A short guide to the most popular questions asked by HR managers.
#1. “Tell me about yourself”
Use the formula “present – past – future”.
Start with what you do now – professionally oman mobile phone numbers database and in your free time. Talk about a hobby that will show your strengths. For example, a passion for chess indicates high intelligence, yoga – that you care about your health and can concentrate. If you know that the office of the chosen company is animal-friendly – mention your pet in the conversation.
Then, talk about how you got to this position – education, training, professional experience, participation in volunteer projects, etc. are all of particular importance.
At the end, mention your career plans. It is best to show the connection between your goals and the career development opportunities at the company that invited you to the interview.
It’s better not to do this:
- Don’t force the interviewer to extract the answer from you. Your reluctance to talk will make them wonder why you came to the meeting.
- On the other hand, don’t say everything at once – you still have the entire conversation ahead of you.
- Don’t talk too much about your private life – family, children, partners, health, etc.
- Don’t get carried away by talking about your hobbies. The recruiter may think that they are more important to you than your job.
#2. “Tell me about your experience”
Focus on the habits that are most relevant to the role. Talk about measurable results and specific accomplishments: for example, you organized 5 conferences that had over 10,000 attendees. Be prepared to answer questions about each of the points on your resume.
You can use the STAR model to describe the experience:
S – Situation – what was the situation like when you started working for this company?
T – Task/Target – what task or goal did you set?
A – Action taken – what did you do to achieve this goal?
R – Results achieved – what did you ultimately achieve?
If you are restricted by a confidentiality agreement and cannot discuss specific numbers, mention that and describe your achievements in percentage terms – for example, that the number of new customers increased by 25%.
Start with your most recent experience – tell us what you have been doing recently.
It’s better not to do this:
- Don’t lie. Checking your experience won’t be difficult, and even if you get the job you want, the fraud can be revealed later. The scandalous firing of the CEO of Yahoo! proves that lying on your CV doesn’t lead to anything good.
- Do not reveal confidential information when talking about your experience.
- Do not repeat everything that is written in your CV – the recruiter is certainly already familiar with the positions listed there.
#3. “What are your strengths?”
Prepare for this question: choose the requirements from the job description that you best meet. This could be education, hard or soft skills, work experience how much does it cost importance of business planning to not plan? etc. Shorten this list to 3-5 most important skills and write next to each one in what situations you have used it in the past. The more similar your list is to the description of the requirements in the job offer, the greater the chance that you will get the job you want.
It’s better not to do this:
- Don’t be too modest – you need to “sell” your strengths to your future employer as best you can.
- Don’t brag about being better than others. “I was the only one who didn’t make these mistakes,” “Unlike the rest, I got the hang of it quickly.”
- Don’t talk about skills that aren’t relevant to the position. If you’re going through the recruitment process for an accountant position, there’s no need to talk about event planning skills.
#4. “What are your weaknesses?”
Even when the interviewer asks about your weaknesses phone database your answer should paint you in a good light. To do this, use the following techniques:
Minor Flaws. List the traits that are not important in your profession. For example, a copywriter might say that he is not strong in numbers, and then mention that he has loved everything related to writing since childhood.
Skills You Develop: You might say you’ve always been afraid of public speaking, but you took a course on the subject and now you feel more comfortable giving presentations.
Turn disadvantages into advantages. Admit that you are not strong in multitasking , but it means that you can focus on tasks and not jump between them.
It’s better not to do this:
- Don’t turn this conversation into a self-criticism session.
- Don’t call out weaknesses for qualities that are critical to the role.
- Don’t say you don’t have weaknesses.
- Don’t say that your main weakness is perfectionism – in most cases that sounds disingenuous.
#5. “Why did you decide to change your job?”
Instead of complaining about your previous employer, talk about why you decided to pursue your career and gain experience at another company. Maybe you want to take on more difficult projects, are looking for a new challenge, or want to work on a different product?