Index of questions by topics

Age and experience 147-50 What have you done recently to

Do you think you have the maturity develop yourself? 46
to do this job? 150 What kind of salary are you after? 46
How old are you? 150 What motivates you? 43
This is a challenging role – are you
sure you want to do it at this stage Changes in your career direction 64-7
of your career? 149 How are you going to cope with
When do you plan to retire? 149 the drop in salary? 66
How do we know this change of career
Asking the right questions 155-61 won’t just be a passing phase? 66
Showing an interest in the work How do you feel about starting at the
itself 157 bottom of the career ladder again? 65
Exploring the future and How would you feel if you couldn’t
demonstrating your commitment 158 work in this field? 66
Asking about the organisation’s Why do you want to change career? 64
culture 159 Why do you want to work in this
Avoiding certain questions until you field? 64
have an offer on the table 160
Competency based questions 91-8
Basic Interview Questions 39-48 Please describe a situation when you
Have you ever regretted anything helped a colleague who was in
about your career? 42 trouble 93
How do you think you’d be spending
your time if we offered you the job? 44 Competency-based questions about
How is your performance measured? 45 your people skills 104-7
How much are you earning at the Can you tell me about a team you
moment? 47 were proud to have been a part of? 105
How would you describe your current Give me an example of how you
company? 45 gained buy-in from another person
May we check your references? 47 or persons 107
Talk me through your career 41 Tell me about a time you influenced
Tell me about yourself 40 someone or changed their mind 106
What does your day-to-day job Tell me about the most demanding
involve? 41 customer/client situation you have
What do you like/enjoy most in your faced and how you dealt with it 107
job? 42 When have you managed to persuade
What do you like least about your someone more senior than you to
current job? 44 change their mind? 107

197
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Who is the most difficult person you Describing yourself in positive

have worked with and what did you terms 69-73
do about them? 104 How would you rate yourself as…? 72
How would your colleagues/team/
Decisions and problem solving 108-10 boss describe you? 72
Describe a situation in which you What are your three biggest strengths
made a bad decision 109 and three biggest weaknesses? 71
Describe a time when you had a What is your greatest area for
difficult decision to make 108 development? 71
Tell me about a difficult problem and What is your greatest strength? 69
how you tackled it 108 What is your greatest weakness? 70
What unique skills would you bring
Deflecting negative questions with to our company? 73
a positive approach 121-8 What would your friends say your
All of us have personality defects – what biggest fault is? 72
is yours? 124
Aren’t you overqualified (or have too Handling your return to work 144-7
much experience) for this job? 126 I’m worried that your time away from
I don’t understand why you think you the workforce may put you at a
are the right person for this job 122 disadvantage 146
Do you like regular hours and routine Were you made redundant? 145
working patterns? 123 Why did they select you for
Do you mind paperwork and other redundancy? 145
bureaucratic practices? 123 Why have you been out of work for
Do you take work home with you in so long? 145
the evenings or at weekends? 125 You’ve been away from work for some
Have you ever been fired? 127 time – how have you spent your
Have you ever broken rules to get a time? 146
job done? 124 You’ve been working for yourself for
How do you think your experience some time now – why do you want to
has prepared you to take on more be employed by someone again? 147
responsibility? ` 126
How would you rate me as an Hypothetical questions 85-9
interviewer? 128 How would you respond to change? 86
You don’t have much experience of If I told you that you’re not suitable
X – how will you cope in this job? 124 for this job, what would you do? 88
Quite frankly, I don’t think you have If you spotted a colleague doing
enough experience of… 125 something unethical or illegal, what
What keeps you up at night? 127 would you do? 87
Why did you not achieve more in your What action would you take if you
last job? 125 disagreed with the decision of your
Why do you think that you are better manager? 86
than the other candidates? 123 What would you do if a colleague
came to you in tears? 87
 I N D E X O F Q U E ST I O N S BY TO P I CS . 1 9 9

What would you do if your partner How would you describe your style
phoned to tell you that your son or of management? 151
daughter had been taken ill in the Tell me how you coached or developed
middle of the day? 87 someone in your team 151
Which leader has inspired you and
Navigating the minefield of illegal why? 152
questions 130-5
Are you married? 131 Questions designed to explore what
Are you pregnant at the moment? 132 you think 113-21
Does your husband/wife/family How many cars are there in
mind you being away from home? 132 Australia? 118
Does your religion mean you will If you could meet anyone living or
need to take more holidays than dead, who would it be and why? 117
other employees? 134 If you were an animal, what would
Do you have any problems with you be? 116
relocating? 134 See this pencil I’m holding?
Do you mind if I ask what your partner Sell it to me 115
does for a living? 134 Tell me a story 116
Do you play any competitive sports? 133 What kind of manager would you like
This job requires you to work on a to work for? 118
Saturday/Sunday – does that cause What was the last book you read? 113
any conflict with your religion? 134 What was the last film you saw? 115
What happens when you decide to What was the last news story that
have children? 131 caught your eye? 114
What hobbies and interests do you Who do you admire and why? 117
have outside of work? 132 Who in your life has inspired you? 114
Why are supermarket own-brand cans
Opening up closed questions 128-30 of baked beans cheaper than the leading
Do you ever have any doubts about make of branded baked beans? 119
your ability to do the job? 128 You are in a room with three light
Do you mind travelling much? 130 switches, each of which controls one
Do you regard it as a weakness to of three light bulbs in an adjacent
lose your temper? 129 room. You must determine which
Good morning. Would you like a hot switch controls which bulb. But I’m
drink before we start? 130 afraid you may flick only two switches
When was the last time you felt and may enter the adjacent room only
frustrated at work? 129 once. How would you go about
determining which switch controls
Questions aimed at managers and which bulb? 121
supervisors 150-2
Are you a good manager? 150 School and university 137-44
Describe a tough time that you had Can you tell me how you keep up with
in dealing with a member of your industry trends? 144
team 152
2 0 0 . H O W T O S U C C E E D AT I N T E R V I E W S

I think that this role requires a What do you think of our recruitment
graduate 141 brochure? 54
What did you do outside of your What do you think of our website? 53
studies? 139 What other jobs are you applying
What did you learn at university? 139 for? 54
What further education do you think What worries or concerns do you have
you may need? 144 about this job? 54
What sorts of summer jobs have you What would you do differently if you
had? 141 were in charge of our organisation? 51
Why aren’t you following the career Why are you looking for another job? 48
path suggested by your course? 140 Why do you want to leave your current
Why did you choose the degree employer? 49
subject that you studied? 138 Why do you want to work for us? 52
Why did you choose the university Would you rather be a big fish in a
you went to? 138 small pond or a small fish in a big
Why did you not finish your course? 143 pond? 58
Why did you not go to university? 142
Why do you have such poor grades? 143 Your ability to get work done 74-85
You studied French but you now want Are you a good team player? 74
to work in law – why? 140 Can you describe a situation in which
you were criticised? 78
Why you want this job 48-58 Can you work under pressure? 81
Are you familiar with our Do you enjoy speaking in front of other
products/services/work? 52 people? 77
Have you received any other job Do you pay attention to detail? 83
offers? 56 Do you prefer to work on your own or
How does this job compare with other with other people? 80
jobs you are applying for? 55 How are you with new technology? 84
How many other jobs are you How do you cope with
applying for? 55 disappointment? 82
How would you describe your ideal How do you deal with failure? 83
job? 49 How do you respond to authority? 79
How would you rate us against our How do you respond to personal
competitors? 56 criticism? 78
If a competitor offered you a job right How do you unwind and deal with
now, would you accept? 56 stress? 82
What attracts you most about How good are you at handling
working for us? 53 conflict? 77
What do you know about our How is your absenteeism/ attendance
industry/sector? 57 record? 84
What do you know about our How is your time keeping? 85
organisation? 50 How much experience do you have of
What do you think of our managing budgets? 83
organisation? 50
 I N D E X O F Q U E ST I O N S BY TO P I CS . 2 0 1
How will you cope working with
people from different backgrounds
to you? 78
Ours is a long-hours culture – is that a
problem for you? 85
What kind of people do you get on
best with? 76
What kind of people do you tend not
to get on with? 76
What role do you tend to play within
a team? 75
What was the greatest failing of your
boss? 79
Would you say that you are reliable? 81
Would you say that you have good
influencing skills? 74
Your achievements 98-104
Can you give me an example of how
you have developed yourself? 104
Can you provide me with an example
of how you have demonstrated
initiative? 103
Can you talk about a time you
persisted in the face of adversity? 101
Describe a mistake that you made at
work and what you did after you
identified the mistake 102
Give me an example of a setback
and how you dealt with it 102
If your greatest achievement happened
three years ago, why have you not
achieved anything else since then? 99
Tell us about a time you planned and
organised a big project 100
What is the greatest challenge you
have faced and how did you respond
to it? 100
What is your greatest achievement? 98
What is your second/third/et cetera
greatest achievement? 99
Your future career direction and
commitment 58-64
Do you have any personal goals that
you have yet to achieve? 60
Given that you have stayed in your
company for a long time, how will
you cope with a new job? 63
What are your development objectives
for the coming year? 61
What do you think you should be
earning in three years’ time? 59
What would you consider a reasonable
length of time to stay in a job? 59
Where do you see yourself in five
years’ time? 59
You have been in your current job for
only six months – why are you
looking to move on again? 62
You have stayed in your role (or with
your company) for a long time – why? 63
You left one job after only a year – why? 61
You seem to have changed jobs very
frequently – why is that? 61
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Index
ability tests 165 Google 9, 165
action words 97-8 group exercises 171-2
advice 18 group interviews 174-5
age 147-8
aggressive interviewer 122 hair 17
appearance 13, 14, 17
aptitude tests 163, 165-6 illegal questions 87, 130-5, 148
assessment centres 163, 169 inner critic 32
automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) 32 internet 9,
in-tray exercises 169-70
body language 20, 21, 23-4, 35, 36, 43, 65,
172, 181 jewellery 16, 17
brochures 8, 156 job adverts 3-7, 10, 41, 69, 96, 111, 156, 186

changing career 64-7 legwork 9

chemistry 2, 13, 19 letter
closed questions 27, 128 follow-up 178, 185
cognitive tests 165 to referee 180
commitment 2, 10, 158 logistics 10, 20
competence 2, 10, 91-111
competencies 91, 111, 117 managerial skills 150-3
conflict (dealing with) 77, 104 mannerisms 24
CV 1, 18, 40 maternity leave 160
mirroring 23
diaphragmatic breathing 33 mistakes 102-3
dress 14-17, 29 mobile phone 19
for men 15-16 mock interviews 23, 36, 186
for women 16-17 motivation 43, 64, 101, 155, 163
dressing down 15 negative thoughts 32
negotiation 187-8
eye contact 13, 20, 21, 172, 174 nerves 1, 21, 31-3, 36, 37
experience 19, 63, 124, 125, 126 neuro-linguistic programming 23
examples 3-7, 26, 29, 39, 43, 70, 73, 78, 92, notes 2, 39, 69
97, 117, 15 note taking 18, 36
novelty socks 16
feedback 102, 183, 185
fidgeting 23 opinions 8
final impressions 177
first impressions 13, 14, 20, 177
follow-up letter 178, 185 203
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panel interviews 163, 174 research 7-8, 10, 50, 52, 56, 57, 62, 85, 118,
paternity leave 160 123, 144, 155, 184
pay and benefits 160, 186 role playing 36, 173
personal hygiene 18
personal qualities 69-89 salary 46-7, 59-60, 66, 186
personality questionnaires 163, 164-5 samples 18
positive thinking 32 shoes 16, 17
preparation 1-2, 3, 8, 20, 28, 35, 40, 86, 96, small talk 20
111, 153, 156 smile 13, 19, 20, 21, 177, 181
presentations (giving high-impact) 170-1 spontaneous job offers 177-8
primacy effect 177 suit 15, 16
psychometric tests 163, 166-9
tone of voice 13, 20, 21-2, 35, 36, 43, 65, 160
questions to ask 155-61, 184
unskilled interviewer 26-8, 113, 135
rapport 2, 19, 21-2, 173, 174, 184
recency effect 177, 181 visit 9, 14, 50
record 35, 36 visual aids 171
referees 48, 179-80 visualisation 34
references 29, 47-8, 179 vocal qualities 22, 24, 36, 65
regret 42
rehearsal 1, 35, 36-7, 96 website 8, 50, 53, 156, 160
rejection 183