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Do you think that LinkedIn is for business and Facebook is for friends? You’re partly right; but the line between the two is very, very fuzzy when it comes to job searching. I found some stats on Mashable that says as of December 2011, over 18 million people have gotten jobs ... Views: 1576
You’ve always known that networking is a necessary part of any career path, and it’s even more important when you’re searching for a job. But you don’t want to waste your time and effort on meaningful contact with everyone you know or come across in your search, because you don't want to apply ... Views: 1755
Getting a job in this competitive market requires that you up your game. You have to come at the most basic interview elements, the questions and answers, with a thoughtful strategy for success. With that in mind, I have for you two things you should always ask to have a job-winning ... Views: 1672
At AACC, I had the pleasure of a long conversation with a national sales manager of a $30M company (10 sales reps and 10 technical support folks) where I discovered his opinion that “sales reps these days just aren’t as strong as they used to be.” I said, “Really? I’ve found that sales reps ... Views: 2051
As a medical sales recruiter, I spend a lot of time on the phone fielding inquiries from job seekers. Not only about specific jobs in medical sales, laboratory sales, imaging sales, biotech sales, clinical diagnostics sales, pathology sales, medical device sales, hospital equipment sales, ... Views: 1860
You’ve seen them: the Domino’s commercials talking up their new pizza recipe. Have you tried it? Well, lots of folks have, and it’s changed everything for Domino’s, according to an article in USA Today– New Pizza Recipe Did Wonders For Domino’s Sales.
Domino’s was not doing well. They had ... Views: 1831
How many contacts and resumes are enough? That is an excellent question. Perhaps the answer is simpler and at the same time more frustrating than we would like. As success driven people, we like concrete answers with concrete solutions performed in a concrete, fixed period of time. Yet, in this ... Views: 1989
Are you overqualified for this job?
If you get asked this question in your job interview, you may jump straight to frustrated-especially if you're an older worker and assume they're telling you you're just too old. But companies really don't want to make a mistake. They don't want to go to ... Views: 2162
Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.
If you get asked to describe a time you went above and beyond the call of duty on the job, be thrilled because this is a great behavioral interview question that has the potential to make you look ... Views: 1885
How do you deal with difficult customers?
Dealing with difficult customers is a fact of life for a TON of jobs: sales reps, customer service reps, retail store clerks, receptionists, restaurant waitstaff, and a hundred other service-industry jobs.
The people in those roles are in the ... Views: 1533
How do you deal with stressful situations?
If I got asked about how I deal with stressful situations, the first thing that would pop into my head is, “You mean like this one?” (Job interviews are very, very stressful. The way you deal with that stress is recognizing that it’s going to be ... Views: 1480
How do you evaluate success?
I think the answer to this question has to be related directly to your work. Don’t wax philosophical about what success really is, or what a successful life is all about.
If you go into a philosophical explanation, you’ll knock yourself out of a job. They ... Views: 1395
How do you handle stress and pressure on the job?
Hmmm….how DO you handle on-the-job pressure?
I cry, yell, or complain.
I hide in the bathroom.
I love stress! It’s so motivating!
I don’t get stressed.
Obviously, they want your answer to be (c) or (d)…either one works. Either ... Views: 1438
Are you willing to relocate?
Are you willing to move for your job? In many companies, this is a typical job interview question. Sometimes it's a deal-breaker, sometimes it isn't. Even if this particular job doesn't require it, many companies Will you relocate for the job?want that ... Views: 1810
How do you rate yourself as a professional?
There are people who will tell you that your automatic response to rating yourself (on a scale of 1 to 10) should be “11”. They say that anything less would be admitting a weakness. I don’t agree. An over-the-top answer like that is bragging, ... Views: 1666
How does this position fit in with the career path you envision for yourself?
I think a lot of people shoot themselves in the foot with this career path question.
To be fair, it is a hard question to answer, like “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” or “What are your long-term goals?” ... Views: 5853
How have you responded to a colleague who is putting you down at work?
This is a pretty specific question, but it’s basically just another version of “How do you react in difficult situations?” This type of question is often asked in one version or another in behavioral interview situations. ... Views: 1416
How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?
I love, love, love this question. This is a ‘roll out the red carpet, here’s your golden ticket’ opening to introducing your 30-60-90-day plan.
If you’ve never heard of a 30 60 90 day plan, it’s very simple: it’s a ... Views: 1433
How long would you plan to stay with us?
Asking about your future plans in this way is really not asking you about your future plans. You don’t have to go into your 5-year life plan or your career goals. It’s a brief question that requires only a brief answer.
Personally, my response to ... Views: 1467
How much did / do you make?
Here’s a question guaranteed to make you uncomfortable in the job interview process. It’s one of the big hot-potato questions. No one wants to say a number first. But you don’t have to feel pressured or stressed. There are some great ways to handle this ... Views: 1516
How was your working relationship with your previous supervisor?
How was your working relationship with your last boss? This is an attitude question for sure. They don’t really care about your last boss, they care about you. Hiring managers know that past behavior predicts future ... Views: 1525
How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?
It’s not ideal to work for someone who does, in fact, know less than you. In fact, it’s kind of aggravating. But typically, they don’t know less than you in all areas. There is usually a reason they are where they are. ... Views: 1509
How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?
The best way to go about establishing credibility with anybody in any situation is to ask really great questions and try to understand the situation before trying to do any kind of magic trick.
(Incidentally, this ... Views: 2839
I noticed that you are applying for a position that is not as senior as your past positions. Why would you consider a job that is, in effect, a demotion for you?
This is a question you might get asked early on in the process, like in a phone interview. If you have a lot of experience, it’s ... Views: 1482
Describe a time when your work was criticized and how you handled it.
Have you ever been asked this question? I know…to you, it feels like oral surgery without the Novocain…but interviewers love behavioral interview questions because they tell them so much about you—in the story you choose ... Views: 2259
If we hire you, what will we know about you a year down the road?
Some candidates might wander off the path they should be on with this question (as many do with “Tell me about yourself”) and start talking about how they’ll know you like football, that you make a mean cheese dip, or that you ... Views: 1694
If you could be any animal which one would you be and why?
Some hiring managers really like these weird interview questions. Some think it’s going to reveal more about your character, and others just want to know what you really act like when you’re under stress or just thrown a curve ball. ... Views: 1613
If you could relive the last 10 years of your life, what would you do differently?
Hmmm….what would I do differently?
I wouldn’t speed when I was going to get a ticket…
I wouldn’t have invested money in those stocks…
I wouldn’t have bought those shoes…
Maybe those kinds of things ... Views: 1586
If you had to choose one, would you consider yourself a big-picture person or a detail-oriented person?
This is a ‘work style’ type of question. But it’s a complicated one. Employers really want both. If you’re a big-picture person, they’d like for you to also be able to handle the ... Views: 3829
If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?
This is definitely a wacky question. Sometimes it’s “what animal would you be?” or even “What fruit would you be?” You might think it’s ridiculous, but you still have to play along, or you’ll upset the interviewer.
They’re asking ... Views: 1745
Is there anything I haven’t told you about the company that you’d like to know?
Toward the end of the interview, hiring managers will ask some version of, “Do you have any questions for me?” Your answer is ALWAYS going to be “yes.”
You always want to have a list of questions to ask in ... Views: 1505
Situational Response Question: An airplane landed in the parking lot. What would you do?
Most situational interview questions are like behavioral interview questions. They have some direct relation to the job…like, “You are introducing a new policy to the group and facing opposition. How ... Views: 1922
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss about a way that something should be done. How did you handle that?
You can’t get away with saying, “That’s never happened. I’ve never disagreed with my boss.” Everybody, at some point, has disagreed with a decision the boss made about ... Views: 1677
Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult situation with a co-worker.
“Works well with others” is a major skill we’re judged on from kindergarten right on into the workplace. (If only we didn’t get so many ‘opportunities’ to hone that particular skill!) That’s why you get job ... Views: 1540
Tell me about a time when you failed.
The key to answering the failure question is that you can’t say you’ve never failed. I know you probably really want to, because you don’t want to be seen in a bad light. But you can’t. And it’s OK.
Everybody fails. If you’ve never failed, it ... Views: 1497
Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it.
Asking you to describe difficult situations (and your reactions to them) is a favorite tactic of interviewers.
It’s called behavioral interviewing. Behavioral interview questions get way past your basic skills and ... Views: 2315
Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
If you’re interviewing for a management-level job, you will almost certainly be asked this question at some point. Nobody likes to give negative feedback, but if you supervise anyone, it’s a ... Views: 1679
Tell me about yourself.
Some people think this is an icebreaker question because it’s one of the first questions they ask you in the interview (and because in normal circumstances, it is an icebreaker question). So they answer it like they would in a social situation and say something along ... Views: 1621
Tell me your life story (more of your personal history).
Hiring managers want to find out as much as they can about you in the interview. It’s a little bit of a risk management thing. The more they know, the less likely they’ll make a mistake by extending you a job offer. But even if they ... Views: 1502
Tell us about a failed project.
This is a more specific version of “Tell us about a time when you failed.” This is a big behavioral interview question. Why do hiring managers want so badly to ask about your failures? It’s because we’ve all failed at one time or another and how we deal with ... Views: 1622
Tell us about a time that you went against corporate directives. Why? How did it turn out?
I once did a survey of job seekers as part of my mock interview program, asking them to give me actual questions they’ve been asked in job interviews, and this was one of the responses. I almost ... Views: 1486
There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
Let’s see….Lake Tahoe, lying on the beach holding a fruity drink with an umbrella in it, riding my horse through the mountains, at the bank counting the millions of dollars I just won in ... Views: 1745
We are looking for someone with experience…or, You don’t have enough experience—why should we hire you?
If you’re a new graduate, or if you’re switching careers, you might get asked this question, especially early on in the process, like in a phone interview. It is a challenge, but don’t let ... Views: 1512
What are some of your greatest and/or proudest accomplishments?
This is a great job interview question, but a lot of people don’t do it or themselves justice when they answer it.
One of the worst mistakes people make is that they will say that their greatest or proudest accomplishment is ... Views: 1424
What are your advantages and disadvantages?
This job interview question is another way to get at what your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a candidate are. But in this particular one, they’d like a list of the pros and cons of hiring you. Don’t let it throw you. It is a beautiful ... Views: 1913
What are your hobbies?
Asking about your hobbies and interests seems like an odd interview question, but companies are asking more and more of those ‘personality’ type questions these days in an effort to make sure that you’re going to be a good cultural fit for the organization. And the ... Views: 1538
Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
Job interviews are like very intense speed dating. They’ve got to get to know you well in a very short time. For many ... Views: 2769
What are your least favorite things to do in your role as a XXXX?
This is a slightly different version of, “What did you dislike about your previous job?”
They are trying to find out more about you and how you think. If you are transferring roles in more of a lateral move, your answer ... Views: 1533
What are your pet peeves?
Why would they ask about your pet peeves in a job interview?
They can actually find out quite a lot about you by what you choose to say when you answer this question: Do you get irritated easily? (How long is your list?) Will you be a good fit for their company ... Views: 1605
What are your salary expectations?
Oh, the dreaded salary question!
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be a big problem for you if you know how to handle it. The primary strategy I teach my job seekers is “Do your research so that you know what the going rate is for that job in your ... Views: 1593