An interview is no reason for nervousness
Everyone knows it – a new job is on the horizon and an interview is scheduled after the written application. For most people, the nervousness before such an interview increases many times over. Therefore, try to remember before an interview that even personnel managers are only people who want to select the most promising applicant for the job. Therefore, it is best to go to the interview calmly and calmly and answer the questions honestly and authentically.
The 5 most frequently asked questions at the interview
1. “Tell something about yourself!”
Many stumble on this question in the interview – a spontaneous answer can lead to “Um…well…well” and similar stammering. Therefore prepare yourself in advance for this question. Important key data from your curriculum vitae such as studies, training or even a scholarship are of particular interest in the interview, especially if they are related to the potential new job. Even if these already appear in the written application, it doesn’t hurt to highlight them again.
2. “What are your strengths?”
This question seems to be easy to answer at first – but be careful: praising oneself in an unrealistic way into heaven makes Personaler suspicious. You should take care to be authentic during the complete assessment. Strengths that you can emphasize are for example: ambition, ability to work in a team, organizational talent, loyalty, flexibility or ability to criticize.
When enumerating these strengths, you should try to prove them directly with an example from your previous professional life. This might sound like it:
“I can work very well under stress and time pressure. In my last job I supervised a larger project and the closer the deadline came, the more motivated and efficient I became”.
3. “What are your weaknesses?”
You must also be prepared for the question of your bad qualities during the interview. However, you should not answer this question too honestly. Telling a new boss that you tend to be unpunctual is not a smart move. On the other hand, overpunctuality is one of the weaknesses that many bosses even welcome. Other supposed weaknesses that you can mention as a candidate in the assessment are: Obsession for detail, perfectionism, meticulous work, little practical experience or nervousness when talking to larger groups. In particular, almost every HR person can personally empathize with the last point.
4. “Why are you the right person for the job?”
90% of this question will also appear in the interview. Applicants often come under pressure here – so don’t let them get you off the hook. In this question, you should focus on individual points of the job description in the job advertisement and link them to your qualifications as a candidate. At the same time it is important to many bosses that you feel connected with the existing company philosophy.
5. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
With this question the personaler wants to find out to what extent the candidate deals with his future. In the best case, your plans for the future are the same as those of the company. It is important to emphasize that your goals are flexible and that you are always open to new ideas.
Catch questions in the job interview
In addition to these rather common questions, there are now a large number of questions which are simply intended to upset an applicant during an interview. There are often no clear answers to such trick questions, the HR manager simply wants to find out how you can deal with an unexpected situation. Examples of such questions in the interview are:
- “How would you describe yourself in one word?”
- “How would you explain the color red to a blind man?”
- “What did you have for breakfast this morning?”
- “How many Smarties do you think would fit in a small car?”
- “How many calories do you think you’ll find in an average supermarket?”
With these tricky questions, less the right answer is decisive – more your reaction to the question. Do not answer the question about what it has to do with the job. Don’t get upset and approach the matter logically. This impresses most personnel and shows a high degree of flexibility on your part. So you can master every job interview!
