I. Do you use Facebook and/or Twitter?

The interviewer may be trying to catch you out here. Employers sometimes
worry that they're going to end up taking on an old fuddy-duddy who doesn't like to
learn new ways of working. So be careful not to say something like ‘Oh no, I'd never
waste my time on something as trivial as that!’ Such a response could be taken as
evidence that you're a technophobe who'd be difficult to train.

Of course the answer to the question should definitely be a ‘yes’ if using either
website might be a part of the job – for example, if you're going to be working in
marketing or public relations.

If you've never used either website, give them a go now for at least a couple
of weeks. That way, even if you don't continue using them, you can formulate an
opinion on them.

If you don't like either website, be sure to explain why in your response. That
way, you can prove that you're not the kind of person who dismisses things without at
least trying them:

"I was on Facebook, but I had concerns about privacy so I deleted my account. I
noticed that their terms and conditions changed frequently and I wasn't sufficiently
convinced that the private photos of my family and children couldn't be shared and
viewed more widely without my explicit consent. However, I can see that it's a great
tool for a business to market itself and engage with lots of people quickly and
cheaply."

"I did try Twitter for several months and followed several news outlets. However, I
found that the news outlets merely tweeted about content already on their websites
that I could access directly. Having said that, I appreciate that Twitter could be
used by television producers as a way to engage viewers with live television shows."

Bravo Op.



This is a complete vitality pack. Your invaluable contribution will go a long way to enlighten and educate so many about packaging themselves for that interview.


The thread is rich I must confess. Keep the good work.

This should be on front page Seun, lalasticlala

butanep:
Bravo Op.



This is a complete vitality pack. Your invaluable contribution will go a long way to enlighten and educate so many about packaging themselves for that interview.


The thread is rich I must confess. Keep the good work.

This should be on front page Seun, lalasticlala

Thank you bro. Most of the work are not mine though, just trying to help fellow Nigerians.

AMZYMAYO:

Thank you bro. Most of the work are not mine though, just trying to help fellow Nigerians.

You are a patriotic Nigerian.


May God replenished your time & effort.

J. What would your boss say about you?

A good answer alludes to some of the skills or qualities that the interviewers are
looking for. Your cause won't be helped if your boss thought you were great at
analysing quantitative data on your own if the job requires someone who can work on
qualitative data in a team.

Treat this question as if the interviewers had asked you the question: What
would your boss say are your good points? Emphasising your weaknesses is
pointless unless the interviewers specifically ask for them.

"She would say that I'm someone who is totally reliable and a safe pair of hands
for any difficult work that she might need doing. She also asks me to deputise for
her in committee meetings.

K. In your last appraisal, what was said about your Performance

Unfortunately, appraisals often have the tendency of focusing more on
development areas and weaknesses than what you are good at, but your answer to this
question should focus on your achievements rather than your failings.

"I was pleased that my manager said that I had made significant progress
toward becoming an area manager. I had succeeded in restoring good relationships
with our suppliers and putting in place new service-level agreements with them.
Our performance is also rated across five key skill categories, and I was pleased
that I was rated as ‘above average’ on four of them, and ‘exceptional’ on one."

Another common variant on this question is: What goals did your boss set for
you in your last appraisal? If this question is asked, describe the goals briefly, but
then spend most of the time talking about the actions or steps that you have been taking
(or intend to take) to reach those goals.

"My boss thought that I should aim to boost my department's staff satisfaction
score from its current 75 percent to 80 percent. I now plan to have a number of
away-days for the entire team to discuss our quarterly targets and how best to
achieve them. And I am putting in place a coaching programme to ensure that the
junior managers are spending at least an hour a week talking to each of their direct
reports about the issues affecting them."

You did a great job

venix:
You did a great job

God bless, thank you.

L. How do you think you can improve on your performance?

The interviewer is now asking you specifically about any areas for development or
improvement.
Talk about not only why you failed to reach some of your targets, but also
what you have since planned to do to reach them in the future. And, if possible, talk
about what benefits you are seeing as a result of your new approach.

"My manager felt that while I'm very good at getting my work done, I need to be
a bit more strategic in my outlook. He said that I have a tendency to focus on my own immediate piece of work, but not to look at the bigger picture. Since then I
have been making a concerted effort to talk to the rest of the team more frequently
to ensure that my own work ties more closely into the overall project's objectives. It
has already helped us to spot some potential problems and deal with them before
they affect the quality of our output."

M. What would your colleagues say about you?

This question is a common alternative to What would your boss say about you?
(a question covered earlier). While your boss may say that you are
better than others in the team at certain skills, your team mates are unlikely to use the
same sort of language.

Think about the contribution that you make to the team. What is it that you can
always be relied upon to do? Or what sorts of problems or issues do your colleagues
tend to come to you with? Make sure that your answer marks you out as an invaluable
part of the team:

"I think they would say that I tend to play the devil's advocate. I'm the kind of person
who can see the problems with an idea or argument quite quickly. That doesn't
mean that I'll automatically be negative about an idea, but it does mean that I can
ask the right questions and point out the flaw so that we can think about how to
make the idea more workable instead."

"My colleagues tend to see me as the person that they can come and talk to when
they're feeling down. If they're having a bad day, they know that I lend a
sympathetic ear. Sometimes they just take the opportunity to vent their frustrations
and let of steam. But sometimes they are stumped by a problem and I tend to be
quite good at seeing how they might deal with a situation."

N. How would your team describe you?

This question only applies if you manage or are sometimes responsible for a team
of more junior people. You're being asked to rate your own ability as a leader,
manager or supervisor.

" I think my team would say that I'm a fair and open manager. I try to get to
know what sort of work they enjoy and what they are good or bad at. I try to give
them work that they will find challenging but at the same time enjoyable. Once I've set my team a piece of work, I try to avoid checking up on them too much. At the
same time, I have an open-door policy so that they can come to me with any
problems whenever they need to."

Other key words used to describe desirable management styles include
‘empowering’ and ‘Democratic.

O. How do you think your friends would describe you?

Your friends are unlikely to comment on your work skills. So focus more on the
qualities and characteristics that make you a good person to know. Good qualities to
mention include:

*A friendly and outgoing nature
*Sense of humour
*Reliability or loyalty
*Tact and ability to keep confidences
*Persistence, ambition or determination
*Willingness to get up after being knocked down

"My friends would say that I'm quite ambitious. I'm the kind of person who sets
goals and then sets out to achieve them – for example, I didn't want to get too much
into debt while at university so kept looking until I found a part-time job that I
could juggle at the same time as my studies. But while I'm ambitious, I don't take
myself too seriously. I'm good fun to be around and have a strongly ironic sense of
humour."

Pick traits or attributes relevant for the job. For example, if applying for a job
as a receptionist at a doctor's surgery, saying that your friends would say that you have
a great sense of humour and are a constant practical joker may be less helpful than the
fact they find you tactful and a pillar of strength when they are feeling unhappy.

P. Everyone has some kind of fault – what would other people
say your faults are?

In this question, ‘other people’ can refer to your colleagues, your friends or your
team. If you have answered any of the previous handful of questions by describing the
good stuff about yourself (as you should always do), a particularly canny interviewer
then tends to follow up by asking about some of the bad stuff, too. However, the word
‘fault’ is quite strong – it suggests that you have a major flaw in your character. So
beat the interviewers at their own game by preparing a story about a minor failing
instead.

When talking about any faults, weaknesses or areas for improvement, it's
critical that you talk about the steps or actions that you take to limit or compensate for
them, as shown in the following examples:

"Of course I'm not perfect. I know that I can get very enthusiastic about new ideas
and can come across to some people as a bit impatient. It's just that I get too keen
about a project that I think has real benefits. So nowadays I try to keep in mind that
I need to slow down to avoid bulldozing others."

"When I'm under pressure, I know that I can get a little uncommunicative. If I've got
too much to do, I like to get my head down and get on with it. So on those rare
occasions, people have said that I'm not my usually fun self. But when I've got the
work out of the way, I quickly snap out of it."

Q. Do you prefer to work on your own or in a team?

Teamworking skills are highly prized in most organisations. At the same time
though, don't imply that you are completely hopeless and unable to concentrate when a
task requires you to work independently of others.
This question has no single right answer. Your approach to the question
depends on the nature of the job. Take a few seconds to think about how much time the
job would require you to spend working in a team versus working on your own.
If, for example, the job requires you to work almost constantly in a team, an
answer such as the following may be appropriate:

"I can work on my own, but to be honest I get the biggest buzz from working in a
fast-paced team. I like having people around me constantly to bounce ideas off.
When there are lots of creative people around you, it doesn't feel like work to me."

If a job requires extensive periods of working independently but also intense
bursts of working in a team, try:

"To be honest I get my best work done when I can sit quietly and think on my
own – so that's why I'm attracted to this job because you're offering the successful
candidate the opportunity to work from home for up to three days a week. However,
I couldn't work from home all week because I'd miss the human contact – so again
this job is attractive because I would get the opportunity to share ideas with the rest of the team on those days in office.

R. We all have a team role – what would you say your role
tends to be?

Are you a leader or a follower? Are you the person who comes up with the ideas
or the person who can more easily see the flaws in other people's ideas? Do you tend
to look at the long-term possibilities of an idea or are you more attuned to any
immediate practical applications? Whatever the case, make sure that you can say that
you have something of value to add to a team.

As with most interview questions, no single right answer exists. Relate your
answer to the nature of the job. For example, if you are applying for a supervisory or
managerial job, talk about the fact that others tend to defer to you and that you enjoy
being in charge. Or if interviewed for a technical role, talk about occasions when you
have introduced your specialist knowledge into team discussions.
These team-related examples give you some ideas:

"I tend to be an optimist and motivator within the team. While I admit that I may not
be the most creative person in the team, I can spot a good idea when I hear it and I
do my best to get everybody talking about it. And after a team meeting, I can be
relied upon to follow up on the idea, do a bit of research on it and canvass opinion
across the rest of the organisation before the next team meeting."

"I'm incredibly flexible when it comes to working in teams and one of the things that
I most enjoy about my current job is the fact that I don't have a fixed role. I think
I'd get bored if I was always doing the same thing in the team. But the fact that we
are constantly shifting roles on different projects means that I get a lot of variety.
And this is one of the features that attracts me to this role with you."

S. Do you have good presentation skills?

Be careful of falling into the trap of saying that you are fantastic at absolutely
everything. If good presentation skills are one of the key handful of skills necessary for
the job, then of course you need to talk up your ability. But if you would only need to
give presentations occasionally, be more measured in your response.
Some people are good at standing up and talking to a large audience on the
spur of the moment with no preparation; others need to prepare their PowerPoint
demonstration, write their speech and rehearse it. Which approach do you need to be
good at in the job that you're applying for?
Compare the following two examples relating to different jobs:

"Standing up and giving presentations is something that I really enjoy, and I've had
a lot of practice at it, so yes, I think I have excellent presentation skills. I do lots of
different presentations from standing up in team meetings and giving a brief
summary of my week's work to writing out a speech for an hour-long keynote
presentation at a legal conference last month, which they actually filmed and put
onto a DVD for the delegates."

"I would say that I have quite solid presentation skills. We pick a teacher every week
to give a seminar to the whole college. When it's my turn, I always spend a couple
of evenings creating a PowerPoint presentation and writing bullet points onto
pieces of card. Doing that preparation means that I can get my point across in a
clear and effective way."

The first example is more appropriate for someone who needs to do a lot of
public speaking while the second example is better for someone who only needs to
stand up in public occasionally.

find out how to winning job interview on job hunter

T. How would you rate your customer service skills?

The key to success in dealing with customers is having good listening skills and
being able to grit your teeth and stay calm no matter how angry or unpleasant
customers are. Make sure that you mention these qualities when constructing your
answer. And don't forget to give a solid example of putting your customer service
skills into action.

"I think I have very good customer skills because I always put myself in their
shoes and think how I would like to be treated if I were a customer. Just last week, I
had a customer who came into the store wanting to buy one of the new season's
skirts in her size. But we didn't have a size 14 on the sales floor and I couldn't find
one in the storeroom. I suggested that she try one of the other stores in the city. I
called a couple of the other branches and found one that had a size 14 in stock and
told them to put it to one side for her. But she was a tourist and didn't know how to
get from our store to the other location, so I went out with her to the street to hail
her a taxi to take her there."

One of the best examples to give is dealing with an initially angry or unhappy
customer's complaint and ending up with a happy or even delighted customer. Or think
about a time when you went out of your way to satisfy a customer's requests even
though it was not necessarily your job to do so. Don't give an example that involves
having to refer a customer to your manager or another department as it demonstrates to
the interviewer that you're the type of person who shirks their problems. Similarly,
don't let your story end up with the customer storming off because you couldn't resolve
the situation for them.

If meeting customers on a daily basis, you need to show that you're using these
skills all the time. Make sure that you pick a recent example from the last couple of
weeks or months. Going any further back in time may suggest to the interviewers that
you only choose to use your customer service skills on special occasions!

U. How are you at handling conflict?

This is a trick question, because simply wading in and saying that you are very
good at handling conflict may imply that you get into lots of arguments and disagreements with other people. Unless you are applying to be an armed
peacekeeper, a more sensible tactic may be to start off by saying that you don't tend to
get into many conflict situations.

Most people tend to be fairly bad at dealing with conflict. Some people are
too aggressive and get others’ backs up while others are too passive and back down
when they should be standing up for their rights. A good balance between the two is to
be able to explain that you try to assert yourself on key points but remain flexible on
others.

"When I'm dealing with customers, I realise that it's my job to take some of the
flak when they're unhappy. If you try to argue back with them, that will only
escalate the situation, so I always apologise on behalf of the company and try to
find out what went wrong. I find that if you're sincere enough in your apology and
explain that you are going to do your best to try to sort the situation out, the
customer quickly calms down."

V. We need someone who is tactful and diplomatic – how does
that profile fit you?

Are you the kind of person who can tell a white lie or bite their lip in order to
spare someone's feelings? Or are you the kind of person who would just blurt out, Yes,
that dress does make you look fat. While most organisations would be disappointed
with people who tell lies or don't speak their mind all the time, they do want
employees to be able to choose the right time and place to speak up.

"I'm very diplomatic because I understand that speaking your mind may not
always be the best course of action. Sometimes you need to think about the right
time and place to make certain comments. For instance, when you want to criticise
someone, I think you should always do it one-to-one and in private rather than
openly, in front of other people."

An interviewer may ask if you have ever lied at work. Be careful when
answering, as different organisations have different views on the extent to which it is
appropriate or acceptable to hide the truth. For example, most businesses would say
that lying to customers outside of the company is more acceptable than lying to
colleagues within the company. Only a fine line separates a white lie from an outright
falsification, so think through your answer carefully.

W. How do you take personal criticism?

A person who can't take personal criticism is a pain to work with. No one wants
to work with someone who automatically takes offence at the slightest suggestion that
her work is not perfect. And, no one likes a person whose bottom lip starts to wobble
because he perceives criticism as an attack on his self-esteem. Here's a good
response:

"I welcome constructive criticism if I think that it is justified. If I think that my
manager has a valid point, then I take it on board and think about how to improve
my performance the next time that situation crops up. But if I don't think that it's
fair, then I'll keep asking questions until I understand where my manager's coming
from. And if I don't agree with all of their points or feel that they have got the
wrong end of the stick, then I try to explain my point of view."

Be careful not to give the interviewers the impression that you're a complete
doormat. A world of a difference exists between listening to fair and constructive
criticism and paying attention to all manner of criticism whether it's warranted or not.

Hope you are learning one or two things? Am always glad to help. This is the end of this part, the next part will start tomorrow.

Why not try to do your own work: make those work your own by editing your profile into them. Answer them as if you have been invited to work for shell company.

Part 3- Questions about your work.

Responding to Questions about Your Work

Your CV is only a brief summary of your
entire career and cannot possibly capture all the activities that you actually did in each
of your previous jobs. And most interviewers would rather hear it from the horse's
mouth than read the details – so be sure to memorise your career history and be ready
to talk through each of the jobs on your CV.

Relate all your answers to the kinds of skills and characteristics that the
interviewers are looking for in the role you're being interviewed for. Don't simply
rehearse the same answers for all the different interviews that you go to, as different
organisations may want slightly different skills.

A. What does your day-to-day job involve?

Don't get bogged down in describing all the details of your current job. If you list
every single action or duty that you have, you will quickly bore the interviewer. The
way to shine when answering this question is to focus on three, four – or at most five –
key areas of responsibility that you think the interviewers may be looking for.

"I'm responsible for all our company's graphic design needs. In practice, this breaks
down into three main areas. The first is to produce the monthly newsletter that goes
out to all our customers. So I have to chase different departments to write the
sections of the newsletter and then assemble them in an attractive format. Secondly,
I work with the marketing team when they want to design new logos to accompany
new products. And thirdly, I'm responsible for ensuring that all the correspondence
that goes out to customers is consistent with our brand by checking up on
employees at all levels of the company and educating them about our standard
document formats."

"As a senior associate, I run a team of six lawyers in the corporate law practice
working directly with the partner. I am responsible for the day-to-day management
of the lawyers, which includes managing their workload, ensuring that their work is
of a high quality and coaching and developing them so that they can take on work
of an increasingly more difficult nature. I also act as a liaison between the firm and
the client, making sure that the client is happy. But most importantly, I'm looking out for opportunities to deepen the client relationship so that the client will use us
for other transactions.

B. How did you get your last job?

You often hear people saying that job hunting is a job in itself. Answering this
question is an opportunity for you to show your tenacity in chasing down a job. If you went through a lengthy and difficult selection process, you may win a few extra points for explaining the steps that you had to go through to get the job.

"Last year our company announced that it was restructuring the company and
creating six new regional manager positions. All the 300 or so existing area
managers were invited to apply, which involved completing a ten-page application
form and submitting various letters of reference. I believe that about 200 of us
applied for the new positions. I put in my application and was invited to attend an
assessment centre in which we had to complete a battery of psychometric tests. We
were also interviewed by a psychologist and had to give a presentation to one of the
regional directors. The successful applicants were then invited to a second-round
panel interview, which consisted of the three regional directors, a finance
representative and the director of human resources. At the end of a rather gruelling
two-hour interview, I was successful in securing the position."

If applying for a position requiring a lot of networking on the job – such as in
sales or business development – you may again win brownie points by talking about how you networked your way into the job.

"I had been reading the appointments sections of newspapers for a while to see
if any opportunities existed in my field, but hadn't seen any for ages. So I started
ringing people I knew and explained that I was looking to move out of the finance
sector and into consumer goods. I didn't ask them for a job, but asked if they knew
any people who could talk to me about the consumer goods industry. It took quite a
while and a lot of phone calls and meetings, but eventually I found my way to the
managing director of my current employer who was willing to give someone like me
a chance."

C. What do you like about your current job?

Even though the perks of the job may really be your favourite bit – such as a
subsidised canteen, six weeks annual holiday and an easy-going boss – a good answer focuses on the fact that your current job gives you the opportunity to exercise certain skills. A great answer would focus on how you exercise skills that are uncannily similar to the ones mentioned in the job advert.

"I like the fact that I'm helping line managers to make decisions that can have a very
large impact on the success or failure of the company. Of course I spend some of my time analysing the weekly financial performance of individual departments. But
once I have those numbers, I can get out and spend time helping the line managers
to make decisions about how to allocate their budgets and spend their time. And the
fact that I'm working with non-accountants to help them understand the principles
of financial management is probably the most satisfying part of my job."

"What I enjoy most about my job is that each day can be very different. One day I
can be carrying out safety checks and inspections on the machines and equipment.
The next, I could be installing or upgrading electrical circuits. Or I could be
working with the managers to develop improvements to the maintenance
procedures."

D. What do you dislike about your work?

An interviewer may find it hard to swallow if you claim that you enjoy every
single aspect of your work. Everyone has minor dislikes or frustrations with their
work, and you need to be ready to talk about some of them. Your tactic can be to talk about factors outside of your control – for example, unwieldy organisational
procedures to follow or inefficient systems that do not allow you to work as
productively as you would like to. Using this tactic may be a good idea if you are
fairly certain that the situation is different in the interviewers’ organisation.

You don't want to sound permanently unhappy in your job, or you can come
across as a grumpy individual that the interviewers would be better off rejecting. Be
very careful to make it clear to the interviewers that you rarely feel frustrated or
irritated by these factors.

"In my current role, I have to travel to all the branches in the entire north of
England, so I spend about four days out of five on the road. I used to enjoy it, but
now the appeal is starting to wear of and I have increasingly been thinking about
taking a head of ice role. One of the attractions of coming here today is that I
would be based in the Leeds of ice at least three days a week."

When asked about what you dislike in your job, you may want to talk about a
necessary evil that your job entails, such as the need to complete an incessant amount of paperwork. But be careful to ensure that paperwork (or any other element of a job) isn't going to be a key part of the job before talking about how much you dislike it!

"I don't think there is anything in particular that I really dislike in my job. I
enjoy meeting suppliers and building the relationships between our company and
each of theirs. I guess if I had to think of something, then it's the paperwork that I
have to complete once I get back to the office. But I realise that the documentation
is important and once I've got it done, I can focus on the tasks that I enjoy more."

E. How is your performance measured?

Although this question asks you to talk about the way in which your performance
is measured, what the interviewer is really interested in is the extent to which you fall behind, meet or exceed your targets or objectives.
Most people have targets or objectives set on an annual or perhaps quarterly
basis. If you are not familiar with your goals, dig out your last appraisal in order to
prepare the answer to this question. In some jobs, such as a call centre operator or a retail sales assistant, you may even have daily targets to meet. But interviewers are not interested in your performance on a day-to-day basis; your performance over a longer period of time such as a month or a quarter is what really matters.

"My performance is measured against about a dozen criteria, but I have two
main objectives that make up over 70 per cent of whether I get an end-of-year
bonus or not. One objective is my management of a cost budget and the other is the
extent to which I minimise manufacturing downtime. In the first quarter of the year,
I'm ahead of both targets by between three to four percent."

If you are falling behind with any of your targets or objectives, make sure that
you have good reasons to explain why.

"I have three main objectives for the year. The first is to generate £100,000
worth of new business. The second is to deliver £180,000 of consulting work in a
year. And the third is to accrue a certain number of personal development points by
reading books, attending workshops and finding out about competitors’ activities.
In the first half of the year, I achieved 113 per cent of my consulting delivery
target. I'm also ahead of the game in terms of my personal development points.
However, I've only managed to generate 85 per cent of my new business target – but that's mainly because I've been so busy doing consultancy work that I haven't had the chance to attend many conferences and to network."

Many managers are measured against a balanced business scorecard,
comprising elements such as financial performance, customer satisfaction, staff
satisfaction and innovation. If you're measured in this way, make sure you can
describe your performance against target for all the major elements of your job. And if you're not meeting your target in any particular area, you can bet that the interviewer will want to talk about it in more detail – so be ready with some answers.

F. What have you learned in each of your previous jobs?

This question can be taken in two different ways. The interviewer may be asking,
What skills have you learned in each of your previous jobs? or What lessons have
you learned in each of your previous jobs? Rather than making an assumption, clarify what information the interviewer is seeking. So begin by asking: Would you rather I talk about the skills I picked up in each of my jobs or the lessons that I learned? If the interviewer is interested in skills rather than lessons, talk about a
transferable skill you picked up in each job relevant to the job you're applying for:

"Going back to the beginning, Robinson and Partners was my first job, so I
learnt a lot about working on projects, setting goals and working to deadlines. At
Recruitment Solutions, I got the opportunity to hone my client-handling skills
because I was working with a wide range of companies, from small companies to
large employers. In my current role, I am supervising two trainees, so I've become
very good at delegating work clearly and then coaching and explaining when they
have any problems."

Here's an example of a response if the interviewer is more interested in your
philosophical take on your career:

"In my job at Mail Express, I learnt that you can't let people down. When you
say you're going to do something, then you just have to get on with it and do it.
There was one occasion when I stayed in the office until after midnight because I
didn't want to disappoint the marketing team. In my current role, I've learnt about
the importance of office politics. I've observed plenty of occasions when people's
ideas have been shot down not because they were bad ideas, but because the people suggesting them were insufficiently friendly with the managing director."

When you ask whether the interviewers are more interested in the skills you
acquired or the lessons you learned, they can easily say Both! So be ready to give a
full response to the question.

G. Why did you leave each previous employer?

If the interviewers are asking you this question, then they may have a concern that
you are the kind of person who flits from one company to the next. If the company
were to offer you a job, are you likely to join them for good or get bored and move on
after only a couple of months? The interviewers may have this concern if they read on your CV that you've had a number of jobs but stayed in each of them for less than 18 months or so.

In reality, people leave one company to join another for all sorts of reasons.
But some reasons are more acceptable in the eyes of interviewers than others. Try to focus on the positive reasons that led you to move to a new company rather than dwell overly on the negative aspects of the job that made you want to leave your last one.
Some of the most acceptable reasons for leaving include:

*Seeking greater responsibility: "I enjoyed my time there, but after only a year, the
other teachers were telling me what a fantastic job I was doing and that they
wished I was head of department. Unfortunately the incumbent was showing no
signs of wanting to leave, so I realised I would need to find a new school if I wanted
to progress."

*Wanting more of a challenge: "I was managing a number of mid-sized accounts at
that company and quickly got to grips with the role. Within a year, I realised that I
was ready for more of a challenge to keep me interested and on my toes, so I moved
companies. I'm still managing similarly-sized accounts, but they tend to be more
complex in nature."

*Searching for greater security: "I had joined that business believing it was a stable
place to work. Unfortunately it went through a couple of rounds of redundancy and
I didn't feel that it was of ering me an environment in which I could do my best
work, so I was looking to join a more established and stable company."

*Seeking full-time employment: "I was originally hired to provide maternity cover
for six months. The other executive decided to take another three months of and
was willing to do a job share with me when she returned, but I'm now looking for a
full-time job in which I can fully immerse myself."

*Wanting to develop yourself: My goal has always been to move into general
management. In my previous roles I was getting a lot of experience of managing the
cost side of the equation, but I was lacking the experience of managing the revenue
side. So I deliberately sought out a move into sales and marketing by joining that
next company."

Finish off with a statement to assure the interviewers that you are now ready to
settle down into a career with a single employer:

"I realise that I have moved around a couple of times in my career already. But
all those moves have helped me to develop particular skills. I am now ready to stay
with one employer so long as they are able to offer me good development
opportunities.

H. Are you a good manager?

I'm sure you realise that answering anything other than ‘yes’ to this question is
foolish if you're applying for a managerial role. But rather than just saying ‘yes’, make sure you explain in a couple of sentences why you think you're a good manager.
For example, you can mention three or four of the key skills that you exercise as a
manager. The following list may help you:

*Delegating work, supervising it and checking for mistakes.
*Coaching, developing or mentoring members of your team.
*Creating a vision or business strategy for your department or business unit.
*Working with the management team or board on issues affecting the whole
organisation.
*Inspiring or motivating your team to achieve results.
*Shaping the atmosphere or culture within your team or department.

For a very senior role, focus on the more strategic side of management:

"Yes, I think that my team would say that I am a good manager. Having such a
large team, I rely on my direct reports to manage the department on a day-to-day
basis. My role is to coach my direct reports and hopefully help them to progress to
larger roles elsewhere in the business. The majority of my time is spent interfacing
with other departments and working with the rest of the management team on the
strategic management of the overall business."

If you have only had limited supervisory experience, give a more measured
response:

"Yes, I'm a good manager because I try to understand what the members of my
team are good or not so good at. That understanding allows me to delegate work
that plays to each individual's strengths.

I. How would you describe your current company?

While bad-mouthing your current company too much makes you sound like a
terminally miserable individual, talking in overly glowing terms about the company
simply won't ring true either. If your current company really is such a fantastic place to work, why are you leaving?

Try to mention twice as many good points as bad points when describing your
current employer. And finish off your response by referring to specific aspects of the
interviewers’ organisation that you find attractive.

Here are some examples of responses that meet the two-thirds to one-third rule:

"It's a good place to work. The directors are very transparent in their decision
making, so we all feel very involved in the direction of the company and the
decisions that are made. We also have quite a cohesive team, so we're friends as
well as colleagues, and we make the effort to go out for lunch or a drink a couple of
times a month. The only down side is that the company hasn't grown much in the
last couple of years, which means that there has been almost no opportunity for
promotion. And that's the main reason that I'm looking to join a growing business
such as yours."

"The company is growing fairly quickly and as such it's an exciting place to work
because we have so many new projects to work on. The company prides itself on its
culture of focusing on results rather than how we work. So we dress casually in the
office and the managers let us work from home as often as we like so long as it
doesn't affect our ability to do the work. The only reason I'm looking to leave is
because the company has a policy that means that I can't transfer from my current
role into an account executive role. Obviously, your company is rather more
progressive in that respect, which brings me here today.