Interview Questions & Answers Bank
The Question:
Tell me about yourself or How would you describe yourself?
The Tip to Answer:
Almost every interview starts with this question. The idea behind this is to break the ice and get the ball rolling. There is no right or wrong answer to this question. The interviewee's presentation style and communication skills are tested through this question.
Most often, interviewees end up telling their family details, educational qualifications and percentages, hobbies et al. as an answer to this question. To stand apart, interviewees ought to refrain from the above and come up with something different like what is it that differentiates their personality, what is that they value and what do they bring to the table?
There is no doubt that the answer to this question makes a first impression on the interviewer, hence the extent to which it is customized and is unique makes all the difference.
Variants of the same question are: How do you think a friend or a professor who knows you well would describe you? If I asked the people who know you well to describe you, what three words would they use?
This is a question that one must have encountered at an interview or at some point of the selection process. Most of the times, the interviewee is very uncomfortable expressing his/her greatest weaknesses. The idea of an interviewer behind asking such a question is not to select or reject based upon the strengths and weaknesses shared.
The way of going about answering this question can be suggested as:
Greatest strengths: The interviewee must take care that (s)he is modest enough while expressing the strengths. The strengths portrayed are advised not be extraordinary but more than the normal. The interviewee must spend sometime before the interview analyzing his/her strengths and a reasoning behind considering the ones so.
Greatest weaknesses: The interviewee must not hesitate sharing his/her weaknesses and never say that (s)he has none. (S)he must remember that the very fact that (s)he is aware of his/her weaknesses and readily accept the same, works to the advantage. Again, the weaknesses portrayed must not be abnormal, though unique but certainly not the ones which are common. The reasoning behind considering something to be weakness must be convincing enough for the interviewer.
While strengths are to be emphasized, one should not be overly negative about weaknesses. It is always safer to identify a lack of a skill as an area of improvement rather than a shortcoming. It is advisable to present at least three strong points and relate them to the company, and the job one is getting interviewed for. A common mistake that interviewees do is to use the third person like 'they', 'others' while answering this question. On the other hand, first person like 'I',' myself' must be used.
Variants of the same question are: If I spoke with your previous boss, what would he say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
The Question:
What are your interests? hobbies? What do you like to do in your leisure time?
The Tip to Answer:
The idea behind asking this question is to find whether there is a balance in the interviewee's life. The interviewee ought to understand that this is a very friendly way of exploring in depth into one's personality. (S)he must put an effort in expressing his/her personality characteristics thorough hobbies. One should never come up with an hobby which one is not passionate about though it might look good on the resume. Usually, academic/technical interests are not to be interpreted as areas of interest or hobbies. Again it is advisable to present two or three hobbies; be confident and have sufficient knowledge behind one's areas of interest.
A word of caution: In case the interviewer is asking too many questions related to your hobbies, the interviewee might assume that a chat is on and the reason behind asking the questions is passing away the stipulated or planned time set for the interviewees. This however may not be necessarily true and exceptions need to be kept in mind before drawing any conclusion
Variants of the same question are: What are your outside interests? What do you do with your free time? What type of books do you read? How interested are you in sports? How did you spend your vacation in school? What have you learned from participation in extracurricular activities? What was the last book you read? movie you saw? sporting event you attended? Of the hobbies and interests listed on your resume, what is your favorite and tell me why?
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