Questions You May Hear

Tell me about yourself ?
The Interviewer is looking for a concise, descriptive and informative summary of a more current and relevant career information. They are not interested in your personal information such as how many dogs you have or what happened to you on your way to the gym last week.Why do you want to work at XYZ Company? This is where your website and company history homework pays off. Give examples of specifics that you have found on their site, OR past projects that you enjoyed that apply.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
What are your greatest strengths?
This is your turn to brag a bit, but not to the point of being arrogant. Give at least 2 examples, offer references that can attest to your work, etc. The more specifics you can offer, the better you're gonna look. Bring up sales numbers, deadlines, Cost Savings, whatever is measurable and speaks well of your efforts.
Example One: “One of my most proud moments was being selected as the Southern California Regions Recruiter of the Year by the California Staffing Professionals Association. Being selected from all the HR Professionals and Recruiters in Southern California shows my professionalism, dedication and passion for what I do for my career.”

Example Two: "One of my biggest strengths is my ability to learn new software and train my team on its specifics. By learning the new software quickly, train the staff and teach them to implement it into their daliy regime, we were able to double the companies production from the prior year as well as negate the additional costs of an outside vendor to train the entire staff."

What would you classify as an area of improvement, and how would you go about achieving those improvements?
Try to pick something that isn't a "DEAL KILLER" meaning something that IS NOT a job requirement, and that is not easily improved upon. Lots of folks choose something that is indirectly related to the role so that it doesn't affect your interview success. For example: "I realize this position requires a great deal of systems reporting experience and you work with system "x". I do have considerable experience with reporting, but up to now, there has not been a requirement for me to learn "system x". I can pick it up very quickly as I do with all systems. At this time, I would have to say an area of improvement would be the learning curve on your particular software system." Basically taken a frown and turned it upside down!

What is the Salary you are looking for?
It is always best to leave the door open and answer with something such as, “I would be happy to see your best offer. I am fairly flexible when it comes to the compensation since I am looking at everything including the company, the position, the growth potential, the benefit package, etc. Salary is just one piece of the pie and if you think I would be a good fit for the position, I am SURE we can come up with a figure that works for both of us!" This is an excellent example…HOWEVER, sometimes they will want to know what you are looking for. The trick is to leave it open ended. Try to have them disclose what the position is paying. You can also get a feel for the salary expectations for the position by looking at the actual job description. If posted via a resume generating web site like Monster.com, hotjobs or other source, the salary may be posted within the advertisement. Tools like salarywizard.com can give you an estimate of what your current salary net worth is. That way if put in a pickle...you can easily negotiate for the higher wage.

Why you are leaving?
Be honest, very concise and direct, but don't slam your employer or boss. They want to hear that you are leaving on good terms (for everyone, not just you!) since it can easily be them on the other end of the equation if they hire you.

Why should we hire you for the position?
Summarize, detail, sell yourself, and ask for an offer! Give technical reasons why you are the best candidate over personality reasons.
Sales positions: In certain sales position, you may be asked to perform a sample sales pitch for the product, and once again, this is where your preparation and website/company/product research will shine. I often use a technique that simply comes from right out of the blue. A good sales person can follow the pitch, but some can also strike out. So beware of those tricky interviewers like myself. We LOVE to throw a FAST BALL at cha!