public transport?”

“Did you watch the (insert any big event) last night?”

Organisational questions

The first official interview questions, commonly, will be based on the applicant’s knowledge of the organisation. Employers here to wanting to check keen an applicant is to work for their organisation.

“Do you know what the company mission and vision is?”

“How long has the organisation been in operation?”

“What made you apply for this role?”

“What values do you look for in an organisation?”

Work ethic questions

Employers, these days, are asking more work ethic related questions than ever before. The changing job market driven through globalisation and technological advances has resulted in career professionals ‘job-hopping’ on a regular basis. Employers will question applicants or their employment reliability

“When did you go above and beyond in a previous role?”

“What is the average time you spend with an organisation?”

“What keeps you motivated in work?”

“How would a previous employer describe you?”

Experience questions

The key section to any job interview is the question around a candidate’s experience. It is the answers to these ‘experience’ questions that result in job offers or the ‘unsuccessful’ phone call.

“Give me an example of when you have solve a problem”

“Tell me a time when you (add any industry related situation)?”

“How do collabrate with other team members?”

“Explain a set back that you had to overcome to achieve an operational objective?”

“How would you deal with (add any industry related problem)?”

Questions to ask the employer

At the interview end, applicants will be given the chance to ask their own questions. This creates a two-way process for the interview; the interviewer checking if the candidate is a suitable person to recruit and the candidate deciding if they would enjoy working for the organisation.

“Can you tell me why do you enjoy working for the company?”

“What does an average day working here consist off?”

“What development and training opportunities are available for new members of staff?”

“How does the company ensure its values are being met?”

Job Interview Advice

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What are the 5 steps for a successful interview

  1. Identify the job criteria
  2. Deliver answers within a structured framework
  3. Be a self-promoter
  4. Communicate with confidence
  5. Ask questions

Step 1 for a successful job interview

Identify the job criteria

The scoring process, for a structured job interview, is to score the interviewee’s answers against the job criteria.

Each of the essential criteria, on a job specification, is discussed through the process of interview question(s) and answer(s). If the job criteria are referenced in the applicant’s answer, the answers are scored higher on the employer’s scorecard.

By identifying the job criteria for each job interview, applicants can prepare high scoring interview answers. The highest scoring candidate is offered the advertised position.

Step 2 for a successful job interview

Deliver answers within a structured framework

Two mistakes can kill job interview success; not talking enough and talking too much.

A lack of information results in low scoring job interview answers, whereas verbal diarrhea ends with too much irrelevant information that can be confusing for an employer.

The solution is to use an ‘interview structure’ for each answer. Typically, a perfect answer follows 3 steps:

Step 1 – Use a hook to grab the employers attention

Step 2 – State a problem and solution

Step 3 – Explain how the discussed ‘skill’ can be beneficial for the new employer

Step 3 for a successful job interview

Be a self-promotor

Interviewers can only score applicants based on their answers.

If you don’t self-promote, employers won’t have any idea of what the applicant can bring to the team. For some, self-promotion feels awkward, but in the job interview self-promotion, isn’t just required, it is expected.

To be successful, the interviewee needs to give an answer to tricky interview questions that not only highlight their strengths but that also sell the career professionals unique selling point

Step 4 for a successful job interview

Communicate with confidence

No matter how much criteria are mentioned in each job interview question, applicants will only score high if each answer is communicated with confidence.

This is because non-verbal communication affects the employer’s likeability factor. If an employer views an applicant as confident, they are more likely to have a stronger rapport with the applicant, which can be the difference between or 3 or 4 scores.

As job offers often go to candidates with only a few points higher then there nearest rival, each additional point does make a difference.

Step 5 for a successful job interview

Ask questions 

Most interviewees wait until the interveiw end to ask questions about the company vision, CPD and salary. But the job interview is designed to be more conversational.

Successful applicants will ask questions throughout the job interview. The key is to ask for specifics when the interviewer has asked a generic question. This ensures that the candidate’s answer is relevant to the asked question, ending with a higher scoring answer

Employers are looking for the best suitable applicant. They don’t want to trick the interviewees, but the job interview process has flaws – the most suitable candidate doesn’t always get offered the advertised the position. To be successful in the job interview, the candidates need to present themselves in the most positive light. 

The interview prediction grid is one way of understanding how an employer sees you in terms of value.

Job Interview Advice

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Job Interview Tips 2020

6 job interview tips to help you pass your next job interview.

Need more support? Scroll down to access 101 job interview questions

Job Interview Tip #1

Focus on criteria, not confidence 

The biggest mistake job applicants make is not referencing enough of the job criteria in the job interview. Instead, they focus on small talk, having a quick response and asking the interviewer mundane questions about salaries and annual leave. 

Criteria is king in the job interview 

Ignore it at your own demise 

Job Interview Tip #2

Posture creates perfection 

Candidates look confident when their posture is perfect. A straight back, head held high and relaxed use of gestures results in an impression of confidence

Confidence creates authority, authority results in job offers

Job Interview Tip #3

High performing answers show value 

Giving everyday examples for technical questions doesnt cut the mustard. To stand out, always present ‘best performing’ answers. Each answer should state an industry-related problem that would cause a major disruption, before blowing the interviewer away by explaining how only you could save the day.

High performing answers create high performing employees 

Job Interview Tip #4

Self-promotion isn’t only good, it’s expected 

If you don’t self-promote in a job interview, the interview is dead. Interview self-promotion is gold. To be successful in the job interview you must always state clearly what it is you can bring to the team, your unique selling point.

Self-promote for a promotion

Job Interview Tip #5

Dress to impress 

Your interview outfit is your armor. What you wear creates that all-important first impression. Your outfit, haircut, scent, everything about you helps to showcase you at your best.

Your armor needs to shine

Job Interview Tip #6

Worry about self-disclosed weaknesses 

The biggest barrier to interview success is self-disclosed weakness. Stop giving away information that will ruin your job interview. Focus on strengths, not weaknesses. Focus on successes, not failures. Focus on the good, not the bad.

Employers hire people for their strengths, not  their weaknesses 

Job Interview Advice

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Culture is More Important than Salary

If you asked a career professional what is the key criteria when assessing which positions to apply for most would answer – salary.

I would disagree. What is more important then a small pay rise is the company culture. An organsiations vision, mission and values set the culture. It is the culture, the day to day running of a business, that indirectly affects employees’ motivation levels.

Let me ask you this – is a £4000 pay rise worth leaving a job you love, to go to an organization that you feel you don’t fit in with? To go from motivation to demotivation? From workplace happiness to workplace misery?

£4000 per year is less then £77 per week – £77 to lose your workplace motivation and career happiness! This article will teach you how to uncover the organisational culture during a job interview, helping you to find the right employer based on what you deem to be important in the workplace.

Happy Career Choice

Content career professionals will work in a job sector that has a natural affinity to their personality, or will for an organization that has a mission the employee believes in. This is easily achieved by taking a career test to help understand what drives you when choosing a new career.

The second factor for career bliss is company culture. Most people fall into a career due to happenstance, but for true workplace satisfaction employees need to find a business that has a culture that links to their motivational traits.

Motivational factors can, on the face of it, look simple – do you prefer wearing a smart or casual dress? Reading this question you may ask “does workplace outfit choice even matter?”

For some people yes; a casual preference employee can feel awkward wearing a suit, or someone who feels professional when wearing a suit feels like they can’t be taken seriously in casual clothes.

Recently I was explaining the motivation of company culture to a friend who works in a professional setting. He joked, saying that people can go to work wearing beach shorts and a loud shirt, but their business won’t ever be that successful if people (employees) are always messing around.

Ever heard of innocent Smoothies? Innocent smoothies are a multimillion business who has company culture at the heart of their business ……and no, you don’t wear suits and ties in their office!

Just read their mission statement: “When we’re old and grey, we want to be able to look back and be really proud of the business we helped create. We think the best way to achieve this is by living the values that are closest to our hearts. Our five values reflect what we are, how we do things, and where we want to be. They hang above every loo in the building so we get to look at them every day.”

How Can You Predict the Company Culture?

In the job interview, you can easily gain an insight into the culture of the business. Vision and mission statements are a good start but not all businesses truly believe in their statements creating a conflict between the face of the organization and the day to day business operations.

Company culture comes down to 3 key elements; the day to day working environment, conflict resolution, and employee engagement. Each of these elements can be discussed in the job interview, helping an applicant make the right choice when offered multiple job offers.

Job Interview Questions for Company Culture

The questions below can be asked throughout the job interview, at the appropriate time, or during the final section of the interviewer when candidates are given the opportunity to ask some questions of their own.

Day to day working environment

Interview Question 1 – how are staff successes celebrated by the organisation?

Interview Question 2 – how do managers keep employees supported?

Interveiw Question 3 – can employees work from home?

Interveiw Question 4 – how manay managers use to work in team poistions?

Interview Question 5 – do you support staff to taker up voluntary positions during work time?

Conflict resolution

Interveiw Question 6 – how are key company decsions that affect teams made?

Interview Question 7 – are there any conflicts of interest across any departments?

Interview Question 8 – what is the approach to resolve anyconflict?

Interview Question 9 – how do senior leaders and stakeholders engage together?

Interview Question 10 – how is employee feedback collected?

Employee engagement

Interview Question 11 – what is the average duration of an employee working for this firm?

Interveiw Question 12 – describe an normal day for you?

Interveiw Question 13 – how much staff development is on offer?

Interview Question 14 – what is your proudest achievement while working for the organization?

Interview Question 15 – how can the company improve in terms of a supportive environment?

Job Interview Advice