Part 2 How to answer the most difficult questions

“Tell me about yourself…”

Be prepared to talk for two minutes about yourself. Be logical. Start anywhere, such as high school, college or your first professional position. The interviewer is trying to evaluate your communication skills and linear thinking. You may try to score a point or two describing a major personal attribute.

“Why are you leaving your current position?”

This is a very critical question. Don’t bad mouth your previous employer or coworkers or sound too opportunistic. It’s fine to mention major problems, a buy-out or a shutdown. You may want to state after long personal consideration, your chance to make a contribution is very low due to extensive company-wide changes.

“What do you consider your most significant accomplishment?”

A good answer to this question can get you the job. Prepare extensively – discuss hard work, long hours, pressure and important company issues at stake. You may want to tell a two minute detailed story, discussing personal involvement.

“Why do you believe you are qualified for this position?”

Pick two or three factors about the job and about yourself that are most relevant. Discuss for two minutes, including specific details. You may mention a technical skill, a management skill and/or a personal success story.

“Have you ever accomplished something you didn’t think you could?”

The interviewer is trying to determine your goal orientation, work ethic, personal commitment and integrity. Prepare a good example where you overcame difficulties and succeeded. Prove that you’re not a quitter.

“What do you like/dislike most about your current or last position?”

The interviewer is trying to determine compatibility with the open position. Be careful; don’t say you dislike overtime, like management, or get too detailed. It’s safe to say that you like challenges, pressure situations, opportunities to grow, or that you dislike bureaucracy and frustrating situations.

“How do you handle pressure? Do you like or dislike these situations?”

High achievers tend to perform well in high-pressure situations. Conversely, these questions could imply that the open position is pressure-packed and out of control. Know what you’re getting into. If you do perform well under stress, provide a good, detailed example. Be descriptive.

“The sign of a good employee is the ability to take initiative. Can you describe a situation where you did this?”

The proactive, results-oriented person doesn’t have to be told what to do. To convince the interviewer you possess this trait, give a series of short examples describing your self-motivation. Discuss one example in-depth, describing the extra effort, your strong work ethic and your creative, resourceful side.

“What was the worst/most embarrassing situation of your career? How would you have done things differently with 20/20 hindsight?”

Your interviewer wants to know how introspective you are, and to see if you can learn from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to talk candidly about your failures, especially if you learned something significant from them.

“How have you grown or changed over the past few years?”

Maturation, increased technical skills and increased self-confidence are important development aspects. To discuss these effectively is indicative of a well-balanced, intelligent individual. Overcoming personal obstacles or recognizing manageable weaknesses can help identify you as an approachable and desirable employee.

“What do you consider your most significant strength?”

Know your key five or six strengths – the ones most compatible with the job opening. Discuss each with specific examples. Don’t include your management or interpersonal skills unless you can describe specific examples of good management, or how your relationship skills have been critical to your success.

“Deadlines, frustrations, difficult people and silly rules can make a job difficult. How do you handle these types of situations?”

Most companies, unfortunately, face these problems daily. If you can’t deal with petty problems, you’ll be seen as uncooperative. How you overcome these are important. Diplomacy, perseverance and common sense will prevail in difficult circumstances.

“One of our biggest problems is … What has been your experience with this? How would you deal with it?”

Think on your feet. Ask questions to get more details and break the problem into subsections. It is highly likely that you will have had some experience dealing with the subsections. Answer these and summarize the total. If you can’t answer directly, state how you would go about solving the problem. Be specific and show your organizational and analytical skills.

“How has your technical ability been important in accomplishing results?”

A potential employee needs a strong level of technical competence. Most strong managers have good technical backgrounds. Describe specific examples of your technical abilities, and how you resolved a technical issue.

“How would you handle a situation with tight deadlines, low employee morale and inadequate resources?”

Your interviewer is looking for strong management skills. You need to be creative and describe your toughest management task, even if it doesn’t meet all the criteria. Most situations don’t. Organizational and interpersonal skills, handling pressure and good handling of this question are indicative of effective management skills.

“Are you satisfied with your career to date? What would you change if you could?”

Be honest. The interviewer wants to know if you’ll be happy. Are you willing to make some sacrifices to get your career on the right track? Your degree of motivation is an important selection factor.

“What are your career goals? Where do you see yourself five or ten years from now?”

Be realistic! Pie-in-the-sky goals label you as immature. One or two management jumps in 3-5 years is a reasonable goal. If your track record indicates you’re in line for senior management in 10 years, then mention it. If you’ve had a rocky road, be introspective.

“Why should we hire you for this position? What kinds of contributions would you make?”

This is a good chance to summarize. By now, you should know the key problems. Restate and show how you would address them. Don’t be arrogant - instead demonstrate a thoughtful, organized and strong attitude.

“Describe what outstanding customer service means to you, and give an example of when you’ve provided outstanding customer service.”

The interviewer is trying to determine your customer service orientation. Be prepared to describe your thoughts on the importance of customer service and give an example of action(s) you have taken to meet or exceed customer needs. If you do not have previous call center experience, use other relevant examples of customer service experience.

“Tell me about a time when you helped a customer solve a difficult problem.”

An effective call center agent has the ability to understand customer needs and identify the correct process or solution to address the issue. Give a specific example of how you resolved a customer issue. It may be helpful to describe what led up to the situation, how you reacted to the problem, what the solution was and if the customer satisfied with the result.

“What would you do if you had been working on a project for several days and then you were suddenly asked to work on something different?”

Change is the only constant in today’s business environment. This question is designed to determine how willing you are to change according to the Call Center’s needs. In this case it would be helpful if you were able to describe a similar work situation that you encountered, and how you reacted to the change.

“Describe a time when you went the “extra mile” to support your team.”

A call center is a team-oriented environment where you often rely on other team members or departments to resolve customer issues and meet performance goals. Give a specific example of a job where you went “above and beyond” to support your team.

“Describe a job you’ve had where you were required to complete a training program before being assigned to work.”

Call canters generally require a new employee to go through training to learn the company’s products, services, and processes. The interviewer is trying to assess your level of commitment to the completion of a training program. In your response, describe a training program you’ve completed, how long the training program was, and what challenges (if any) you faced in completing the training.

2. Study the questions up, choose the most difficult ones for you to answer and practice giving answers to them using the above information.

3. Role play.

a) A manager hires a secretary.

b) A boss hires an office manager.

c) Three or four candidates compete to get a job of a …

4. Remember that an interview is a game which you can either win or lose. For you to win it use the above information.

5. If you face difficult situations in the interview, see if the following advice can be of use to you.

How to Ask Smart Questions during an Interview to Help You Land the Job

Most people prepare for an interview by anticipating the questions they’ll be asked – and practicing their answers. But what happens when the tables are turned and the interviewers ask if you have any questions for them. Consider asking questions that are specific to the company. You might concentrate on asking about the challenges it faces and its position within the industry in which it operates. Beyond those specifics, there are five more questions that you must be prepared to ask in any interview. These may provide you with valuable insight and further support your candidacy.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU SEE IN THIS POSITION? This shows an interviewer that you’re interested in going beyond the basics and that you are inquisitive and thoughtful. It also shows that you’re not adverse to overcoming challenges and tackling them with gusto. An interviewer will often reveal information that would otherwise have been difficult to ascertain. For example, he might let you know about specific projects that you’ll be expected to tackle. Or she could let on that the various personalities in a specific division are difficult to work with. Whatever the response, you can use that information to address how you’re ideally suited to rise to the occasion and handle those issues.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE IDEAL CANDIDATE TO ACCOMPLISH IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS? By asking this question, you’re showing the interviewer that you are a results-oriented professional. All employers want goal-driven and motivated people on their teams. You’re ready to hit the ground running with an eye toward accomplishing whatever is most important to your new employer. Finding out what an employer values and the expectations she or he has for this job candidates will help put both sides on the same page. It’s beneficial to communicate your awareness of expectations and to make clear that you’re willing and able to meet them.

WHY IS THIS POSITION VACANT? The answer might be either benign or a big eye-opener. The position might be new, which is great news because it likely means the company or division is growing. Someone might have been promoted, which is also positive because it’s typically a sign that the company promotes from within. At other times the interviewer might let slip that they’ve had difficulty keeping someone because the manager is demanding and often difficult to work with. You’ll want to know as much as possible, so take the opportunity to learn about what you might be stepping into in terms of culture and personalities.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS IN THE INTERVIEW PROCESS? Most interviewees make the mistake of leaving the interview without a sense of what to expect next. Ask this key question while you still have the attention of the interviewer. Find out if you’ll have to meet with more people, agree to any kind of skill-based or psychological testing, or submit to drug tests and background checks. You should also ask if other people are being considered for the position, and where the company is in the hiring process. Be sure to inquire as to when you can expect to hear from someone about the next steps. Offer to call your contact in an agreed-upon time frame. The more you can glean from these answers, the less chance you will become frantic or frustrated because of uncertainty.

WHEN DO YOU EXPECT TO MAKE A DECISION? This question differs from the questions you’ll be asking about the next steps in the process. You want to know their time frame for making a formal offer. You might learn that the company doesn’t expect to make an offer for two to three months. Other times the period might be as short as a day or a week. The benefit of knowing their time frame is important in terms of managing your own needs and expectations. You’ll also want to figure out who the final decision maker is, so that you will be prepared when interacting with that person.

• In addition, it is advisable to ask about the company culture. You can say, “I know that you must determine if I’d be a good fit for your culture. Similarly, I want to make sure that this is a good match for me. I have a few questions about the philosophy and practices of the company that I hope you won’t mind addressing.” Among the questions you might want to ask: What is the policy for promoting from within?

• What is the turnover in the department I’m interviewing for?

How does that compare with the turnover in the company as a whole?

• How would you describe the senior management style?

• How did you get your job here? Would you share your experience and impressions of the company with me?

By asking questions that show clear insight into the company’s initiatives and goals, you are demonstrating to a potential employer that you will fit right in, that you understand their workplace culture, and that you are ready to go to work.

PART 3