Summers 2011

Personals Master Set

I. Personal
A. Background
Tell me about yourself. What would you like me to know about you that is not on your resume? What are the three most important events of your life? What were you doing during this gap of time I see here on your resume? Where did you grow up? What are your three major accomplishments? What was an experience in your life that you would want to go back and change?

B. Self Description
How would your friends describe you? Give me three words to describe yourself.

C. Goals
What new goals have you established for yourself recently? What are your five to ten year career goals? What are your career and educational goals? What are the attributes of an ideal job for you? If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? What are you looking for? How long a commitment do you plan to give me? What is your ideal job? What other types of positions are you considering? What kind of boss would you prefer? Why are you pursuing this field? What would you like your lasting impression to be? Do you have a final statement? What are your career options right now? How could you have improved your career path? What salary are you expecting? In addition to salary, what benefits would most interest you?

D. Values
What does success mean to you? What does failure mean to you?
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Which is more important to you: money or the type of job? Who do you admire? Why? What do you get passionate about? Who is your hero, and why? The greatest answer is if you can use a family member or friend, try to stay away from celebrities. And back it up with a good why!

E. Previous Bosses
Did you get an offer from the firm you worked for this summer? Do you have other offers? Why would/wouldnt you take our offer over one of the others? What can you tell me about your past bosses? How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work? What did you enjoy most about your last employment? Least? How did you find your summer jobs? Describe the job or the activity which has had the greatest impact on your career goals.

II. Management / Leadership Style

What is your management philosophy? Define leadership. Tell me about a time when you successfully resolved a conflict. Give me an example of a leadership role you have held when not everything went as planned. What qualities should a successful manager possess? Do you have these attributes (of a good manager) ? What two attributes are most important in your job? Give an example of a situation in which you provided a solution to an employer. Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure. Name a point in your life where you turned a negative into a positive. Tell me about a decision you have made that you later regretted. How do you feel about working overtime? Give me an example of how you manage multiple projects. What would you say to a boss that has a sub-par idea?

III. Strengths / Weaknesses and Skills

Are you creative? Give me an example. What have you done that you consider creative? What are your strongest abilities? What is your biggest weakness? Never say that being a perfectionist is your biggest weakness. Some applicants think that this makes you look better, but it seems that
Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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you not secure. Why should we hire you? Give me an example of something that you have done that shows initiative. What makes you stand out among your fellow students? What makes you different from the other candidates for this position? What can you do for us that someone else cannot do? What was the most important thing you learned from your previous experience/internship? How do your skills relate to our needs? What can you offer us? What have you disliked in your past jobs? How long before you can make a contribution? In the past year, what have you been dissatisfied about in your performance? What major problem have you encountered and how did you deal with it? Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from them? How do you feel about working in a structured environment? Are you able to work on several assignments at once? In what kind of work environment do you do your best work? What kinds of tasks and responsibilities motivate you the most? What has been your greatest challenge?

IV. Interpersonal Skills

How competitive are you? How do you work under pressure? Give me an example of a time when you successfully worked within a team. What types of people seem to rub you the wrong way? Define cooperation. What kinds of people do you enjoy working with? What kinds of people frustrate you? Have you ever managed a conflict? How? Have you ever spoken before a group of people? How large? With what kind of people do you like to work?

V. Education
Why did you decide to get an MBA? Why IIMC? What made you decide to major in____? What have you learned at IIMC that will help you on this job? Do you hold any leadership positions? What electives have you taken? Which did you enjoy the most? What college classes did you like the least? Why? Why didnt you attend (another school)? How do you balance the different priorities MBA student life presents?
Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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Did your grades accurately reflect your ability? Why/Why not? Describe the course that has had the greatest impact on your thinking.

VI. Extra Curriculars

What extra-curricular school activities are you involved in? What have you learned from your activities? Were your extracurricular activities worth the time you put into them? How did you become involved in your extracurricular activities? What do you enjoy doing outside of work-in your free time? What is your favorite book/movie/song/painting-or author/actor/singer/artist? Which magazines/newspapers do you read regularly? Which books have you read recently? Have you ever done volunteer activities?

VII. Job / Company / Industry

Why are you interested in ______? / Why do you want to work for us? What makes you want to be a _____? What makes you think you would be successful in _____? What do you think this job requires? Given that you have no background in this field why are you interested in it? What do you predict is going to happen in this industry in the next 5 years? How would you go about evaluating a business? What do you know about our company? Do you know who are competitors are? What interests you most about this position? What parts of the job do you think you would find the least satisfying? You have five minutes to describe the most relevant and specific items in your background which show you are uniquely qualified for this position. What would you add to our firm? What particular expertise do you have that would lend itself well to this position? Demonstrate/illustrate skills that you can transfer from past experience. What concerns you about our company? What do you believe are the key issues and problems in our industry today?

VIII. Location
How do you feel about travel? Are you familiar with how taxing travel can be?

Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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Some guidelines for Personals

TOUGH QUESTIONS
When invited for a job interview, we expect to go through the familiar chronological set of questions and we are generally well prepared for such a classic exercise. But what about those unexpected and confusing type of questions such as: IX. "So...tell us about yourself" Er!...about me!...sure I am a hard worker...there's nothing wrong with me...While this may be seen as an easy one, quite a few solid candidates blundered on this simple question. The reason is that we are not accustomed to sell our abilities and competence like a product. For those who have given it some thought, this is the right opportunity to talk about your strengths such as your enthusiasm, leadership, self-confidence and reliability, with a few anecdotes supporting your points. X. What would you say is your strongest quality? You certainly have numerous qualities and since you have to choose only one be careful as it will also reflect your values. Some might say honesty, others reliability or sense of leadership, but whatever it might be, be ready to make reference to a situation where you have demonstrated such a strength. XI. What interests you most about this position? Your education, training and experience background as well as your accomplishments should provide good references for answering that question. Do not hesitate to stress the fact that this would represent a dynamic move, while giving you the opportunity to grow, to increase your responsibilities, your know-how and possibly to reach new goals. XII. Do you work well under pressure? Everyone will say yes but it would be more convincing if you could provide examples of situations when you have remained cool under fire. Be careful not to choose a situation of crisis for which you were the one responsible! XIII. If you could change one thing about your personality, what would it be? Why? Your answer to such a question could turn positive if you choose a feature related to your attitude and determination. Comments such as "I am sometimes impatient with slow performers" or "Being very demanding on myself I sometimes expect too much from others" are good. Keep in mind that most interviewers will use the information you give to raise even more incisive questions.

Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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Interviews should never end leaving a doubt, a negative element, a failure or a "limited" success. Every situation as regrettable or painful as it might have been, has served you positively. Those lessons of the past have helped you developing your know-how and have contributed in some way to your achievements. XIV. Why do you want this job? Think carefully about this question. Stress the positive aspects which have attracted you to applying for this position. Do not mention the negative aspects of your current job or the job in question. XV. What qualities do you think will be required for this job? Their advertisement for the job may help you a little bit, but you should also think of the other qualities that may be required. These may include leadership ability, supervisory skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving, analytical skills, etc. XVI. What can you contribute? This is your chance to shine. Tell them about your achievements in your previous position(s) which are relevant to the new position you are applying for. XVII. Why do you want to work for this company? Emphasise the positive reasons why you want to join their company, but avoid aspects such as more money or shorter hours. These would not endear you to a prospective employer. XVIII. What do you know about this company? This is your chance to impress the interviewer with your knowledge of their company. Give them a run down of their products/services, sales figures, news, company figures, customers, etc. XIX. What interests you about our product (or service)? Again, your research into the company should aid you in answering this question. XX. What can we (the new company) offer that your previous company cannot offer? Tread carefully here! Again do not mention money. Stress opportunities for personal growth, new challenges, etc. XXI. You have not done this sort of job before. How will you cope/succeed? Say that you are the sort of person who aims to succeed at everything you do and that you are very determined and will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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XXII. Why should we employ you? The answer to this question will be based on your previous experience and achievements which relate to the company. At the end you could add that you think there is a good fit between you and the job, and do ask the interviewer for their opinion. XXIII. How long do you think it would be before you were making a significant contribution to the team/company? If you think that you could contribute from day one then say so. Then turn the question round on them and say how soon would they expect it. XXIV. How ambitious are you? Would you compete for my job? Depending on the position you are applying for you may want to sound fairly ambitious, but do not look as if you are after the interviewer's position. XXV. What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing? Likes: stress things such as a new challenge or the opportunity to bring fresh experience to the company. Dislikes: Imply there is nothing to dislike about the job, which is why you are so interested. XXVI. Why did you choose a career in ? Be positive about your reasons. If you have changed careers make a logical argument as to why you did so. XXVII. Why are you changing careers? This question will only be asked if you are making a radical change in your career. Always stress the positive aspects of the change rather than the negative aspects of your previous career -you do not want to come across as someone who is moving just because you hate your old career. Say why you think you will be good in the new career -this should come from your experience and achievements, stress the transferable skills you have, such as leadership ability, etc. XXVIII. How much does your last job resemble the one you are applying for? What are the differences? The interviewer is trying to see how well you would fit in to the position you are applying for. So you should stress the similarities rather than the differences. When it comes to discussing the differences it will help your case if you can show that either you have done something similar in the past or that you can quickly pick up the new skills. XXIX. What do you think of the last company you worked for? You should stress the positive aspects of your last company saying that they were a good company to work for. Tell them about the training you received or the work related experience you gained.
Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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XXX. Why did you join your previous company? Did they live up to your expectations? Why are you leaving now? Always be positive about your reasons for joining and leaving a company. Be very careful that you do not say anything negative about your present employer. If you do, the new company will wonder what you will say about them when you leave. You might want to stress that you are looking for a new challenge and that you feel that the company who is interviewing you fits the bill! XXXI. Explain the organisation structure in your last company and how you fitted into it? This sort of question may be used to find out whether your old job is at a comparable level to your new job. If the new job being discussed would be a step up the ladder you will need to show that you are ready for a more demanding position. You may be able to show that you have already had many of the responsibilities and the necessary skills which would be required for the next step. XXXII. How would you describe yourself? / How would others describe you? Pick your best attributes and achievements from your career. XXXIII. Do you consider yourself successful? You should say you do. Pick some work related achievements that are in line with the position that you are discussing. XXXIV. What was your greatest success? How did you achieve it? You should pick an achievement which is related to their needs. XXXV. What has been your biggest failure? Try to pick a failure which you were later able to correct or something that is not really important. XXXVI. How could you improve yourself? Do not mention anything negative about yourself -the interviewer is looking for a chink in your armour. XXXVII. Did you feel you progressed satisfactorily in your last job? If you progressed faster than normal you should say so. If growth was not as good as expected then be careful how you phrase this. XXXVIII. Are you a leader? State how you have successfully acted as a leader, giving examples of your successes.

Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

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XXXIX. How do you handle criticism? Your answer should be along the following lines: "I always think that it is important to get feedback on how I am performing so that I can improve any areas which my manager/supervisor highlights. Do you have regular staff appraisals and a staff development plan?" XL. What sort of manager are you? / What makes a good manager? You should say that it is someone who listens to other people and can delegate whilst maintaining overall control of the task at hand, bringing in the project on time and to budget. Good planning skills are essential. XLI. Do you work well with others? Or are you a loner? Some jobs mean that you have to work very closely with other people whilst other jobs mean that you are largely working on your own, so you need to say that you are happy in both situations. XLII. Do you need other people around to stimulate you or are you self-motivated? You need to say that you are self-motivated. XLIII. Are you accepted into a team quickly? Hopefully you can answer a resounding "Yes" to this question. XLIV. Can you act on your own initiative? You should say that you can. You could ask how much responsibility you would have.

Preparation Team, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta