Hello,

My name is Dominic John, a formerly employee of one of the foremost recruiting firm in Nigeria. After over 20 year of meticulous services with several HR recruiting firms in Nigeria and across West Africa, I finally retired to establish my own firm. One thing I thought I should give back to the society and in particular the teeming unemployed young people is to give a rare insight into how all recruitment processes works in particular the interview stage.

These days, it is not just a well packed CV that gives that dream job. From our several years of experience we know that CVs are all pack of lies. Yes! Pack of lies. That is why if you managed to be shortlisted for that job interview, chances are that you will mess up the whole hard work during interview process.

Not many people have heard about “Competency Based Interview”. These are basically the type of interview processes most international organizations like the UN, AU, EU, Shell, Chevron, NNPC, Banks etc are modelling after in drafting out their interview questions. For example, who walked into an interview room and after exchanging pleasantry with the interviewer the next thing that hits at you is a sudden loss of mind. You technically went blank after been asked the first question. Question like: “TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF”. So, how do you start in answering this question? What are the terms to use when answering a simple question like that? The simple question like “Tell me about Yourself has made thousands of candidate booted out of the interview room for lack of basic skills in answering as simple as that.
I happen to stumble upon this forum, and seeing many young graduates here scrambling for jobs bled my heart. What can I do to help I asked myself. In this regard I decided to phantom what I should do to sincerely assist these innocent graduate who are suffering joblessness for no fault of theirs no thanks to the visionless Nigerian government and the crippling economy situation.

Here I outline 40 Tips every Nigerian graduate should know before they walk into that interview room: What due respect to the owner of this forum, I am not here to demand for money from anybody put my interest is purely noble. I am not here to seek any attention but to establish a platform where I can share to young people the wealth of experience I have gathered in the area of Employment and Human Resource management.
As a graduate preparing for an interview, you should know how to answer competency based questions like:
1. Question 1. Can you tell me a little about yourself
2. Question 2. Why are you leaving your last job
3. Question 3 What is your greatest weakness
4. Question 4 What is your greatest strength
5. Question 5 Where do you see yourself being in 3-5 years from now
6. Question 6 Why should we hire you
7. Question 7 What do you know about this organization
8. Question 8 Why do you want this job
9. Question 9 Let's talk about salary. What are you looking for
10. Question 10. Do you have any questions for us
11. Question 11. Are you a team player
12. Question 12. What is the biggest mistake you have ever made
13. Question 13. Why is there a gap in your work history
14. Question 14. Tell me about a problem you have solved
15. Question 15. What do you dislike about your last job
16. Question 16. What has been your greatest achievement
17. Question 17. Tell me about any issues you've had with a previous boss
18. Question 18. Tell me a suggestion you have made that was implemented
19. Question 19. Would you rather work for money or job satisfaction
20. Question 20. Has anything ever irritated you about people you've worked with (1)
21. Question 21. What relevant experience do you have
22. Question 22. How are you when you're working under pressure
23. Question 23. What is your biggest failure
24. Question 24. How would your boss, supervisors and co-workers describe you
25. Question 25. What sort of person do you not like to work with
26. Question 26. What have you done to improve your skills, knowledge in the last year
27. Question 27. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it
28. Question 28. Do you know anyone that works with our company
29. Question 29. How long do you want to work for us if we hire you
30. Question 30. Are you willing to work overtime
31. Question 31. What is your dream job
32. Question 32. Describe your work ethic
33. Question 33. What other companies are you interviewing with
34. Question 34. Are you willing to travel or relocated if necessary
35. Question 35. What was the most difficult decision for you to make
36. Question 36. Describe a major goal you've set for yourself recently
37. Question 37. What will you do if you don't get this job
38. Question 38. What motivates you at the workplace
39. Question 39. How do you measure success
40. Question 40. Describe your management style

The lists of Competency Based Questions are never exhaustive as I cannot list all of them here. Remember this is a rare interview secrete I am giving you for free. Due to lack of adequate space here to extensively discuss all that you need to do to get prepared for that interview, you are free to visit my little blog at www.JobGuide274.com for interesting facts.
Your partner in progress.

Helpful thanks for sharing

Nice job @OP.

My little advice,most nairalanders won't click your URL,I will advice you post everything here(trust me,there is enough space).You can be taking it bit by bit.

Thanks once again for your passion to impact lives.Cheers

thanks @op.

however, with your years of experience, I am sure u have a lot of contacts of companies and associates. I am currently looking for a job, kindly refer me and/or link mei to a company or recruiter so I can really benefit from this tips.!

I studied chemical engineering...thanks