15 Nerve-racking Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

15 Nerve-racking Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them 1K Preparation is the zen of the job interview. This is a guest post by Reese Jones. It’s the final judgment. Each word you blurt out can decide the next years of your life. This is how an important job interview usually plays out. For some, the stress alone could be their one way ticket to rejection and unemployment. For others who came prepared and confident, success in almost guaranteed.eval While most job interviews can be rough, some are just plain nerve-racking. One fine example of an interview from hell is the hiring process of McKinsey Company. According to job database Glassdoor, the company starts off with a bang; asking the applicant a question straight out of a master’s degree thesis defense!eval Below are some of the most terrifyingly difficult job interview questions and how to answer them. Free bonus: The One Job Interview Resource You’ll Ever Need is a handy reference to help you prepare for any kind of job interview. Download it free now 1) Why you, of all people? This is a staple one, and applicants usually overlook this question. As an applicant, your main job is to focus on selling all your credentials. Review the job description and memorize the qualities the company likes. Stealthily align your personality with these qualities, but don’t sound too rehearsed. Monster.com mentioned that the wrong way to answer this is along “because I need the job.” The correct answer will be: “I want the job because I know I am capable,” then support your claim. 2) Tell me more about yourself. This should be an opening question, designed for the human resources manager to assess your personality more than your skills. First impression definitely last in this setup. A safe way to answer this is to mention all of the four life areas: your childhood, education, past work, and recent opportunities related to the industry. Don’t talk too much about specifics here since you are being judged on how you answer than what you say. 3) Why did you choose our company? Preparation is the key. TargetJobs.co.uk tells us that this is actually a multi-layered question. You have to answer these implied inquiries: What do you know about the company? Are you interested in the industry? How? Other than monetary compensation, what drives you to work? These are basically easier questions to digest; and answering these three in a single speech can work very well in your favor. 4) Describe your personality. Ian Ruddy, Head of Human Resource Operations at Telefonica’s O2 UK, said that this question is asked to their applicants because personality is important when considering employees. There are many ways to not over-hype yourself while remaining positive. Use (positive) adjectives such as easy-going, methodical, motivated, punctual, and reliable. 5) Will you leave after five years of employment and no promotion? The correct way to answer is to mention that you are an eternal learner. Say that you are ambitious, but you understand the office setup. “Different companies promote people at different rates, and I’m pretty confident that working for you will keep me motivated and mentally stimulated for several years to come,” is how Vicky Oliver, author of 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions, would answer this one. 6) Why did you choose to go to your university? Always start by mentioning the quality of education of your alma mater. Drop the names of famous professors that might be recognized by your interviewer. Tell that you considered many different campuses but ultimately picked the one you thought would offer you the best education for this particular industry. 7) Where do you see yourself in five years? This is a tricky question. What the interviewer is actually asking is if you are looking for a position or a long-term career. The safest way to answer this is to say that you see yourself excelling in the position you are applying, and drop the company’s name as a catalyst for your ambition. Career expert Thea Kelly’s answer would be that “I am currently exploring my career path, but I do know it will involve this industry, so this job is a great fit. I admire this company because [insert well-researched company fact] and I see myself continuing to develop my career here.” 8) How do you fit a giraffe in a refrigerator? Ah, this question is infamous. Questions like these are along the same line of “How many jet planes are flying on the world right now?” and “Estimate the number of tickets sold during the Olympics this year.” It actually does not matter if your answer is on-point. What matters is how you solve this seemingly impossible problem. The key here is to let the interviewer inside your brain. Tell him or her exactly how you would solve the problem. 9) Are you willing to travel far for the job? If you are, then don’t hesitate to show your enthusiasm. Natural travel junkies should have no problem with this question. Otherwise, be careful in mentioning your dislike for travel. A blatant ‘no’ will surely make you lose the job. 10) Which influences led you to this industry? Be candid. Tell stories of your youth and how you were inspired by a person, event, or object. Tell them that you have been pursuing this dream ever since you could understand (if true). Interviewers love to listen to entertaining and insightful anecdotes. This is not very difficult to answer, but many still fall flat and sound fake by answering clichés such as ‘myself’, ‘God’, or a global figure like Gandhi or Bill Gates. 11) How do you handle office conflict? This is an example of a behavioral question. Hiring managers love to ask a couple of these during interviews. The best response would be to cite a concrete example. Tell a story of how you handled conflict in the past and how you were able to amicably resolve it. “Conflict questions are common because everybody wants to hire a good ‘team player’,” says New York University adjunct professor Pamela Skillings. 12) What didn’t you like with your past employer? Never, in a million years, talk negatively about your past company or employer. With a question like this, you have the added task of turning a negatively-loaded question into a positive answer. Start by complimenting the company, and segue into the little stuff that ‘annoyed’ you rather than ‘irked’ you. If possible, try and make a general statement towards the tasks rather than the management or people. “I was tasked with too much paperwork when I feel like I would grown and excel more when interacting with people,” can be a great answer. 13) Why do you want to leave your current job? (Or: why did you leave your last job?) Like question number 12, don’t talk negatively about your working conditions. Tell them that you look to broaden your horizon despite enjoying your current work, but be honest. 14)How do you define success? Immediately start by telling the interviewer how you evaluate success. Different people have different perceptions of success, but always link your answer to the office environment. Meeting goals, growth, and skill mastery are great substitutes to typical answers like ‘money’ and ‘wealth.’ 15) Do you know any jokes? Always prepare one. Never enter a job interview without a ready-to-go harmless joke in your pocket. Not delivering anything is worse than a bad joke. Free Bonus If you want a handy job interview resource that you can keep on your smartphone or print out for easy reference, I’ve got a special bonus for you. This free download contains: 165 positive personality adjectives to describe yourself 444 of the most popular job interviewer questions to prepare yourself with 175 questions that you can ask in job interviews to make a good impression and learn about your future employer Click the image below to get access to The One Job Interview Resource You’ll Ever Need: JobMob Insiders can get this free bonus and other exclusive content in the JobMob Insider Bonuses area. Join now, it's free! About the Author Reese Jones is a tech blogger from London. She has been writing for Techie Doodlers while doing her research on new media communication technology and human resource management. Follow her on Twitter or Google+. READ NEXT: 10 Tricky Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them.

Winter is the time to look for internships

Winter is the time to look for internships Students who want a job or internship in June need to start looking in the winter. Those who wait until spring to search set themselves up to be bottom feeders in the job market. The hardest part of a search is starting. Here is a guide to help you start sooner. Internships Companies that are popular and prestigious offer internships that are snapped up by spring. An intern offers free or underpaid labor in exchange for a line on a resume. Its a raw deal, but dont underestimate that line. At the end of college, students with great summer internships are in a separate category than everyone else. Most companies hire full-time staff from their pool of summer interns. Of course, an internship is not a sure bet to success, but its a sure bet that you have a chance to prove yourself in an industry where you think youll be happy. Real-Life Jobs Look, I dont want to be the one spreading this news, but someones got to do it: Unless youre planning to go to grad school, or planning to camp out at your parents home indefinitely, running an effective job hunt is as important as getting good grades during your last year in college. Hunting for a job is a full-time job. You need to send resumes out regularly, scour job listings and company listings, conduct regular soul-searching missions, and you need to leave time and energy to stress about your lack of success in all these areas. You can take time now, during school to do this, or you can wait until June. In June, all the good jobs will be taken because the students obsessed with getting a great job start hunting in the winter, and top companies accommodate those students. Youre going to have to suffer through a job hunt sooner or later, so why not do it when there are still great entry-level jobs to be had? Your Strategy Find companies youd like to work for. Some companies have very structured application processes on their web site. Others will have very little. For the latter, find the name of the human resource manager and send a cover letter and resume asking for a summer internship or a job. If you get a job from a mere 40 resumes, you will be beating all the odds. You should send out 100, but I dont want to overwhelm you. And hey, dont forget all your parents friends and your friends parents friends. Most colleges have a career center. Use it. My 21-year-old brother wrote a letter to his roommates dad asking for an internship at his pharmaceutical company. My brother ended the letter with, I look forward to your speedy reply. Quick quiz: What is wrong with his ending? Answer: This is the way you sign a letter to someone who reports to you and is in trouble and needs pushing around. If you did not know that answer you should never send a letter out without a trained counselor reading it first. If you did know the answer you should still go to your career center. The first rule of successes in business is to know how to leverage available help. The real world is not filled with career centers waiting for your visit. So go there now, while you can.

Whats Important Really Important In a Job Interview - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

What’s Important â€" Really Important In a Job Interview - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career So, finally, the phone rings and the caller ID displays the name of a company you sent your résumé to. The caller is from the company’s human resources department and wants to schedule you for an in-person interview. Fantastic, this is music to your ears, but what now? Are you prepared? Do you have time to get ready? More important, do you understand the interview process and in what context the company wants to explore your candidacy? Plus, also remember that such interviews are competitive. In other words, your résumé provided some clues about you that may fit the company’s need, the company’s culture, the skills sought, and so on, but in addition to exploring hiring possibilities with you, the company does so with several additional candidates as well. So now the question is, What can you do to maximize your chances? Know your relationship with the interviewer From the moment you hung up the phone with the person arranging the interview, this upcoming face-to-face meeting becomes the focal point of your next few days. Such is not the case, however, with the person who’s going to conduct the interview. For that person, the excitement about meeting with you is minimalâ€"sometimes even to the point that the interviewer might not be prepared to conduct the interview. Sometimes the interviewer does not have with him a copy of your résuméâ€"or even the job description!â€"and will just wing it, as they say. On top of that, you think that well-rehearsed answers to common interview questions are very convincing. Well, think again. The interviewer knows you came in to sell yourself and knows to expect from you many self-proclaimed adjectives about how great you are. But do you really think the interviewer believes everything you say? Well, maybe some of itâ€"and probably more of it if you have factual examples and you describe them as viewed by others. What’s actually important to the interviewer? This is where the candidate is at a disadvantage. Don’t forget that the hiring manager initiated the quest for the “ideal candidate” because there’s a problem to solve. It’s most likely the hiring manager (or interviewer) did not agree to meet with you because of your beautiful handsâ€"well, unless you’re a professional model and the company is selling, say, wristwatches. Seriously, your focus should be on identifying what the hiring manager needs done. And most likely, that information does not get revealed even via a candid dialogue. The thing is that job descriptions are typically rather general by not highlighting the specifics that are in fact the driving forces behind the hiring process for the positions advertised. Additionally, a large survey conducted among human resources personnel and hiring managers exposed the fact that 100 percent of them were looking for candidate fit into their companies’ cultures. And 82 percent of interviewers said they look for passion and excitement in candidates. So, based on this information, you may think your past speaks very well and you’d, therefore, be a shoo-in for the position. Not so, says the survey, unless you fit into the culture and you exhibit passion and excitement while interviewing. As a reader, you may have your own opinion. I’d welcome your comment.

5 Tips for Finding a Career that Fits Your Personality

5 Tips for Finding a Career that Fits Your Personality More often than not, everyone has a feeling for what truly motivates them and “fits” their personality. If you are not one of them, don’t worry. After all, according to Gallup’s 2012 research, only 13% of the global workplace feels “actively engaged” in the jobs they do, while the rest couldn’t care less about finding meaning in their work. If you are someone who is looking forward to doing exactly what suits you, motivates you, and brings you to lifeâ€" something that you know you are born for you are in luck. You are most likely to be part of the 13% should you discover this hidden purpose of your existence, instead of the sad 87% who experience no attachment to their work. Here are a few tips that might help… 1) Observe What Stimulates You: Can you think of that one hobby or two that energizes you? This is going to be something you loved doing since you were a child. It may be a “task” to others but for you, a fun hobby. It could be traveling, painting, inventing, writing, helping, or anything at all. Now, think about the various jobs in the field that involve the same or similar tasks. It could be a job you are willing to do without a pay. You love because it fits your personality, passion and interests, and not something you are doing only because it helps you pay the bills. 2) Discover Your Talents: Sometimes, we love doing something we have no talent for. Clearly, this is not going to be a great personality fit for you. Your most suitable job will be a great fit for not only your personality and passion, but also your innate skills and talents. 3) Ask Others What They Think: Sometimes, others are the better judge of what we are exceptionally good at. We could be completely unaware of it because we never compared ourselves to others and simply dove into the task for long uninterrupted hours, giving credit to our hard work rather than our talent. If you can’t find someone who knows you that well, you can ask a mentor or a career coach for advice. To the trained eye (career coach), finding your innate talents and passions would only take a couple of sessions to set you on the right career path. 4) Take a Personality or Motivators Assessment: Plenty of organizations and websites offer tests that can help you sort out your personality type and match it to a career. Some may require a fee, while others are free. 5) Test the Waters: Another way to explore the job you deem fit for your personality is by trying out several internship programs. Internship programs are usually not too hard to come by. Unlike full-time employment, you are not a debt to the company which is why they are more willing to hire internees and sometimes do their own “testing”. When you have a select few self-fulfilling jobs figured out, test the waters by applying for internships in that particular area of interest. During your internships, you should be able to figure out if the work around you motivates, or does the opposite â€" turns you off. Make sure you fully involve yourself instead of wasting time giving coffees or photocopying papers. Only then will you be able to figure out whether or not you are the “right fit” for the organization. If the employer thinks so too, he will offer you the job! Author Bio: Drusilla Richards works is an active blogger at dissertation consultants Dissertation Peak. She’s loves to blog on any subject that piques her curiosity. When she isn’t blogging, she watches her favorite TV show Flash. Join her on Google+

Are You Using Generic Vs Specific Resume Writing?

Are You Using Generic Vs Specific Resume Writing?When it comes to getting a job, many resume writers are confused about whether to use generic or specific resume writing. Generic resumes may be your best option for getting an interview but it is important to know that there are many times when using generic resume information can cost you a job interview. It is a good idea to determine if the recruiter you are interviewing with will be happy with generic or specific resume writing and then use this information to make sure you do not fall into this category.As long as you are sure that your resume will be placed on a resume writer's pile, you should not worry about using a specific job description when you write your resume. While it is sometimes helpful to have a specific job description, most recruiters are used to generic resumes. Instead of worrying about whether the hiring manager will be using a specific resume writing format, you should concentrate on making sure that you writ e your resume in a way that shows a potential employer what you can offer.Some recruiters will prefer a specific resume but there are also those who will just be happy with a generic one. It is possible that the recruiter you are interviewing with will not require you to write a specific resume. However, if your resume does not follow specific formatting, it will most likely be placed on the recruiter's pile. Therefore, before you submit your resume it is important to make sure that you follow the format of the resume writing company.You should also make sure that your specific resume is going to show how you were trained by the company. Many recruiters prefer to see a history of training in a resume. This shows a recruiter that you were prepared for the position you are interviewing for.If you are having difficulty finding a sample resume, there are many online sites that offer samples of the resume formats for many different industries. These resumes are often different from the t ypical resume that is written for an entry level position. In addition, most resume writing sites will have an article to help the user in filling out the paper resume correctly.If you are unsure if the recruiter you are interviewing with will be using a specific resume writing format, it is important to make sure that you follow the format of the site that you are submitting your resume to. The guidelines are typically outlined in the articles, so it is important to read them carefully before submitting your resume. Most resume writing companies do not allow the use of certain formatting that is not required by the company or job position that you are applying for.You should also make sure that your specific resume does not include the company's name in any way. Some websites allow this and some do not. If you are unsure if the company or job position you are interviewing with requires a specific format, it is important to make sure that you are certain that the specific format you submit will not violate any copyright laws.In summary, it is very important to remember that there are times when using generic or specific resume writing may be better than not using one at all. If the job is not requiring a specific format, it is usually a good idea to use the generic resume. However, if you have not been given specific instructions by the recruiter about the resume writing format, it is a good idea to use the generic resume as well.

6 Tips to Overcome Interview Fear

6 Tips to Overcome Interview Fear 38 Flares 38 Flares Preparation in interviewing is absolutely crucial to your success as a candidate, and even those not experiencing fear should always prepare.  Click here to read up on interview preparation.  As an interviewer, Ive worked with many candidates who have a fear of interviewing, some worse than others.  This is very common in people, possibly stemming from a fear of public speaking.  Ive found a number of preparation tactics and mindsets that will help.  Here are COTJs 6 tips to overcome interview fear: Knowing is half the battle Understanding the interview process is critical.  Many times candidates will receive emails explaining the interview process.  If you do not receive one, just ask.  It never hurts to ask.  Along with knowing the step by step process, find out the interview methodology they use.  If it happens to be behavioral, click here to read my tips on how to survive a behavioral interview. Memorize your resume Read your resume until you can recite it without looking down.  Being able to hold eye contact with your interviewer is important.  Burning the contents of your resume into your brain will allow you to keep your head up the entire interview.  Dont forget to smile. Remember, youre interviewing the company as well Whenever Ive interviewed a nervous candidate, I always make sure to say, Remember, you are interviewing us too, you need to make sure we are good enough for you!  Come fully prepared with interview questions to ask your interviewer.  Click here to read questions that YOU should ask at an interview. Whats the worst that can happen? Really, whats the absolute worst thing that could happen?  Im sure those with a creative mind can think of some interview horror stories, but most likely the worst thing that can happen will be that you wont get the job.  So what?  You move on to the next opportunity. Arrive early You should get to the interview location up to an hour before your appointment.  Sit in your car and read through your resume again.  Wait till you have around 15 minutes until the  interview  starts, then walk on in.  Being punctual is a positive, and your interviewer will remember it.  Recruiters and hiring managers have heard every excuse for being late.  From family emergencies to very ill pets, weve heard them all.  We we know that maybe half of them are being truthful, it really never helps your cause to lay an excuse on us. Smile Smiling can be your best friend.  Its one thing to be fearful of an interview, but its another thing to show your interviewer that you are scared.  Smiling will at least help to eliminate a fearful look on your face.  Smile and make eye contact, it brings you some much needed interview swagger.

The Anatomy of A Successful LinkedIn Profile [INFOGRAPHIC]

The Anatomy of A Successful LinkedIn Profile [INFOGRAPHIC] Dont just set it and forget it or upload your resume and wait! Follow these tips to make your LinkedIn profile successful. Odds are,  that youre LinkedIn profile  will be  looked at. 87% of hiring pros look at your LinkedIn profile at some point during the screening/hiring process according to Jobvites most recent study. Your LinkedIn profile may turn up when someone is searching for candidates on LinkedIn, someone may check out your profile after receiving your resume, or an employer may check you out before, during or after the interview. What do you want someone to know about you? It is up to you to make sure your profile tells the right story! Breaking Down  The Anatomy of A Successful LinkedIn Profile This infographic by AkkenCloud spells out how to maximize every section of  your LinkedIn profile! Want to learn more about using LinkedIn? Your Visibility On LinkedIn:  What You Need To Know HOW TO: 4 Ways to Update Your LinkedIn Status Always Customize Your LinkedIn Invitation to Connect