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Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Havilah93(m): 7:15am On Jun 22, 2012
Have you ever wondered why an interviewer asks certain interview questions? Some of the questions seem so vague and random that it can be hard to figure out the logic behind the interview process. What’s right? What’s wrong? What does the hiring manager really want to hear? Below is a quick guide to the translations for some of the most common interview questions.

Question: Tell me about yourself.

Translation: Why should I hire you?

Recommended response. Don’t take the question too literally. Hiring managers don’t want to hear that you grew up on a small farm in Kansas or that you enjoy world travel. Furthermore, they don’t want to hear that you are a great communicator, team player, and fast learner. They want you to show tangible proof of why you would be a good fit for their organization. Outline two to four of your key competencies and couple each competency with proof of success. For example an operations professional might showcase one of his/her competencies by saying, “I have strong project management skills and can quickly resolve customer inquiries. For example, in my last job, I resolved 98 percent of all pending customer inquiries within 24 hours which was 50 percent faster than the company’s expectation for problem resolution.

Question: What is your weakness?

Translation: We know what your weakness is. Prove to us it’s not a liability for this position.

Recommended response. Before your interview address any potential obstacles that the hiring manager may pick up on. Perhaps it is your lack of knowledge with a specific software or your lack of experience in a particular industry. Show how you would overcome these obstacles or demonstrate how you have overcome similar obstacles in the past. For example, if you apply for a position that requires a certain technical skill and you have limited experience, give an example of another software you are proficient in and how you gained that proficiency to prove that your current limited knowledge is a minor liability that can be quickly overcome.

Question: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Translation: Do you have a realistic perspective on what this job/company is about?

Recommended Response. Craft a response that makes sense for the employer’s business environment. If it is a small company, don’t say you expect to have a position with increasing responsibility — that may not be feasible in their organization. If you are taking a job as an accountant just to get a foot in the door of the company but really want to be a controller, don’t bring that up during the interview. The hiring manager needs to know that you are committed to the job you are applying for, not already thinking about a new job. You can mention that you see yourself in a position where you can continue to learn and contribute to the company’s bottom line and give an example of how you were able to successfully do that at a previous organization. This answer will help managers feel confident in your level of commitment to the current job and your future commitment to the organization.

Question: What have you been doing since your last position ended?

Translation: Why have you been out of work so long?

Recommended response. Discuss any volunteer or consulting assignments you may have had in the interim. If you have been actively interviewing but haven’t been extended an offer, you can mention that you have been interviewing but haven’t found the right fit yet. If you have had limited activity, you can let the hiring manager know that you have been using this time to evaluate your skills, craft your resume, conduct informational interviews, and network within professional circles. Obviously saying you’ve been watching re-runs of 20 consecutive seasons of ‘Law & Order’ won’t go over well, so stick to discussing the professional activities you have been involved in.

Question: Are you interviewing with other companies?

Translation: Are you worth investing some time in or are you about to take another offer?

Recommended response. Generally it’s best to be somewhat vague in your response, particularly if you are at the beginning of your search. If it is early on, let the employer know that you have just begun the interview process. If you have been in search mode for awhile, let them know that you have been actively searching but haven’t found the right fit yet.

Question: Tell me about the accomplishment you are most proud of.

Translation: Is your past experience similar to what we need you to do here?

Recommended response. The accomplishment you are most proud of might not be the one that is most relevant to the organization’s needs. Showcase an accomplishment that proves you have the specific competencies to do the job they need you to do. The story you select may be different for different interviews. That’s OK. You can be proud of more than one accomplishment, and it is more important to showcase the right accomplishment than it is to bring up the achievement that brought you the greatest personal satisfaction.

Question: Tell me about a time when you lacked the appropriate resources to do your job and how you handled it.

Translation: We are severely understaffed or we don’t have a budget for anything.

Recommended response. Give an example that proves that you have been in this situation before and that you can do more with less. But if you notice this is a running theme throughout the interview, proceed with caution. You could be setting yourself up to assume an impossible role with very limited support.

Question: How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

Translation: Are you analytical, how do you solve problems, or do you mind if we just want to mess with your head?

Recommended Response. This type of question is often referred to as a brain teaser. Interviewers don’t expect you to know the answer, but they will want to see how you tackle figuring out a strategy to come up with an answer. These questions tend to be most popular in high-tech companies, but job candidates in other industries sometimes get them as well.

http://www.careersolvers.com/blog/2011/09/19/common-interview-questions-and-what-they-mean/

31 Likes

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by slimming: 5:17pm On Jul 05, 2012
Let have more of this guy. Thanks
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by infolib: 5:29pm On Jul 05, 2012
This is a laudable post. One of the most informing, educative and knowledgable i've seen on NL frontpage in recent times....,@op, thumbs up

1 Like

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by charlesdike: 5:34pm On Jul 05, 2012
nice post boss but wer did u get al dis info from? Genaral manager? Experiance? Website? Or ?
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Korrection(m): 5:35pm On Jul 05, 2012
I love this...Copied and Saved....Our unemployed youths need this..one of the most educative posts on NL...thank you very much
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Nobody: 5:41pm On Jul 05, 2012
Omo..
I dun subscribe!
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Afam4eva(m): 5:44pm On Jul 05, 2012
This is great.

Now, how's someone supposed to answer the last question?
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Burger01(m): 5:47pm On Jul 05, 2012
Nice stuff...
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Ayorh4you(m): 5:53pm On Jul 05, 2012
@poster, tnx alot 4 dis educative post. Iv bn wantin 2 c posts lyk dis on NL. Tnx so much. Its good 4 serving corpers lyk us
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Burger01(m): 5:55pm On Jul 05, 2012
afam4eva: This is great.

Now, how's someone supposed to answer the last question?

Yeah, how could I possibly answer the last question?
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by walley112: 5:55pm On Jul 05, 2012
Please what is d best response to d last question?
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by EnnyP(f): 6:04pm On Jul 05, 2012
Nice one. Helpful too.
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Azubreezy(m): 6:05pm On Jul 05, 2012
Absolutely Brilliant
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by uniQybabs(m): 6:10pm On Jul 05, 2012
Av got an interview line up for next week.. Ds will surely help. Thanks man!
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by kerijay(m): 6:23pm On Jul 05, 2012
Burger01:

Yeah, how could I possibly answer the last question?
question doesn't need an answer,its a brain teaser like he said,so they will watching out for your strategy in trying to answer
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by segunjowo(m): 6:25pm On Jul 05, 2012
Thanks. At least I have learned one or two things here..
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Havilah93(m): 6:26pm On Jul 05, 2012
afam4eva: This is great.

Now, how's someone supposed to answer the last question?
the last question is to test one's level of intelligence, not neccessarily to be answered correctly, its a logical question. All interviews always have one
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by HumanPsycho(m): 6:27pm On Jul 05, 2012
I wouldn't blaim anyone of you guys..... If you're well used to psycological posts you wouldn't be seeing this as new, there are over a thousand websites that offer to treat such topics especially most psycologically inclind sites... My advice you spend sometime reading posts on websites like 'psycologytoday' then you get more of this and other insightful write ups...
For the guys who're asking how the last question should be answered... As you can see they only need your sense of analysis and your ability to arrive at a conclusion and simultaneously checking your confidence personal deductions in short time... You don't have to be specific, just an approximate figure would be enough say like 80,000 stressing that your answer is only approximate and not exact since it could be more or less depending size (ie) height and length of the box together with golf ball diametre... Believe me you, you get an applaud long before you finish... That is only aspect to so many other questions that could be thrown only to check analytical abilities and convey of confidence!! Do some study on psycology it sure helps!! Thanks.

2 Likes

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Jids(m): 6:30pm On Jul 05, 2012
List of 15 most common interview questions and answers

Question 1: Can you tell me something about yourself?
This is typically the first question in the job interview. If you answer it well, you will make a good first impression, feel better and logically have better chances to get a job.
You should focus on work related things in your answer. That means, what you do, what you are good at, what you have done before, what are you looking for in your career, etc.
You can mention your personal life and hobbies briefly, but it is not what the employer is interested in.
Anyway, it is advisable to not spend more than one minute answering this question. It is simply not good to tire the interviewers right in the beginning… This is just a starting question. Good example of an answer can be:
“I like to manage people and work on interesting projects. I have been working for IBM for the past ten years, but am looking for a new challenge right now. I like to do sports, especially football and spend my free time with my wife.

Question 2: Why did you apply for this job?
Interviewers need to understand your intentions. And it is perfectly all right and good for you. If you prepare a good answer to this interview question, you can convince them right in the beginning that you are the best person for the job.
The key thing is to speak about the company, not about you (this will be deeply described later). Anyway, you should definitely spend some time reading company website and the job description, so you know what to answer to this interview question. Here are two good examples:
“I really like the job description and the working duties for this position. I believe that I am the perfect match for the job and can be an asset for your team.”
“I decided to apply because I really like the vision of your company and the possibilities for me there. It is a role where I can use my full potential and really help your company to grow.”

Question 3: Why did you leave your last job? / Why are you planning to leave your job?
Change is a part of life. However, employers want to understand the reasons why you want to make a change, or why you are forced to make a change.
It is important to stay positive on this place and do not mention any negative things about your previous employers. You should simply focus on the future, not on the past. Let me show you few good answers to this interview question.
“My last job was not challenging enough. I was not motivated to wake up to work anymore and I really needed a change. Based on the job description I really believe that I can find what am I looking for in your company.”
“There was a downsizing in our company and similarly to most people in my department, I was fired. However, it is the past. I am ready to utilize the knowledge and experience and start to build my new career in your corporation.”
“I want to be very honest to you. I have been in this company for seven years, achieved great results and help it to become the leader on the market. However, I did never get a raise and was never promoted, although I asked for it. I believe that the results of my work can be rewarded better somewhere else, maybe in your company.”

Question 4: Can you tell me something about your education?
For some employers and for certain positions, your education is very important. Employers use to inquire about it. Degrees like MBA are prestigious and many employers prefer candidates with these forms of degrees.
However, if you do not have it, you can still offer a good answer to this interview question. Try to not focus on the names of the schools, but on the knowledge you gained. Here is an example of a good answer to this interview question.
“I studied in Cambridge. I acquired knowledge from statistics, project management and process management. I was very active during my studies and took part in several practical projects. Overall my studies were really practical and I believe that I am very well prepared for this job of a project manager.

Question 5: Can you tell us something more about your working experience?
You should always pick the most related experience. Many job seekers spend twenty minutes answering this interview question. But it is a mistake. Employer hiring for marketing management position is not interested in your experiences from MC Donald’s, really. You should pick just one or two from your previous jobs and briefly describe what you did there and what you learned there. You can use the following answer for your inspiration.
“I had done a lot of things in my life, what helped me to gain a good overall understanding of business. From 2001 to 2004 I worked like a project manager for Siemens, mostly we were working on smaller energetic projects. I believe that I can utilize the knowledge and contacts I gained during this time in your company. I learned how to budget the project and lead it from the scratch to completion. From my other experience I can briefly mention my position in marketing from 1998 to 2001 and my freelancing experience from 2005 to 2009.”

Question 6: Why should we hire you?
This is probably the most difficult interview question. However, if your answer is convincing enough, it really can convince the employer to hire you!
You should simply focus on your USP (Unique selling point). It means to show the employer something special other candidates can not offer him. To use general phrases will not help you. You simply need to find this unique selling point by yourself. You can use the following answers for your inspiration.
“Well, I have a relevant experience for the job and I am strongly motivated to work for your company.”
“I fulfill all the requirements for the job. However, some other applicants do probably also fulfill it. I think that I am a nice guy and help to create a good atmosphere in the workplace. You can contact my previous employers to question about this.”
“I believe that I bring success with me to the companies. All the companies where I worked were prospering. It is good to have such a worker in your team, isn’t it?”

Question 7: What are your strengths?
Interview questions about strengths and weaknesses are typical. And it is easy to answer it. All you have to do is to pick one or two strengths that are relevant for the job.
“I am very responsible person and always accomplish all my duties.”
“I am a very organized person, what is strongly reflected in my work.”
“I have good communication skills. I believe that communication skills are crucial in every job, but especially in job like this one.”

Question 8: What are your weaknesses?
It is not so important what weaknesses you list here. More important is to define how exactly you try to get rid of your weakness. This is what the employer wants to hear.
Secondly, you should choose the weakness that is not so important for the job you are applying for. This is pretty straight forward and you should manage to do it. Here are some good examples of an answer.
“I am not very patient, what is obviously not good. But I am working on it every day, doing various exercises.”
“Sometimes I struggle to concentrate. However, I practice every day and my concentration has improved over the years.”
“I trust the people too much. It is nice to live with it, but it brought me into many problematic situations in the past. However, as I am getting older I am starting to distinguish who I can trust and who I can not trust.”

Question 9: What are your goals in five years horizon?
Every responsible person has some goals. Employers know this. When questioning you about your goals, they simply want to hear that you have any goals.
However, you can do a mistake here. Some people like to mention that they dream about their own business. This is not a good answer. Companies do not want to hire someone who leaves after two years to start his own business.
Recruiting is too lengthy procedure for this. That’s why you should either choose personal goals, or connect your goals with the company where you are applying for a job. Let’s have a look at good answers to this interview question.
“My goal is to become a better manager and help my employer to achieve good results as much as I can.”
“I want to start a family and have a good position. I believe that your company is a right place to realize my goals.”
“I would like to be promoted in five years and have a really good job in a really good company – like yours one.”

Question 10: What are your biggest achievements so far?
Achievements are more important for the employers than your experiences. This is a fact. Other fact is that everyone of us has some achievements. We just sometimes do not realize it. You should think about it for a while.
Employers can be impressed by both tangible and intangible achievements. If you was a heavy smoker before and was able to quit smoking, it shows that you have a strong determination and will. Think about it…
Our life is full of achievements. You just need to choose some for your answers to interview questions. Just like our job applicants did in their answers.
“I was able to run marathon under 3:30. I trained for it very hard and it strengthen me both physically and mentally.”
“When I worked like a sales manager in Cobeco Inc., the sales of the company grew by 20 percent every year.”
“I became a better person over the years. I learned to listen to the others and see the good in people. I consider this as my biggest achievement.”

Question 11: What characterize a good boss/ colleague from your point of view?
In most of the companies, you will not work alone. Interviewers try to understand if you fit into the company and if you may get along with your colleagues. The crucial thing here is to not mention anything too tangible.
Concretely, to say that you prefer your boss to be older than you is a huge risk… If the boss is younger, you will not be chosen. The best way is to choose a neutral answer and say that you can pretty much get along with everybody. Let’s have a look at two good responds.
“I can get along with everyone. All I want to be sure about when it comes to my boss and colleagues is that they are qualified for the job. And when I see the level of proficiency in this interview, I am sure they are qualified.”
“There is nothing like an ideal boss for me. I simply focus on my job and on my performance and try to avoid any conflicts with other employees.”

Question 12: What motivates you? / How do you motivate the others?
Motivation is crucial in every role. You need to convince the employer that you are motivated and do not need any special incentives to work hard. The best way to do so is to show the enthusiasm in the interview and be filled with energy! If you do so, you will not get this interview question about motivation. However, if it comes here is the answer.
“I want to feel important in my job, do a good job for my employer. This is very important for me, to see a purpose in my job. It naturally motivates me to work hard and try to become better every day.”
“I just like to work. If I was not strongly motivated to do this job, I would not apply for it. I would never work only for money.”

Question 13: What are your salary expectations?
This is actually a good question. If the employers ask it, it means that they consider to hire you (or least give you a chance). You should not start the discussion about salary by yourself. However, once the employer starts it, you should have your answer ready.
The key is to emphasize that the salary is not the deciding factor for you. However, on the other hand, you should never say less than your minimum expectations are. It won’t make any sense…If you need to mention the number, it is always better to mention the salary range than the figure. Here are examples of good answers to this interview question.
“First of all, salary is not a deciding factor for me. I really like the job description and want to get this job. I will accept an average salary for this position what is something between $35,000 and $40,000″, according to my knowledge.
“I really like this job and would like to do it. I have looked at the average salaries and found out that the average is between $35,000 and $40,000 for this position. I am willing to accept the lower figure from this range, as I really like would like to have this job.”

Question 14: When are you able to start?
Companies have their plans and needs. If they need someone from the next month, they need him and that’s it. That’s why you should always say that you can start when they need you. But if you really can not short circuit the notice period or something else, you still can save yourself with an exceptional answer! Let’s have a look at several of these answers.
“I am ready to start as soon as possible.”
“There is a two months notice period in my company. However, I have very good relations with my boss so I am sure I can negotiate it and start earlier.”
“I could possibly start tomorrow, but I want to finish the project I currently work on. It will be very unprofessional and irresponsible from me to leave now. I will need two or three weeks. I hope you understand this.”

8 Likes

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Meridian(f): 6:32pm On Jul 05, 2012
Nice one. Plz keep it up. Could u ans d last question.
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by bernieamce: 6:33pm On Jul 05, 2012
this is the only post on NL without diffrent opion. Good one though!
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by uniQybabs(m): 6:33pm On Jul 05, 2012
Human Psycho: I wouldn't blaim anyone of you guys..... If you're well used to psycological posts you wouldn't be seeing this as new, there are over a thousand websites that offer to treat such topics especially most psycologically inclind sites... My advice you spend sometime reading posts on websites like 'psycologytoday' then you get more of this and other insightful write ups...
For the guys who're asking how the last question should be answered... As you can see they only need your sense of analysis and your ability to arrive at a conclusion and simultaneously checking your confidence personal deductions in short time... You don't have to be specific, just an approximate figure would be enough say like 80,000 stressing that your answer is only approximate and not exact since it could be more or less depending size (ie) height and length of the box together with golf ball diametre... Believe me you, you get an applaud long before you finish... That is only aspect to so many other questions that could be thrown only to check analytical abilities and convey of confidence!! Do some study on psycology it sure helps!! Thanks.
thank yu mr psyco
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by ignis: 6:40pm On Jul 05, 2012
charlesdike: nice post boss but wer did u get al dis info from? Genaral manager? Experiance? Website? Or ?
Does that matter here? The bottom line is that the post is nice
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by faithin9ja: 6:42pm On Jul 05, 2012
charlesdike: nice post boss but wer did u get al dis info from? Genaral manager? Experiance? Website? Or ?

Job go hard you oh! didn't you see the link below

1 Like

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by VoodooDoll(m): 6:49pm On Jul 05, 2012
Brain teaser questions:

As already commented above the trick here is to use approximations, also:

1) ask questions as the interviewer may give guidance;
2) make assumptions and announce them eg: the bus has a square shape and no seats or passengers and a length of x, width of y and height of z;
3) make assumptions about the golf ball;
4) let the interviewer know if you're making simple but useful assumptions eg: the golf balls are in the boxes they came in and each box holds 10 golf balls, each box is of length a, width b and height c; and
5) the key here is not your answer but the logical process and thinking steps that you demonstrate.

Best of luck.
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by faithin9ja: 6:50pm On Jul 05, 2012
Burger01:

Yeah, how could I possibly answer the last question?

this is to test your analytical and lateral thinking - answer

I can put approximately 15 golf balls in packet of St louis sugar, I can put 20 boxes of St Louis sugar in a Peak milk carton, and approximately 600 peak milk cartons will fit in a bus, 3 width x 10 height x 20 length. 15 x 20 x 600 = 180,000 Most likely very wrong but it's the thought process that matters

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Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Nobody: 7:10pm On Jul 05, 2012
Very interesting question i should be asking in a couple of months from now. grin
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Jids(m): 7:13pm On Jul 05, 2012
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by robosapien(m): 7:20pm On Jul 05, 2012
Ever since I became a member on Nairaland, I would say this is the best thread so far. Thank you so much for the priceless information. Whatever the case, I am either paper printing or screen printing this thread to store in my archive.
Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by linearity: 7:30pm On Jul 05, 2012
afam4eva: This is great.

Now, how's someone supposed to answer the last question?

The last question is not about accuracy...it just about process to see how you can work through difficult and impossible situation...

I will start the answer like this....

You can ask them...what is the dimensions of the school bus and golf ball?...if they did not give you which I will imagine, otherwise one of the main purpose of that question will be defeated...

If not given the dimension..I will approach it this way....

the length of my car is about 19 feets, a school bus will be about twice that length, which will be about 38 feets; a school bus is a bit higher than my height, since am 5.7 feets tall, a school bus will be approximately 7 feets in height and the breath of a school bus from my casual observation would not be more than 5 feets...the radius of a golf ball is 6 inches (or about 0.5 feets)...

1. Volume of the school bus = L X B X H = 38 x 7 X 5 = ?
2. Volume of a golf ball = 4/3 x pi x r^3
number of golf balls = result from 1/result from 2

Accuracy is not key here, so you can choose figures that would make the calculation easier for you but a little bit realistic...in many interviews...they will stop you and go to the next questions once they see that you are on the right track or struggling...

1 Like

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by Nobody: 7:33pm On Jul 05, 2012
Let me see what I can do as to the last question.
How many golf balls can fit into a school bus?what I think the interviewer is trying 2 do here is a test on your mental alertness.The question posed is one requiring a mathematical reasoning.It does not necessary mean that you must get correctly the answer,rather,the procedure.The first step is determing by estimation(since you dont know) the diameter of a golf ball,and as well height.This can be compared to analysing the feautures of your problem in the real world.secondly, determine the length,breath,height of the school bus.The school bus is like what you think is the answer to your problem,so,what you are doing here is a comparison between the answer and your real life problem by bringing them to the same base.Thirdly,determine the area of the golf ball and school bus.forthly,divide the area of the golf ball by that of the school bus.Whatever you get is the answer.The whole process is centered towards achieving a hierrachial analysis of problems.As in,to determine how you will solve a problem,not whether the problem is solved...*my thoughts*

2 Likes

Re: Common Interview Questions And What They Mean by eyenCalabar(m): 7:56pm On Jul 05, 2012
nice stuff

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