 Small talk

Thank you for giving me this interview. I appreciate it.

Did you have any problem getting in here?
Not really, the directions and the sketch on the website we great, the
subway is pretty convenient to get around in this city.
How you weekend was?
Nice, we celebrated my brother’s birthday. How was yours?
Did you do anything interesting over the weekend?
I went hiking, it was perfect weather all weekend.
 Tell me about yourself. [Be concise]
Focus on education and work history.
I work as a freelancer giving Chinese lessons to people with little o
or no previous contact to the Chinese language. It’s been pretty
challenging… so if it’s someone who is just curious I start by
teaching them some chinese characters, if it’s someone who works
with chinese people I teach them some phrases. FOCUS ON WHAT
EXPERIENCE YOU ACTUALLY GAINED.
I managed tot get a job…But I soon realized I wasn’t cut out for that
job and decided to move to a different industry. I decided to take the
path of an actuary. I’ve had a great enthusiasm for technologu since
an early age. I’ve always loved ocmputers and gadgets and enjoyed
building them and taking them apart. I took online courses endorsed
by high profile universitis and studides how to code. I have a few
official software certificates.
I gained experience in many things like teamwork, time
management and quick decision making
  How did you hear about the position?
I was contacted by a recruiter.
I saw this position on LinkedIn.
I read about the position in your website.
I found an advertisement about the job on the internet.
A friend of mine saw the position listed on LinkedIn and forwarded
to me so I spent some time on your website learning about the
position and the company. I also read an article in Business Weekly
about your work that really got me interested.
 Why are you interested in this position?
I think I’m a good fit for the company and its goals.
I can see that your company has much future growth potential. I
would love to grow my career at a company that has a great
reputation in the software industry.
Well, honestly, I need a new job. And I love your company. So here
I am.
Creativity is very important to me, and I’ve always wanted to work
in an environment where I can innovate and find my own solutions
to challenges. I also feel that your company will continue to evolve
in the future, and I like the idea of contributing to that development.
 Why should we hire you?
I’m a goal-oriented person who likes to work at a fast pace.
I believe that great customer service starts with good
communication, which is a strength of mine. I also think that in
customer service, you need to care about what you are doing, I care
about helping others and as such I believe you would find me to be a
respectful and effective team member who can fit with the
established traditions of your company.
 What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses?
My greatest strength is flexibility. I find that this is very important
when I’m working wit lots of different people and opinions.
Another weakness is that I can be a bit too straightforward at times
and sometimes that hurts people. But I’m working on this and try to
stop myself from being overly direct.
It shows up in my work when
The ways I’ve worked to improve in this area are
My strengths are persistence and courage. I give my all to achieve
my goals in spite of any harships I might encounter along the way. I
have a hard-working nature. I am always looking for ways to
improve and grow. I’m also a team player
I’m very good at working with other people. In my last job, I always
tried to encourage my colleague and create a good atmosphere. I can
keep a cool head in very stressful situations.
 Do you work well under pressure?
Usually I don’t panic and I manage to maintain self-control. There
were may tight deadlines and stressful situations at my previous
jobs. I always put in extra hours and did my best in meeting the
needs of the clients. I’ve always delivered high quality work and
respected my deadlines.
 Tell me about a time when you overcame a challenge at work
STAR [ SITUATION, TASK, ACTION, RESULT]
When I was having trouble communicating with a client, I reached
out to a co-worker for support.
Once I did some coaching to someone who had to give a speech in
Chinese. We have so little time so we focused on getting the
message across. I gave him some advice about its tones. We did
some drills
 Can you tell me about a time when you suffered a setback and
had to maintain your enthusiasm?
STAR
 Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult
client or cowerker.
STAR A child that didn’t want to learn Chinese. Clearly his parents
were obliging him to study Chinese, so instead of practicing tones, I
taught him some Chinese characters.
 Tell me about a time when you had to give difficult feedback.
 Tell me about a time you dealt with a challenging situation at
work.
STAR Once, we realized three days before a project deadline that
two of our teams were using incompatible software tools. As the
project manager, I had to find a way to deal with this without
causing any delays. I talked to both team leaders and we made a plan
to one team to convert their work into a different format, with the
help from some staff from another departments, it was very close but
we managed to get everything done in time.
 How would you handle a situation where you and your
supervisor disagreed about an issue or course of action?

 Can you provide an example of how you acted as a team

player?
STAR. I always tried to help my teammates complete their tasks if I
had completed mine. Whenever someone needed to leave earlier, I
would offer to cover for them. I am willing to do whatever it takes
for the team or company to succeed.
 Can you tell me about a time when you demonstrated excellent
customer service?
STAR. There was one time when a customer’s order hadn’t arrived,
and we didn’t know what had happened to it. The customer was very
unhappy, and I had to try to solve the problem for him. I arranged
for a replacement to be ent, thinking we could find out what
happened to the previous order later. In the end, the customer was
happy that I could solve her problem quickly and simply.
 What are your career goals?
I want to create a global advertising campaign strategy.
 Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I see myself in a managerial position in this company, working on
multiple projects for multiple markets.
In 5 years I would like to be a part of a company growing its
business on a regular and consistent basis. I’d like to be in a Vice
President position with a focus on development. An while I know
that would require much more public speaking, in five years I plan
on being ready for it.
In five years, I’d like to be seen as someone with deep expertise in
software development. I hope to be offeres the opportunity to take
the lead on some projects.
The most important thing is that I continue to learn and grow in my
career. I’m the kind of person who needs new challenges to stay
focused.
 Why do you want to work here?
Work on my English skill since this is a international company.
I think there’s a lot to learn, and I think [AVOID USING TOO
MUCH I THINK] there are opportunities for promotion.
 What attracted you to our company?
I was very excited to learn that you support your research
department so strongly.
I read that you encourage employees to spend time with each other
outside the work place… and that’s something I really appreciate.
To be honest, what really caught my eye was the support you
provide for your employees. I love your continuing education
initiatives, where you pay employees learn no techniques and skill
sets. I think that really helps to build employee satisfaction and
loyalty.
 What would you do if you didn’t get on with someone on your
team?
I would try to sort things out in a calm and rational manner. I would
do my best to get on with that person for the sake of the team.
 Do you have question for me?
What is it like to work here?
What do you think is good about working for the company?
What is the company planning to do over the next few years?
What do you think is the most rewarding part about working here?
Can you tell me about the team that I would be working with?
 Working as a Chinese teacher
The last year I was working as a Chinese tutor. This year I stopped
since the career was getting harder so I had lees time to give lessons.
So I decided to focused on finishing my major.
  What is your leadership style?
First of all, I’m quite a hands-off manager. For instance, if one of
my team has a project, I’ll keep an eye on things, but I don’t need to
be involved in every detail. I’m also very approachable, in that I
make sure my team know they can come to me with any problems or
questions at any time. Finally, I like to lead from the front. That
means that if everyone’s working late to meet a deadline, I make
sure I’m there with them.
 Finishing
I really appreciate that you’re considering me for the position.
-We will call you. -Great, I’ll look forward to it.