Hi, over the next few weeks I will be publishing regular advice on how to ace your job / university / MBA, or PhD interview. If you would like to book a lesson with me, I will provide you with a 28 page document that I have written with some sample questions and advice on how to answer them. In these articles that I am publishing, you will find a group of questions and the appropriate advice on how to answer them, and in some cases you will even find some sample answers. During a lesson, I will go through the questions with you, let you answer as if you were in an interview environment and then I will check, and if necessary, correct the content of your answer. I hope you find the following information useful and I really look forward to seeing you online if you choose a class with me! I am also offering a 20% discount for any new students for ANY of my lessons. 

Lesson link:

https://cafetalk.com/lessons/detail/?id=11273&key=ec0e3f840eb8c5a75b04f6306f25dd66

·       Why do you think you will be successful at this job?

Reflect on your previous experience, relevant achievements and the transferrable skills that you think can carry across to the new job. Do not appear over-confident or arrogant and say that ‘I just know I can do this job with my eyes closed’. Describe the achievements made in your previous/current role that are specifically relevant to what is required in the post you are being interviewed for.

·       Tell me about a time that you participated in a team, what was your role?

This should be an easy question if your previous or current job was/is as part of a team. Try to emphasise your role in the team, especially if it was in a team leader or sub-team leader type role. Describe successful interactions, disputes that you helped to solve or contracts that your team won. Focus on your interpersonal and communication skills as well as negotiation, planning and execution abilities.

·       Tell me about a time when you were faced with conflicting priorities. How did you determine the top priority?

This will tell the interviewer what you consider is a priority. The important thing here is to describe the thought process behind your final decision and what the result was (obviously, only mention successful decisions).

·       Tell me about a time when you failed.

It is ‘ok’ to fail sometimes as this is often the quickest way we learn. Try to use an example of a situation where you feel you failed or disappointed yourself- this is the ‘safest’ answer you can give as a failure to reach an objective or follow an instruction from a manager may be misconstrued or taken out of context by the interviewer.

Questions About Your Inner-self

·       What would you do differently if you could start your working life over?

The interviewer is looking for a detour that continues to be a professional block in your career. A good example answer is given below:

“Looking back over my career, I would have returned to school much earlier to complete my Masters degree. Even though I got my degree later than I had originally anticipated, I never lost sight of the goal”.