This Isn’t a Chess Match…
Our philosophy is to simplify everything. We don’t believe in looking at finding a job as a chess match. You shouldn’t wonder what question the recruiter is gonna ask next, while plotting for the perfect rebuttal. Putting that much time into your interview is painstaking, we know that!
So these questions are only here so you can familiarize yourself with how recruiters think… Or at least the thought behind the questions. So read over them, but there’s no need to study the questions below.
List of Questions:
1. Tell me about yourself?!
It’s just a questions to see how you speak and carry your conversations. Just give an overview/background of how you are where you are now.
2. What interests you about this position?
If you applied for the position, you should at least know a little bit about it. Even if that just means you read the description. Surely something interests you about the position if you applied for it.
3. What do you know about your company?
Are they a marketing company? Do they train medical personnel, or invest in bonds? This is a question you can easily answer, but sometimes it’s better to answer something small (not acting like you know everything about the company). This is a good opportunity to ask them to tell you a little more about them if they haven’t told you already.
4. Why’d you leave your last position?
This is not a chance to throw your last position under the bus. You gain nothing from telling your new potential employer how much you hated your last position. Maybe you’re looking for a place to grow professionally, or for another career path. This could even be a trick question to see if you’re going to neg-out about your last job. Don’t fall for the bait.
5. Tell me about your last job.
Again, don’t neg-out. Tell them about your responsibilities or what was expected of you, not how you had too many hours.
6. Do you have any experience managing?
No matter your previous position, find an incident where you have experience managing. People who can’t manage others are expendable. Employers are going to wonder if you can even manage yourself if you have no experience managing others… It’s true. If you can manage others, you’re capable of adding growth to their business, this is important.
7. What are your strengths?
Everyone says they’re always on time, or are good with a certain skill (Photoshop, Excel, etc.). This is a chance to let the employer know you’re awesome at executing tasks, or that you excel at communication with tasks that need to be completed.
8. What pay are you looking for?
If you made $15/hour at your previous job, asking for 60k/year is a little drastic. I’m not saying that’s not a realistic jump. But if your employer sees you made less than half what you ask for, that might be a red flag in their mind.
Read more about what you’re worth here!
*Side note: it’s always a good idea to mention you like performance-based pay. So the better you perform, the more money you make. Mention this, because it shows you’re the type of person who works harder for jobs/openings for the company in the future.
9. What questions do you have for me?
Hopefully you’re planning on spending a good amount of time at this position, so you better have a question or two. Not asking questions shows a lack of enthusiasm, and that’s a big no-no in the job hunting world.
Summing Things Up
Scanning over these is all you need to do. When you read this article, get a good idea for how you’ll answer the questions. This isn’t meant to have you sitting down and memorizing the questions. It’ll come out more natural when you answer the questions this way.
Contemplating too much about questions like these will cause “analysis paralysis”… This is over-thinking to the point of not-acting. Have confidence in yourself; you’re the only person who’s been in your own head the past “x” amount of years. You also know what type of job you’re looking for, so relax and the answers will come naturally!
