Interview questions - how would you answer?

Question

Okay, here are some typical interview questions:

Tell me about yourself (seemingly straight foward, but easy to blow this one!)
Why should I hire you?
What sets you apart from your competition?
What are you most proud of at your last place of employment?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses (if you say you are a perfectionist, I might throw up a little bit in my mouth)
How do you handle stress?
Tell me about a time when you were involved in a conflict and how did you handle it?
Tell me about a challenge you faced at your last place of employment and how did you handle it?
If you were an apple, what kind of apple would you be - JUST KIDDING - these questions are so dumb :0)
What did you like about your last job?
What did you dislike about your last job?
Do you have any questions for me?
Why did you pick your chosen career field?

There's a list to begin with :0)

Answer 1

You should always tailor your answers to the company you are interviewing with.

Answer 2

How would I answer them?
Tell me about yourself - Let me tell you about my work history, and how I got here.

Why should I hire you? Because I never repeat the same mistake twice, I will admit when I am wrong, and be stubborn when I am right. I know my limits and my strengths.

What sets you apart from your competition? I approach what I do, not as a social event, but a science. I will always be tweaking what I am doing. And a year from now, what I think is good will only be second best, and I will improve it.

What are you most proud of at your last place of employment? I created a new strategy that reduced turn over by implementing a long term solution to hiring, not a short term.

What are your strengths? I don't know when to quit.

What are your weaknesses? I don't know when to quit, you see my greatest strength is also my achilles heel.

How do you handle stress? Fine, as long as you aren't yelling at me in front of my co-workers and you have your facts straight.

Tell me about a time when you were involved in a conflict and how did you handle it? Too long to put here, but I assure you I handled it just fine. Take a deep breath, ask a question and move on.

Tell me about a challenge you faced at your last place of employment and how did you handle it? Same thing, too long here. But I will live up to a challenge in my chosen field always.

What did you like about your last job? Changing peoples lives

What did you dislike about your last job? Managment that wanted me to change my personality to suit their moods and their particular tastes. They need to bend too.

Do you have any questions for me? Have I answered all your questions?

Why did you pick your chosen career field? I fell into in, and learned that I love it, and when pitted against my co-workers, I am always in the top teir. I love setting the bar.

Do you want to hire me now?

Answer 3

Great question:

Tell about yourself in terms that match the job description and requirements - eg. I have always been very detail oriented and responsible - even since I was in first grade. I learn new things fast and have always been a team player. When I was in high school, I was elected captain of the track team etc etc. All of these things made me think I was well suited to this job.

Why should I hire you - see above

Competition - I have found that unlike many of the people I know, I have all these qualifications.......


Strengths - see above

Weaknesses - talk about your inability to engage in behaviors which are different than those desired --- Maybe something like I just won't stop working on a task until it is done. You would tend to take on too much work and then work very hard to get it all done.

on and on - basically, couch every answer in terms of what the qualities and qualifications of the job are and why you meet them.

Also do ask questions about the job.

Also be prepared to talk about the company. Do you homework and get as much information as possible in advance.